Burn the civil servants
Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell announced today that there will no longer be regular fire drills in government buildings. The move comes as new research shows that smokers are 99% more likely to light up if they are forced outside of a building by a fire drill. O'Donnell said:
"this is not about being nanny state-ish, it's about recognising that smokers are victims of addiction to a substance that is killing them… [fire drills] can be extremely stressful and making an unscheduled trip outside a building can be seen as an ideal opportunity to light up"
When pressed on the obvious safety issues concerning the edit, a spokesman for the Cabinet Office said:
"Many many more civil servants die from smoking related illnesses than in fires at Government buildings. It's not about the nanny state, it's about common sense."
"this is not about being nanny state-ish, it's about recognising that smokers are victims of addiction to a substance that is killing them… [fire drills] can be extremely stressful and making an unscheduled trip outside a building can be seen as an ideal opportunity to light up"
When pressed on the obvious safety issues concerning the edit, a spokesman for the Cabinet Office said:
"Many many more civil servants die from smoking related illnesses than in fires at Government buildings. It's not about the nanny state, it's about common sense."
When I read the title of the post, I was disappointed to discover Chris hadn't written it.
Strikes me as pretty sensible - also, leaving a building empty of Civil Servants could be perfect conditions for terrorists to leave unattended bags around, and if it's about combatting terrorism, then burning to death is a small price to pay for liberty.
Posted by Matt | Thu Nov 24, 02:11:00 pm
so did no one notice that I completely made this up?
Posted by Ben | Fri Nov 25, 02:36:00 pm
Honestly, it was completely made up!
Cancelling fire drills to protect smokers from themselves?
come on people, where's your sense of outrage?
Posted by Ben | Mon Nov 28, 12:11:00 pm
Seems reasonable to me. Though it does explain why he said 'Nanny state' twice in two different ways.
Posted by Matt | Fri Dec 02, 02:21:00 pm
bloody hell.
Posted by Ben | Fri Dec 02, 05:16:00 pm