Shame it won't reach 200. Shall we have a sweepstake?

I'll start the ball rolling and offer a generous 172. The end comes
when no part of the MO(1) remains a central government-
funded and controlled(2) service.

Too pessimistic! The present orthodoxy will not last for ever. Look,
at the non-headline stuff, what is happening on the railways. Eventually we
will have BR back, in effect. So with the Met Office. A vague, optimistic
feeling? Of course it is. But I would put very little money on 172. More
like "200". What odds are you offering, Philip?

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.