Not Very Bright

Local authorities are turning off streetlights in order to save money. The shadow Minister for Being the Son of a Former Minister, Hilary Benn, has proclaimed that "significant areas of Britain have been plunged into darkness since May 2010", thanks to councils dimming lights or turning them off altogether. The culprits are mostly Conservative councils, who are presumably a bit less inclined to worry about little things like whether the streets are safe to walk after office hours, because for truly hard-working families there is no such bureaucratic limitation as office hours: one is working, or working from home, or in the car, or tucked up in bed and dreaming virtuous, entrepreneurial dreams.

The Secretary for Community Atomisation and Social Cleansing, Eric Pickles, had a blather earlier this year about the wonders of keeping everything dark at night. Aside from the supreme advantage of giving Eric Pickles a good night's sleep, the measure also cut crime because burglars enjoy being lit up at work. Unfortunately, the burglars did not agree, and some weeks later the police demanded that the lights be switched back on.