Sometimes I wonder why I bother with conservatism. Tory ineptitude at home and Republican grotesquerie in America is pushing me to the edge. Perhaps I should embrace my inner radical and defect to the red corner — or, more likely for me, the green one.

“Beleaguered rangers complain that a new generation of holidaymakers are treating the countryside like a festival site, leaving behind tents, chairs and excrement, as well as endangering rare habitats and wildlife.”

But why don’t they understand it? Inevitably, there are those who think it’s the Government’s fault — for not spending enough money:

“An unprecedented rise in litter, damaging fires and ‘fly-camping’ across the English countryside is partly a result of the government spending less than £2,000 a year over the past decade on promoting the Countryside Code, campaigners say.”

Well “campaigners” would say that, wouldn’t they? The idea that a social problem might be wholly the fault of those perpetrating it is now alien to the Leftist mindset. I mean, why rely on people to exercise personal responsibility when we could blame the state instead?

Except that the Countryside Code isn’t written in code, but freely available for anyone to read. Moreover, most of it is common sense. You don’t need specialist knowledge to take home your rubbish, or close a gate behind you or control your dog, you just need to be a decent human being.

Deliberately dropping litter betrays a sickness of the soul, not a lack of public spending. Shifting responsibility to the state weakens the social pressure which, in this case, is our best defence against individual selfishness.

If people won’t do the right thing out of respect, then let fear, fines and community service do the job instead.

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Peter Franklin is Associate Editor of UnHerd. He was previously a policy advisor and speechwriter on environmental and social issues.

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