Oh no – I return to my bin obsession

I can’t believe I’m about to do this. I SWORE I wouldn’t write any more about bins… but it turns out I still need to.

One of the main headlines on Today this morning was that bin taxes were going to be abolished by the new government. Then on WATO, Eric Pickles described beautifully how Conservatives want to help people not hinder them.

That is all very well. But do you know what?

IT IS UP TO COUNCILS TO GET RID OF OUR RUBBISH.

IT IS THEREFORE ALSO UP TO COUNCILS HOW OFTEN, BY WHOM, HOW, AND IN WHAT WAY THE BINS ARE EMPTIED.

To be less shouty about it, I don’t think the best way to encourage people to produce less waste and to recycle more is to charge them more. But I do think it’s a local decision. And, building on that, if a council decides that’s what it wants to do then it is accountable at the ballot box if local residents decide that they want something different.

The only way that the localist agenda is going to work is if central government really means it, and doesn’t get sidetracked by Daily Mail-esque campaigns for or against certain things.

The way it will work is if central government means what it says and lets local people decide.

Related posts:

1. Brown Nears The Point Of No Return
2. Has Brown Passed The Point Of No Return?