No U Turns

I'm sure you can get fined for disobeying that sign?
Not if you're the government:

Coalition abandons plans for weekly bin rounds
The Coalition has performed a major policy U-turn by abandoning the fight to reintroduce weekly rubbish collections.

Is it me or are the coalition amending or abandoning all their major policies? It seems they come up with a half decent idea, get an ear bashing from the lefties and the councils, and and back off to their comfort zones again. No spine whatsoever. Are leaders not supposed to be strong and confident? Not this lot.

Tens of millions of households will be stuck with unpopular "alternate weekly" bin rounds and compulsory recycling schemes after Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, and Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, gave up the fight to force councils to change.

Now I'm quite lucky. Weekly recycling collection and fortnightly rubbish collection. Two bins, and the council aren't bother about handing out fines for minor rubbish 'crimes'. We all know what some councils can be like though; up to nine different bins and fines for leaving the lid open a few inches and the like. It will be these councils that have fought against the weekly collection proposals because they want to keep their little brownshirts in jobs and want to keep supplementing the pot with fines.

Mr Pickles has repeatedly called on councils – many of them controlled by the Conservatives – to reinstatement weekly collections of all rubbish which he said were "a basic right for every Englishman and woman".

Repeatedly called on councils? Why is he 'calling on' councils rather than laying down the law to them? Wasn't it David Cameron who recently said:

"I am the Prime Minister. If you want a street party, go ahead and have one."

Did that mean anything? Can he not just say I'm the PM, do as your told on bin collections? It would seem not.

While Mr Pickles' department has sought to pressurise councils to return to weekly collections, Defra must ensure that Britain hits tough European Union recycling targets.

I'm not about to accept the EU as the overriding factor in this case. I'm sure that collecting rubbish on a weekly basis will not affect targets. Besides, doesn't most of it go to landfill in China?
And why can some council offer a more regular service with less bins than other councils if they are all trying to conform to EU wide law?

Assuming the EU targets are to blame for this, couldn't we just tell the EU to bugger off with their targets. Or is that just too far out there?

Last month the Telegraph revealed councils are to be banned from imposing draconian fines on householders who fall foul of complex waste and recycling rules.

Councils will no longer be able to fine people for failing to close a bin lid; leaving bin bags next to a bin; putting a bin out on the wrong day; failing to move it back inside the boundary of a property; or making minor mistakes with recycling.

I can't imagine some councils giving up their ability to impose silly, childish fines that easily, so how long do you think it will be before we see another U-turn on that one? I'll give it a month.