promises promises

So. People are saying that Labour might reintroduce weekly rubbish collections. It's certainly true that promises were made during the election campaign. But it's hard to see how they could justify the expense, or defend weekly collection in some parts of the city and not in others.

What's often forgotten in the increasingly hysterical press coverage of rubbish and recycling is how well the new collection schemes can work, and how quickly people have adapted to them. First thing in the morning on rubbish collection days, I marvel at people's fastidiously arranged recycling bins and neatly stacked piles of cereal boxes. Incredible as it may seem, what other Europeans have been managing for years is not beyond us either.

But of course, in Daily Mail land, RECYCLING WORKS is about as attractive a headline as WOMAN SUCCESSFULLY COMBINES WORK AND FAMILY or SICK MAN GOES TO HOSPITAL: GETS BETTER.