As much as I don't mind slating Tory politicians I find myself struggling to understand how Francis Maude can be blamed for the terrible tragedy that befell the woman in York who was pouring PETROL, (GAS for American readers)from a jerry can into a glass jug.
According to this report from the Mail Online http://tinyurl.com/dyhn4d3 Mr Maude, the Cabinet Office minister said: 'People need to be aware there is a risk to supplies. When it makes sense, a bit of extra fuel in a jerry can in the garage is a sensible precaution to take.'
Sometimes people do stupid things for a variety of reasons; stress, tiredness, forgetfulness, but it's stretching it quite a lot to blame a hapless politician for this poor woman's accident.
I asked my children aged 9 and 11 what they knew about petrol. They both told me that it was extremely dangerous if handled incorrectly and that it could burn and explode. When I further asked if they thought it a good idea to pour some from a can to a jug in the kitchen next to the gas cooker while I was boiling a pan of water they both looked at me as if I were mad.
I suspect they occasionally think that of me anyway, but if I did that they'd be right.
Spot on Chris. It's that old saying '... and if so and so told you to jump off a cliff would you?' I think being responsible for our own victories and disasters is something that even God decreed as a good idea. It's called free will.