Cycle lane costs B&B a booking, plus wise words from ex-MP Rob Key

SOMETIMES it seems as if the only thing we Brits are good at is making a mess of things.

I'm convinced some Tories voted for Boris Johnson as their leader because he was popular on TV, being all dishevelled and amusing on Have I Got News For You. They thought it would go down well with the public.

Well, have I got news for them. You've been had! I should think Ian Hislop, Paul Merton and their producers must be ruing the day they hauled him aboard and helped make him a household name.

It's beginning to dawn on even his most ardent fans that things aren't going swimmingly.

Our former MP Robert Key's got it sussed. He recently agreed, with a sad heart, with a Twitter complaint that under its current regime the Tory party is "the most dangerous political force of our lifetimes", and is "corrupt" and "dishonest".

From a moderate Conservative with a long and honourable record of service to our city and to Parliament, who has tried his level best to give John Glen a clear run at the job without interference, that's a condemnation that should make voters stop and think.

Incidentally, you can hear a fascinating podcast interview with Mr Key, ranging over music, politics and life in this city, on the very good mySalisbury.co.uk (which I am not paid to plug) by just typing his name into the search box on their website.

Meanwhile, here's another thing we're busy making a hash of.

Making Salisbury more pedestrian and cycle-friendly. Great in principle, but throwing up a lot of practical problems (see previous posts) that ought to have been foreseen.

Installing a cycle lane in Exeter Street means, as I've told you before, getting rid of residents' parking spaces and forcing them to park away from their homes, in The Friary, for example.

Now the proprietors of one of the B&Bs in the street have taken to Twitter to tell of a customer cancelling his booking when he was informed about these arrangements.

"This is the start of it regarding our business," they say. "Thank you, Wiltshire Council."

This highly-regarded B&B is part of our vital tourist industry.

Is it really asking too much of Salisbury's distant rulers that they actually consult and listen to the locals about what will work for them before they impose changes such as this?