Potholes, apt metaphor for the state of Britain in general.

Not that many years ago, driving a car or riding a motorcycle / pushbike around the roads of Britain could be, and for most of us was, a pleasurable experience. Now we have to contend with highways in a shocking state of disrepair as a result of little if any maintenance for a decade at least.

Driving today has ceased to be a pleasure because we must be permanently alert for holes and ruts which is an unnecessary hassle no motorist or cyclist ought to have to worry about. My own driving style has changed and adapted because of the new circumstances and now includes swerving to avoid holes some of which resemble small craters. Its a common technique to be seen wherever a line of traffic is attempting to cover ground without damaging their pride and joy and without getting hurt. Fail to spot a pothole in time on an unfamiliar stretch or road, or in the face of an oncoming vehicle making avoidance impossible, we slam in. A wrecked tyre, buckled wheel, broken spring may result and in the worst scenario, a motorist or rider may be thrown out of control with perhaps serious consequences.

As a matter of interest, the snap above was taken in June 2013 on the B3330 Calthorpe Road, Isle of Wight close by my house. Someone had marked the damage with white paint presumably for repair purposes. All this while later in January 2014, no one has been near it with a bucket of tar but on the contrary, months or torrential rain and one or two freezes have reduced the road to a moonscape for a quarter of a mile either side of the spot. Its a 'road' that is quite frankly now suited to donkey carts and little else, and still there is no sign of the repair men attending.

Quite a metaphor for the country isn't it? Our roads are broken because this part of our infrastructure has been starved of cash. Such irresponsible governance was always going to catch up with us and now it has. Don't invest enough into education / health / social services / defence etc and watch the whole system grind to a halt and go down the tubes. Ultimately don't invest in the up and coming generation and unless that matter is addressed and put right, the generation we're all expecting to take over responsibility for the country in due course will inherit what exactly?

Address this mess we must, and to do so will require an entirely new set of attitudes especially where the mind-set of leadership is concerned.