A study conducted by the taxi-hailing app, Freenow, has delved into what must be one of the most annoying aspects of being a London cabbie.

The good news is that the UK has emerged as having the second most sociable taxi passengers in Europe, trailing only behind Ireland.

The research focused on the interaction between passengers and black cab drivers, part delved into the top five questions posed by passengers, be they: traffic, cyclists, speed limits, or the correct route:

1 Have you been busy today?
2 How’s the traffic?
3 What do you think about cyclists?
4 Why is the speed limit 20mph?
5 Is there a quicker route because I’m in a hurry?

My questions, driving at the beginning of the Millennium tended to be:

1 What do you do for a living?
2 What time are you on ’til?
3 Where do you live? or Live far?
4 How long have you been a cabbie?
5 Had anyone famous in your cab?

I have recently received this statement from Heather Gorringe, managing director of Wiggly Wigglers.

I think you have an interest in this campaign, after all you are likely to be composting, feeding the birds, or growing your own to be a Wiggly customer, and so I am going to take a risk and tell you what I think from the horse’s mouth as it were – no filter…It’s desperate times.

As one farmer put it:

Want to know why farmers are so angry? We’ve had enough of working for nothing, to produce something that everyone needs, whilst being told we are doing a sh-t job of it, by people who have never done it…

The squeeze on family and tenant farms is more than just a financial pinch; it’s a chokehold threatening to snuff out generations of tradition and custodianship of the land.

Here’s the blunt truth: asking farms to diversify while their core business bleeds money is like telling a sinking ship to carry more cargo. What other sector is advised to expand into new areas when the original enterprise is failing? It defies basic business logic.

Then there’s the baffling directive to produce less food under the guise of carbon sequestration and the environment. Let’s be clear: carbon reduction is a global challenge, not something that can be siloed within national borders. Arguing that reducing food production in the UK will somehow benefit the planet, ignores the reality that as long as humans need to eat it merely shifts the carbon footprint elsewhere and to countries with lower production standards.

This is not just short-sighted; it’s a recipe for disaster. The lessons of Ukraine and COVID-19 are clear – reliance on overseas trading can backfire dramatically in times of crisis. We need food security and support to produce the best food sustainably. No Farmers No Food.

The current approach by the government is unsustainable on two fronts: economically, for the farms themselves, and ecologically, for the planet. It risks the future of local farming and undermines global environmental efforts. They have forgotten the 3p’s People Planet Profit.

What can you, the consumer, do? First, really educate yourself about carbon, farming, and the real impact of your food choices.

Understand the issues facing farmers and the environment.

Then, support farmers directly by buying direct quality produce whenever possible. This not only helps sustain local economies but also reduces the carbon footprint associated with long-distance food transport.

I have no doubt it’s time to rethink our approach to farming and food production. Support buying directly, understand the broader impact of your choices, and advocate for policies that genuinely benefit the planet without undermining our food security. Remember, every purchase is a vote for the kind of world you want to live in.

Wiggly Wigglers is based in rural Herefordshire, within The Duchy of Cornwall Estate on Lower Blakemere Farm. From its humble beginnings on Heather’s kitchen table over 30 years ago, their small team sells items promoting sustainability and regeneration.

Research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate has found that a third of UK teenagers believe climate change is ‘exaggerated’, the report found, that many YouTube videos promoting a new kind of climate denial aimed at young people proliferate on the platform. First many believed that climate change was not happening, or that humans were not exacerbating the decline. Now the research indicated the idea that the effects of global heating are beneficial or harmless.

Well, first these youngsters should look at my garden being slowly transformed into a bog, we have had rain almost every day in London. Secondly, my daughter has just returned from a skiing holiday in Aviemore in the Cairngorms National Park, except there was no snow and the only light covering was being used as nursery slopes, with novices being charged hundreds to ski.

In the past, I have tinkered with paid posts using Patreon, and if I’m honest it turned a hobby into a stressful business.

CabbieBlog is free, despite having many ‘Protected’ posts, these, as I wrote recently, are to stop copyright trolls targeting the site, rather than charging per view.

But back to the pros and cons of charging to read my missives.

This ‘no paywall’ strategy is fairly unusual, especially among more established blogs, and it’s certainly not for everyone. But these days it works well enough for me. So I thought I’d share a few thoughts about this option, and why it can be a good choice for most hobbyists.

Less stress

My peers who paywall have excellent reasons for doing so. But they all grapple with a difficult issue, what to offer their paying subscribers? Many produce ‘bonus’ content in the form of additional posts, which means extra work. Others paywall a portion of each post, reducing their audience from thousands to hundreds.

When you dispense with paywalls, publishing is straightforward. Everyone gets everything! You can focus your creative efforts on your writing rather than your monetisation strategy.

More freedom

The minute you paywall, you turn your readers into customers. You’re creating an expectation that they will get something specific for their money. And you know what they say: ‘The customer is always right.’

Having customers can be a little like having a boss. And frankly, the main reason I decided to write on WordPress was to gain more independence. In a no-paywall zone, I can write about whatever I want, however, I want, as often or as little as I want.

The write way

Since I don’t charge at all for my writing, I view the blog as a little gift available to all, and gifting is more fun than selling.

So here’s the obvious question: By forgoing a paywall, am I missing a valuable income stream? Probably! But would that additional income be worth the extra work and stress? Doubtful.

So yes, I’d love to have paying subscribers, not just for the money but for the bragging rights. I’d love to tell people about my thousands of paying subscribers and how my blog earns me a good living.

But it’s hard enough to upload something, anything daily, without worrying if my supporters approve.

Assuming WordPress doesn’t tinker more to the detriment of the hobbyist (as I’ve often written it’s doubtful in my opinion), I’m in this for the long haul, and I’m enjoying the paywall-free ride enough to justify the slower pace.

Another pointless exercise for the run-up to the mayoral election by Sadiq Khan who is rebranding London’s Overground lines.

Now Mayor Khan has spent £6.3 million making six distinct lines, each given a different name and colour.

The simplicity of Harry Beck’s map, which I remember from my youth, has been ruined. We now get a blue Mildmay line, apparently named in tribute to a North London hospital known for its work during the Aids crisis. There’s a Suffragette and Windrush Line, and my local is renamed the Liberty Line.

It is just a ludicrous waste of money and unnecessary added complexity on an already dense Tube map.

All this money is poured away on a vanity project as the London Transport network has received the accolade of having nearly nine times higher crimes per million passengers than New York. That’s 18.6 million reported incidents, and how many went unreported?