We have all experienced frustration at the inflexible attitude of the public sector when it comes to coping with problems. So I was pleased to see that Conservative run Enfield Council, with only three days of grit left, is importing 1,000 tons of the stuff from Sweden and Denmark. This seems a more practical approach than just complaining about the Government's direction of salt supplies – no matter how valid those complaints might be.
Residents in the Highlands are threateningto withold their Council Tax in protest at the lack of gritting.
Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman raised in Parliament yesterday how the Government sat on a report published in August which made 19 recommendations of how to cope with severe weather – lessons that were supposed to have been learnt from February.