Snow-Bo, taken outside City Hall
It’s well documented that Britain doesn’t cope very well in the snow. Whilst countries that experience a lot of the stuff keep their trains and buses running and their airports open, the UK closes down at the mere whiff of a bit of the white stuff.
And, to be fair, it’s more than a bit annoying. Especially when the foreign newspapers are poking fun at us. The New York Times has this week properly put the boot in with its barely concealed sarcasm. “To put it all into perspective, during last weekend’s snowstorm, a quick but violent upheaval, just two to four inches fell in London. But it was enough to disrupt transportation for the rest of the weekend,” cried the newspaper, adding: “There is something uniquely miserable about Britain in the grip of poor weather. Because its winters are usually mild, it is ill prepared for all but the slightest dusting of snow.”
Hmm. They’re right, aren’t they?
To be fair to the Mayor, he has also been pretty upset about the upheaval that a little bit of snow has caused, particularly at Heathrow where tens of thousands of Christmas travellers were stranded. As the New York Times reported: “An exasperated Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, told reporters on Monday: “It can’t be beyond the wit of man, surely, to find the shovels, the diggers, the snow ploughs or whatever it takes to clear the snow out from under the planes.â€?”
He does have a point, doesn’t he? How can one of the world’s busiest airports grind to a complete standstill when we have a ‘bit of snow’? (It’s not like it hasn’t snowed before is it. Like, er, LAST YEAR for example).
Bozza also called for a ‘Herculean effort’ by BAA, which operates Heathrow, and its contractors to get planes back in the air. I tell you what, though – it doesn’t need a Hercules, just a few blokes with a shovel and a bit of organisation. The Mayor is right – although there don’t appear to be much ‘wits’ in evidence at BAA this week…..