Times are tough here in the UK. Unemployment is high and rising higher; right now it’s a bit over eight percent. Wages and salaries are going down on average in both real and absolute terms. The prices of gasoline (petrol), electricity and gas are rocketing upward. And, on top of all this, there is no economic growth at all. I know all these things are true in other countries as well to a greater or lesser degree, but there’s a symptom of the economic trouble here that seems to be peculiarly British.
The theft of all things metal is becoming a national emergency. Thieves are prying up manhole covers. They’re cutting down high-voltage power cables and the cables from electric train lines. The lights go off, the trains stop and local government must pay a lot of taxpayer’s money to replace the manhole covers.
All this metal gets sold on the scrap metal markets. This activity is well reported on the news programs, so I suppose most people know about it. What I can’t figure out is why the cops don’t just drop in on all the scrap metal dealers and have a look around. I mean manhole covers should be pretty easy to spot. They could bust dealers with manhole covers for handling stolen goods. That should soon put the thieves to work finding something else to steal.
Oh, but the government is cutting police budgets by an average of around 20%
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