Encore!

Time to move? Stupidity and incompetence may be catching!

Too late!

Oh dearie dear.

*waves to nthdegx*

Specklet!

'S meee!

UK government question: What is a council? Is it the same as a US city/town council which is the elected legislative part of municipal government? How would they remove a memorial like this, wouldn't the public works department (or UK equivalent) be in charge of such things?

In the UK every (?) large municipality is divided into councils, which are responsible for public works, public housing ("estates"), the dole, that sort of thing. (Policing is by contrast nationalized -- the Met.) London is divided into boroughs which each have their own council. Hackney also has its own mayor, which is a separate office from the Mayor of London. In addition to electing a council, the borough also has representatives to the London Assembly and of course Parliament.

I would call it the equivalent of saying "the city" in the US, more or less. But few US cities have localized neighborhood government (and their attendant small-town politics).

Many neighborhoods in my city do have things like that but they have no official political power. I'm actually on the board of directors of my local Civil Council but it's incorporated as an independent non-profit corporation and doesn't have any legal jurisdiction. We have to spend a lot of money on lawyers to sue the city to get them to do the jobs that they're supposed to do. We send out a lot of sternly worded letters too.

Think of New York - a city about the same size as London in terms of population. New York has five boroughs. London has 32. Yes. Thirty-two. All with their own individual policies for education, road repairs (you can often tell when you cross from one borough into another because the roads will suddenly become potholed and cracked), social services, parks, refuse collection, recycling, parking, each with its own separate library system (can you imagine? a city the size of London without a city-wide library system - it's ridiculous!)

Consequently local councillors can become little despots with the power to change people's lives at a level which really impacts on them.

But, I must say, I hate with the passion of a thousand burning suns this mawkish tendency to set up a shrine at the scene of a murder or accident. It started in the UK with Hillsborough - which to a great extent was understandable - and then went completely mental when Diana died. Now there are roadside shrines of 'floral tributes', toys, candles, etc, whenever some kid comes off his moped.

can you imagine? a city the size of London without a city-wide library system - it's ridiculous!

You've got the NHS. Call it a draw.