Another modest proposal ...
For the benefit of anyone who does not immediately realise from the title, here is a warning - this blog post contains irony.
Britain is supposed to be, and largely is, a free country and the peaceful and lawful expression of almost any view should be encouraged without any comeback or reprisal.
That includes the right to non-violent demonstrations against any plan to drill for or generate new sources of energy, provided that the demonstration does not include any element of criminal obstruction, and even where the concerns of the demonstrators bear no resemblance to what is actually proposed.
However, where the law has been broken, perhaps the courts should be given the power to make the punishment fit the crime.
Perhaps the courts should be given the power to impose on anyone convicted of a criminal offence designed to sabotage, frustrate or prevent legitimate activities of the energy industry, an order cutting off gas and electricity to their residence for a week.
Or where that might affect an innocent third party, for those engaging in criminal activity which might make Britain more dependent on Vladimir Putin's Russia for gas, another possible punishment would to send them for a fact-finding tour of Siberia.
It's not going to happen. I am not seriously suggesting that it should happen. But we seem to have a serious epidemic of "Stop the world, I want to get off" at the moment.
Britain is supposed to be, and largely is, a free country and the peaceful and lawful expression of almost any view should be encouraged without any comeback or reprisal.
That includes the right to non-violent demonstrations against any plan to drill for or generate new sources of energy, provided that the demonstration does not include any element of criminal obstruction, and even where the concerns of the demonstrators bear no resemblance to what is actually proposed.
However, where the law has been broken, perhaps the courts should be given the power to make the punishment fit the crime.
Perhaps the courts should be given the power to impose on anyone convicted of a criminal offence designed to sabotage, frustrate or prevent legitimate activities of the energy industry, an order cutting off gas and electricity to their residence for a week.
Or where that might affect an innocent third party, for those engaging in criminal activity which might make Britain more dependent on Vladimir Putin's Russia for gas, another possible punishment would to send them for a fact-finding tour of Siberia.
It's not going to happen. I am not seriously suggesting that it should happen. But we seem to have a serious epidemic of "Stop the world, I want to get off" at the moment.
Comments
According to the telegraph, then £2.8 billion-worth of contracts are up for grabs as part of the programme to install a "smart" energy meter in every home by 2020.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10235542/Rivals-vie-for-2.8bn-smart-meter-contracts.html
Of course this will be sold with the "Blue sky, bright sun and fluffy clouds" line of "letting customers monitor and control their electricity usage and automatic meter readings".
Of course anyone who knows anything about smart meters knows its the electricity boards who do control them (Via something known as the smart grid) thus, can shut off certain loads in your home at any time, thus if there is too much demand elsewhere, not a problem, i just shut off your freezer for a couple of hours, and you can forget about using a heater. all i need to do is lower the load tolerance to the limit of an electric tooth brush and I have effectively cut you off for a week (without ever cutting you off, so you get a bill and the contract still stands)