15 april 2011, the last call

I have just filled in what will probably be the last census ever in the uk. This decennial counting of the people dates back to 1801, when britain, then including all of ireland, had some 9.4m people. Today, we're around 62m, and the cost of counting them is some £500m, mainly accounted for by the 30, 000 people it takes to do it. In a world of highly-mobile people, where 500m voluntarily give more information to facebook, at virtually no cost, there is a general recognition that the system is mildly ludicrous. So, as the country's statistics office cuts costs all round, the probability is that this is the last exercise of its kind. Answering the census was pretty boring, but put me in mind of a security form I had to fill in when first going to work in the bank of england, which had the question - I am not making this up - "are you, or have you ever been, an active member of a terrorist organisation ?". As night falls, I am now going to award myself the prize of most boring blog ever. Watch me on the news, again; will try to do better next time.