Anyone listening to Jeremy Vine over the alert?

[princesspadam]

Dear god! The amount of hand wringing it’s caused with callers reporting their children screaming, one callers wife hasn’t slept all weekend

whats wrong with everyone? talk about snow flake

this is fairly standard practice in other parts of the globe (have had it several times in the US)

my DCs didn’t even mention it when I got home on Friday night (neither did DP)

True. There is likely damage to the effectiveness of the urgent alert system because of people’s greater willingness to opt out and a more dismissive attitude to alerts generally.

But I think deep down there’s a political issue. Those supporting the use of the alert for being nothing more than a public information announcement are really just defending the government against the - IMO well-founded - suspicion that this was really only a piece of political messaging to try to convey the impression that the government is right on the ball and showing decisiveness and leadership. The alert even begins with “issued by the UK government”, not by or on behalf of the fire service.

Government advertising has always been criticised for being a misuse of public money to boost the government of the day. To use the alert system to the same ends would be a very, very cynical thing.

As I said on another thread, this could be an interesting experiment: send an alert (some time next year, after the annoyance about this one has worn off) telling people not to drop litter, explaining carefully why it’s a problem, citing wildlife, the environment, etc. Ladybird-book style. Then, monitor the litter. Does it reduce? Do these alerts make people modify their habits? Do the teenagers who would otherwise toss away their Maccy D’s sit up and take notice, as they’re always on their phones, so they would see the alert?

Absolutely agree with this! The warning said something like 'serious ' in English at the top with a red exclamation mark, then turned into a couple of paragraphs of Welsh. Around 25% of the population claim to speak Welsh, the actual number is probably less and all of the Welsh speakers also speak English. So 75% of people were left not knowing if there was a grass fire creeping closer and that we should all leave immediately (all too likely round here at the moment), or there was an incoming nuclear bomb and we should all take cover in the cellar (attractive, it's cold and there's definitely wine down there), or Welsh Water had decided that we could do without water for a couple of days for the third time this year. So yes, it was quite alarming for the 10 minutes it took to enlighten the vast majority of taxpayers . Not one person in our village speaks Welsh and we all probably realise it's not a great plan to start a fire at the moment. If, as has been claimed, it was aimed at tourists, do they really think people learn WELSH before going on holiday??

I don’t care what the government have said; it was ill thought out and unnecessary, and runs the real risk of people switching off from it all. I only want to be alerted when there’s an imminent risk to my safety; the rest can be sent by text and announced on the news/radio/SM.

Exactly why the use of the alarm wasn’t justified: no need to wake people up to tell them urgently not to use a bbq. Same
for people driving.

Most people wouldn't have been asleep at 7pm.
Surely drivers need to be permanently alert for anything out of the ordinary that can happen.
Anyway..... maybe it should have just been a text.
I had actually forgotten that there isva system where the government can just send texts (like we had during COVID).

Anyone of a certain age still think of those public service films in the 70s. Slurry pits anyone? They could do updated versions of those, and utilise social media rather than emergency messages, keep those for immediate life threatening situations.

Yes! Play safe - kites and planes anyone? Would work a treat with a family out on picnic with their disposable barbecue accidentally setting fire to the grass 😄