We have the power to act and we will do so if necessary, he said. I see it as my job to protect the council taxpayer. I don’t want to do this by having a heavy hand at the centre, I want local councils to be more responsible.
I could describe crowded bank holidays with troops of walkers on the high tops of Scotland and the ugliness of the skilifts. I could equally describe the dense wilderness that settles on you like a heavy hand, barely an hour’s walk from Yosemite’s granite architecture. But while Scotland ’s wilderness areas are still not as overcrowded and overdeveloped as Yosemite or even the Lakes, the damage is there.
The French have a heavy hand. They like to use an elephant gun to stun a flea. You’ll see that when we get ashore. I’m told they behave here as if they expect their empire to last forever.