blastLincoln

This is the full text of David Humpage’s open letter to Mr Briggs, replying to his “statement” last week:

Dear Mr Briggs,

Last Wednesday in the Rasen Mail you published a statement as to why it’s perfectly OK that the blasts from your Faldingworth test site should annoy and inconvenience hundreds of people. In a nutshell, you told us (the victims) that we couldn’t possibly have a problem, because your test machine says so. You claimed that you had Science on your side, against our mere subjectivity.

Well I have news for you, Mr Briggs: Self-Interest is not Science.

You claim that your little seismograph reported “no readings” one kilometre from the blasts. But as I understand it, Mr Briggs, you hadn’t even read the manual when you placed the machine. What you’ve done is to buy your scientific toy, spend five minutes on the manual, take some “readings” which suit your purpose, and expect us to swallow this like good little obedient children. But nobody becomes an expert in seismology or acoustics overnight, Mr Briggs, and this certainly includes you. Your “science” is no such thing, it is self-serving rubbish. It is an excuse for you to carry on making large amounts of money at the expense of our quality of life.

A measuring instrument is a tool, Mr Briggs, and a tool is only as good as its user. I am bored with being told, by people who can’t use tools, that I “cannot have a problem” because their little toy says so. I should like to suggest a different approach: why not look at what happens to your blasts, not when they leave your site, but when they arrive at our houses?

You could ask yourself: how come that, in a whole lot of solidly-built, well-decorated, ex-RAF houses at Newtoft, large cracks have suddenly appeared in walls and ceilings in the last 2 years? Isn’t it a co-incidence, Mr Briggs, that all these houses should suddenly wear out at the same time?

You could ask yourself: how come that, if these explosions have “always” gone on at this site (as you claim), all the complaints to the council have only happened in the last 2 years? (that is, since you bought the site).

You could even ask yourself: why are all these people saying that you’re preventing them doing their jobs? Why are the hospital shift-workers saying that blasts every 20 minutes are preventing them sleeping? Why is that bloke down at Toft who writes music saying you’re ruining his business because, well, recordings with big bangs in aren’t all that useful?

But you won’t ask yourself any of this, will you Mr Briggs? You’ll just tell us we’re silly trouble-makers, and that you are right and everyone else is wrong: the residents, the council, the media, the MP, the whole shebang. And that you’re just doing your job, charitably helping out “our boys” in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or whichever war you can think of that day (I notice it shifts). And that it’s nothing at all to do with making lots of money, no, not at all.

Self-Interest is not Science, Mr Briggs. Decency is still decency. And people are still people. Do yourself a favour, and notice what you’re doing, before it is noticed for you.

David Humpage