According to the Macmillan English Dictionary, if a place or an organisation is going to the dogs, it is not as good as it once was in the past. The inland waterways is such a case in question. Once it was the leading edge of the industrial revolution. The inland waterways were the transport motorways of their day. The times changed and other quicker and better alternatives took their place. Through private ownership and subsequent nationalisation the Inland Waterways continued to be wilfully neglected.
Boating people would often say things like “British Waterways is letting the Inland Waterways go to the dogs. Things aren't run like they were years ago and the costs to use the waterways are far too high.” The people have a valid point. They see the board of BW as incompetent and not fit to run a paddling pool never mind the thousands of miles of canals and rivers that lay within their remit. But there was no will in the people and the government to make changes.
People are becoming more and more aware of what is going on around them. They now challenge the bankers pay, they challenged the MP expenses. They saw at first hand the greed and avarice of the people in charge. They want to reward success and the want to replace the fools and incompetents. They want to do this at a fair wage.
I can make that statement in the certainty that things are not going to get better under the auspices of CaRT. There is one reason why things will not and cannot get any better. It is the perceived loss of face and the inability to admit their own shortcomings when things have gone wrong. Transparency is not an option for the board because of the sheer scale of incompetence it would highlight.
A siege mentality has now taken hold, like the heads of state in some middle east countries. There is a groundswell of the peoples opinion who are seeking a change of management from the top down. There is no alternative for the BW board even in its new guise as CaRT but to continue to fight a rearguard action. When its a rearguard action the battle is always lost.
CaRT is the new "Group 4 Services" - Containing lots of froth and promises but delivering no real substance.
Later...
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