Mark Andrews: Snitching on bad drivers, and why can't we invest in green energy and North Sea gas?

During Joseph Stalin's 'Red Terror' purges in the 1930s, a youngster named Pavel Morozov became something of a poster boy after supposedly grassing on his father for disloyalty to the regime.

'Denunciation', as it was officially known, was all the rage, and the Soviet authorities ran regular campaigns telling children they had a patriotic duty to report their parents if they lacked commitment to the cause. 

I wonder what Pavel would have made of Operation Snap, the campaign backed by West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, encouraging people to inform on motorists who commit minor driving offences. I suspect he would have been well up for it.

The commissioner's office has proudly announced that, over an 11-month period, a total of 5,919 drivers have been fined after 13,543 videos were uploaded by snitches onto a police website. Since the scheme was launched, a total of 4,524 people have taken the opportunity to report their peers, with one individual submitting a mind-boggling 539 entries. I bet he's fun at parties.