Barbados or bust? Why we shouldn’t holiday-shame public figures | Archie Bland
by Archie Bland from on (#ZJCQ)
Environment Agency boss Sir Philip Dilley has been criticised for being in the Caribbean while northern England was ravaged by floods. But it's budget cuts that ought to be coming under scrutiny
Over the last few years, the kindergarten of British public life has firmly established its naughty step: the hearings of its esteemed select committees. A powerful mechanism for accountability though these hearings undoubtedly are, their in-built tendency to scapegoat (of course the shiny fat cat declining to answer the question is responsible for all the world's ills, and of course it's a pleasure to watch him squirm) does sometimes seem more appropriate for investigations into who hid the Lego than complex matters of public policy.
Related: The floods are a stark reminder - natural disasters can happen in the UK, too | Rose George
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