Don't Cook, Don't Cook

There's an advert running on the radio at the moment by the Fire Brigade, warning us about the danger of housefires that start in the kitchen. It's hinged around the European Football Championship and suggests that after we've come back from the pub, watching the match, the last thing we should do is try to cook. 'Show your kitchen the red card,' it urges, 'and score a goal with a takeaway instead.'

I'm sure that these 'campaigns' make no difference whatsoever. I still cherish the adverts last year telling us that stepping in front of an oncoming train at a level crossing probably isn't a wise move.

(Why is public money still being wasted on this nonsense? I seem to recall the current government promising that this stuff was being cut back after the Blairite Golden Age for advertisers.)

But assuming that we do need to be patronised, isn't there enough of a problem with the nation's inability to cook already, without the Fire Brigade joining in? The government's always keen to tell us that we have an obesity crisis on our hands. Which doesn't sit particularly well with state-funded propaganda encouraging us to augment our lager intake with fast food.