What do we have to do?

Since Friday, I have been innundated with messages of support and good will, demonstrating that there is more than a little sympathy and - as importantly - more than a little resentment against the "authorities" which claim to provide us services and do not.

But people have also been keen to share their own experiences, to the extent that I have had people turning up at my door, unannounced, to tell me their individual tales of woe. Some relate to relatively minor episodes - in the general scheme of things - and some seem pretty serious.

What they all have in common though is the indifference of the "authorities", who seem neither to know nor care what is happening, or who seem incapable of responding, and the feeling of helplessness, as to how to get through the system and make the point.

For my part, I sometimes wonder if I still live in the same planet that I was born on, as the values of the people who supposedly supply us with services seem totally alien to anything I was brought up with.

All of this poses the central question of what do we have to do to make it right? Today I had a telephone call from an inspector of West Yorkshire Police, and it seems they are - finally - looking into my grievences. But if their complaints system had worked, none of this need have happened.

I will try to put the broader points to them, if they get back in touch, but - from past experience - I am not at all optimistic that anything will come of it. Nevertheless, I will try to keep you all posted,