Wednesday, August 11, 2010

War over ... Japan surrenders


Let's see now ... I did the so-called "Carbon Reduction Commitment" (CRC) last February. Booker saved it up until April when the scheme kicked in.

But now, six months after I had first written about it, The Daily Telegraph warns: "Business facing a wave of green taxes". Thousands of British businesses, it tells us, will be liable for significant fines and charges under a new government "green tax" scheme. It is writing, for the first time, about the CRC.

Interestingly, Bob Jarrett, of the BHF-BSSA Group, "a trade body that represents thousands of independent shops," complains that ministers had not done enough to explain or justify the CRC. "We've only come across this in the last few weeks, and yet the deadline is at the end of next month. The Department for Energy has not given this nearly enough publicity," he says.

Of course, it would be a waste of time Jarrett complaining that the media hadn't done its job either (except Booker) ... or that people should be reading the blogs if they want the news. If he had tried, they simply would not have printed his comments. Newspapers do not go in for self-criticism.

But, to help out the trundling Daily Telegraph, we've come up with a brilliant headline for tomorrow's edition. Did you know Japan had surrendered? Its newsroom probably hasn't heard yet.

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