RUMBLINGS…

Just checking some recent emails, I came across an offer for March’s Outdoor Show at Birmingham’s NEC that had me scratching my head. 

The show’s newsletter emailed on February 8 (I know, I’m a bit slow reading some of my emails) makes the following generous offer: “Book 3 tickets for the price of 4…”. 

Now I failed my maths O-Level first time around, but even I can spot that that’s a rum deal.

Thankfully, the show’s booking page has the right figures – four for the price of three, of course.

Undecided as to whether to head down there yet – and if the weather’s good that might clinch the deal.

Be interested to hear whether anyone’s planning to (illicitly) wild camp there for the weekend!

Sorry to bear the bearer of bad tidings, but it seems the government doesn’t intend to do anything about the growing call to legitimise wild camping in England and Wales.

You already know about ““Weird” Darren Christie’s online petition encouraging the government to give backpackers in E&W the same right to responsible wild camping that our counterparts in Scotland already enjoy.

Though Darren’s petition doesn’t reach its “use-by date” until May, the government has already poured cold water on the campaign. Which rather brings into question the validity of e-petitions on the Prime Minister’s own website.

As the campaign got underway just a few weeks ago, I wrote to my local MP, Tory David Curry, asking him to raise the matter with the government.

This he did, and very quickly.

Sadly, this morning, I received a letter from him with which he enclosed the response he’d had from Secretary of State for the Environment, Hilary Benn.

I’ll cut the crap and reproduce the meat of what the Rt Hon Mr Benn MP had to say.

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