I took a deliberate decision yesterday to remain indoors!! The weather was pretty filthy and a stiff northerly wind made it very cold, plus I wanted to witness the Chilcott Enquiry's day long interview with out previous Prime Minister, Tony Blair, about the Iraqi War and the UK's involvement. OK, I did the couch potato bit! I'm not really any wiser, nor is my scepticism adequately quenched, but, if we're sensible, I think anyone would come out of the whole situation with a better appreciation of the circumstances surrounding practical government in times of stress, policies needing to react to rapidly updated circumstances and so on. A big canvas! Whilst anyone can understand the devastation of families whose loved ones never returned, this was never going to be a "trial", or an occasion of public retribution and will possibly be criticised due to such perceived , or required, shortcomings.
To counteract all this drama I also attempted to scrutinize the draft Biodiversity Plan produced for my local authority ( Argyll and Bute Council )by consultants. As with any policy document the formal language, paragraphs, and performance tables giving details of progress, are hardly digestible fodder the general public will feel disposed toward readily accepting and such needs to be altered accordingly, or have a public summary document produced. In many senses I feel much sympathy with Local Authorities, who are often charged with particular duties, but haven't a snowball in hells chance of really "delivering", as sufficient funds and staffing are never made available unto the task!! Nonetheless, they deserve support, although not within the timescale they've chosen, as such is unrealistic and , in a personal context, can't be met!! Research re the status of particular species needs to be undertaken, and fed back, and perhaps this is where a telling contribution can best be made.
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