It's been another manic week for me and for us all at TSI. The Government's plans to change the machinery for consumer representation and protection, to abolish quangos and others and to use the broad shoulders of trading standards to carry even more of a consumer enforcement role is really churning the waters. I hope those shoulders can withstand the weight but with councils cutting their already meagre budgets by 30-40 percent even the strongest of trading standards services are going to wobble or fall.
What a day we chose yesterday too to take our trading standards case to Parliament! We had to run the gauntlet of thousands of protesting students, police and barriers to reach the House of Commons and then once we were inside and ready to lobby MPs and Peers we fell foul of a little debate on tuition fees!
Not to be deterred we scoured the building and managed to grab the attention of those MPs that had taken a break from the debating chamber and I am sure that they will all have been convinced by the strength of our case. The country without a strong front line trading standards workforce is unthinkable at a time when people and businesses needs them most.
Never a dull moment and the best way to take a break from a week like that is to get on my motorbike and enjoy that tarmac - snow and ice permitting!
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