Keep calm and carry on? No chance of that...

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been listening to the above soundtrack in recent days.

November 5. Bonfire Day. Guy Fawkes Night.

It is an unashamedly British festival which those from abroad look at with a mix of intrigue and horror. For those who do not remember, remember the history lesson at school, communities come together to watch a male mannequin burned at the stake to celebrate the foiling of a Catholic plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

It was a moment when the political elite fought back, when the wellbeing and safety of the country’s establishment became celebrated nationwide. Just over 500 years on, the bonfires still burn brightly. But the love, respect and celebration for those running the country does not remain.

At the moment, there is no worse time to belong to “the Establishment”.

The phrase has come to be a by-word for everything that is wrong with Great Britain. Barely a day goes by when I do not hear of someone spit the words out in a seething rage. Receive a parking fine? “It’s the Establishment’s fault” Fail to get that promotion? “Blummin political elite”.

No Marmite on the shelves? “Self-serving supermarket snafflers....”.

The cause of this blind hatred has been brought about by the financial crisis just over a decade ago. The Parliamentary expenses scandal did not help. Then there’s Brexit, which has widened the cracks so far that a giant chasm runs down the middle of the country. This is the same country that has had political stability for centuries, a nation built on politeness, a respect for others and sorting disagreements out over a cup of tea. Keep calm and carry on? Forget about it.

In one swift stroke, that essential part of the UK’s DNA has disappeared and been replaced by a furious feral mob who believe their collective will far exceeds anyone else’s right to be heard. The last few days have seen this come to the fore, with the furore over the High Court ruling on triggering Brexit talks.

All the decision said was that those we elect to represent the country need to give the go-ahead before the Government gets on with the meaty stuff.

Instead, it has been dressed up as an attempt to subvert the will of the people and stand in the way of our Brexit destiny. For the successful millionaire businesswoman who brought the legal action forward, she was vilified for being born in another country. Meanwhile, the experienced judges who made the decision were slammed as “enemies of the people”.

One is not fit to do his job because he likes Tony Blair and has worked in Europe, another because he enjoys fencing (the sport, not wood panelling). A third was simply labelled as “openly gay”.

Such rhetoric is a collection of hoods and a pile of pitchforks away from being something very dangerous, extremely upsetting and frankly sickening.

I’ve heard the arguments shouted at me as to why people are so upset around the B-word.

This is about democracy. This is about British sovereignty. This is about taking back control.

No it’s not.

This is simply about being angry and looking for someone else to blame.

For that reason I am scared.

And when there are scary uncertain times ahead, we need people in charge to take tough decisions to ensure that order remains; not individuals intent on blowing up everything our country has been built on.

How’s this for a rubbish idea?

Spend years encouraging people to bring their waste to a dedicated centre where they separate it for you so it can be recycled more easily. Once they get comfortable doing the donkey work for you, then start charging people for the privilege because you think you can get money out of them. Then, be surprised when said members of the public refuse to pay and start throwing their previously recyclable goods in the bin, which ends up costing you cash to get rid of.

Well that’s the situation West Sussex County Council is staring at after introducing charges at its household and recycling centres. For the last five weeks soil, rubble, bricks and tyres has had to pay for the privilege.

But on countless tip runs, I’ve not seen one person part with any cash.

Instead, more people are just throwing stuff that could have been recycled into the general waste bin.

, or worse, contaminating the things that could be re-used.

Its achievement is to make the usually courteous staff stressed and exhausted as they run around all day trying to inspect what is being chucked.

Rather than continuing with this brain-dead policy and throwing taxpayers’ money down the drain,

Time county hall chucked the idea in the bin.