It's a new dawn, a new day, a new year, and a new decade (and any wiseacre who quips that the 'Teens' don't really begin until 2011 can go to the back of the class). Happy New Year, folks — let's hope it's a good one, without any fear. Here's some pics of last night's firework fun, and the New Year's Day Parade today, rendered ass-backwards to please our North American amigos.
Despite the "disgraceful" decision by "Scrooge Boris" (© all Labour bloggers / activists) to shorten the display by two minutes for a £70,000 saving, the fireworks last night were pretty spectacular, and a distinct improvement from the drab display we got in 1999 (memories of the disappointing 'River of Fire' have yet to fade). 200,000 people thronged the Thames last night to get a glimpse, while today's parade drew up to half a million.
As reported earlier in the month, the decision by TfL not to subsidise free rail travel last night meant that people using mainline services would have been subject to the standard fare; however, according to Standard blogger Paul Waugh, the Train Operating Companies had "no intention" of trying to sell tickets, wisely reasoning that a few hours' of lost fares would be cheaper than facing up to umpteen lost manhours through staff attacked by aggressive drunk revellers. Anybody have any experience of being charged (or not) on a train in the wee hours of this morning?
