Where are the “it’s health and safety gone mad”/”we’re living in a nanny state” brigade when you need them?

In their absence, I will step up to the mark and do my best to fill the gap in our media commentary:

<start rant>

What is our country coming to when just about everyone expects the state to sort out everything for them and is happy to use the flimsiest of health and safety excuses to stop behaving sensibly? It’s the nanny state gone mad, that’s what it is.

Millions of people in other countries quite happily clear the snow from outside their own homes and shops at winter time. But in Britain, supposedly the liberal home of the free? Nope, pretty much everyone turns round and expects the state to do it all for them.

The worst of course are the media who slavishly report just about every ungritted pavement and each icy road followed by a moan that the council hasn’t done something.

Never pose the question to anyone else of course asking why they’ve not cleaned stuff away themselves.

Never profile any of the decent people around the country who do clear away snow.

No, it’s just all moans and all expecting that of course the state should do everything for you. Because if a council hasn’t done it, well nobody else can possibly do anything about it ever, can they?

And don’t get me started on those who try to wheel out flimsy arguments about how you might get sued if you cleared the snow or ice away. Notice how they never give any actual examples about it happening? That’s because it’s an excuse used to avoid doing the right thing – not something there’s a real danger of being successfully sued for.

It’s health and safety gone mad, that’s what it is.

So unless you’ve got difficulty moving about yourself, stop blaming the state and start taking a bit of action in your own hands.

</end rant>

There. A promising impression of a tabloid columnist if I say so myself, though clearly got some bits to work on a bit more before I send in the job application.