quibble

Hello, we are Jonathan and Abigail - unashamed pedants who want to bring this affliction to bear on all things public policy and practice. We believe that details matter, especially in public administration. This is why today we are founding quibble: a campaign to fix the small stuff. Think, for example, about the cookie banner that we click on every webpage. Each instance is not a big deal, so we just put up with it. But its cumulative impact adds up - on average we press it 5 times per day. The European Commission estimates that it costs EU citizens 343 million hours per year. And who is there to represent the impacts of seemingly minor issues like this in a systematic way? We want quibble to be the answer. In the case of the cookie banner, lots of advocacy has rightly focused on privacy, but has this meant that user experience has taken a backseat? We believe there are ways to improve user experience without compromising on privacy. We will share more about this soon. Consider another example. Did you know that in some government-run car parks you can be fined for a minor keying error, such as accidentally typing a zero instead of an “o”? Again, we will come to the detail of this quibble in the coming weeks, but for now just consider again the question: who? Who is there currently to systematically represent the interests of the parker who is given an unfair ticket? An inherent feature of consumer interests is that those who have them rarely have enough other things in common to make collective organisation and representation feasible. This is the gap that quibble seeks to fill. Now of course excellent consumer interest groups exist. But understandably quibbles might not be at the top of their lists. Our hope is that quibble will be complementary; picking up the bottom-of-the-list issues faced by various groups - the stuff they are almost too embarrassed to raise because they are too small. We are not embarrassed about detail. If you’ve ever had a splinter, you know small things can have a big impact. This is what quibble is committed to tackling, and our wider hope is that by doing so we will also incentivise policy makers to be even more careful about detail. Check out our website here, including our first four campaigns: quibble.org.uk

ABIGAIL BRADSHAW: Mind-numbing parking apps, websites with no telephone number...why we must all declare war on those everyday niggles driving us up the wall trib.al/dmvXTmw

@Middlesaxon2 Thank you

@quibbleUK Yes I did. Hounslow Council did rescind it.

🗣️🅿️ Have you had a parking fine for a minor typo/keying error in your number plate? We are trying to identify where local authorities are enforcing these, but the data is limited, so we need your examples! Please comment below, DM, or email abigail@quibble.org.uk. Details such as location, date, whether you appealed, and result of appeal, are all helpful. (At the moment our attention is focused primarily council car parks, as this is where the rules are most ambiguous and the evidence most patchy.)

@RoyalFineArt Thank you for this.

@quibbleUK One thing is for local authorities to issue Breach of Condition notices where kiosks are redundant. Simple measure that has greatly reduced clutter in eg Tottenham Court Road.

These 3 phone boxes stand within ~100m of each other, just outside Victoria Station. We’re currently taking a very “quibbly” look into what is going on nationally - including the roles of BT, Ofcom, local authorities, MHCLG, & others - to see what can be done to improve things.

@jstevens2015 Thank you, noted.

@quibbleUK Suggestion: unnecessary street furniture! Horrid random poles that once served a sign. “New layout ahead” signs for works done decades ago.

Is there a more photographed location in London? Why don’t we maintain them better? It’s projecting decline.

A particularly “striking” one near Deptford.

And this one, just in front of Westminster Abbey… (Will be putting these together for a longer video on our other socials, so do follow those!)

We actually took a walk around that area a few weeks back, along with our Ministry of Detail clipboard. For one of the boxes we had to queue for a good while as there were so many people wanting a photograph with it. The conditions of the boxes varied but very few were in a reasonable state. Clearly right that the number of times people experience a place should factor in to prioritisation of their maintenance. It makes us think of other “civic facades” like airport arrival terminals and train stations - often the first impression you get of a place.

As ever, the picture is complex, but we’re identifying several realistic changes that could make a significant difference - both to their ubiquity & their upkeep. H/t to @createstreets for their hugely informative #BoxBlight report and campaign work on this already. More soon!

@elladorn_ Interesting, thanks for these. If we were to take it on, would probably restrict ourselves to confronting a certain form of forced-choice framing. Also curious how widespread - if anyone has seen other examples...

It was the same with the London pedicab consultation - you were forced to say pedicabs could be a good option for eco friendly transport. You were not allowed to call for an outright ban, had to select maximum regulations. It was clear they had chosen the policy they wanted

OK so is there any way to regulate govt consultations to avoid this obviously anti-democratic tendency? Can we set up an avenue to question consultation design? Is this a job for @quibbleUK maybe

@QuibbleUK @Atomskibomb Mind? I am absolutely delighted. Flattered!

@thetimes 👋

Enraged by life’s minor annoyances? The Quibble alliance can help #Echobox=1780649051" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">thetimes.com/uk/technology-…

@eagm Interesting, thank you - shall take a look.

@QuibbleUK It's unfair that the FCDO charges £45 for an apostille on a document, instead of the Register Office providing this. You get a legal document from an official source then have to send it to another official source to confirm that it is official before you can prove your identity!

Hello, we are Jonathan and Abigail - unashamed pedants who want to bring this affliction to bear on all things public policy and practice. We believe that details matter, especially in public administration. This is why today we are founding quibble: a campaign to fix the small stuff. Think, for example, about the cookie banner that we click on every webpage. Each instance is not a big deal, so we just put up with it. But its cumulative impact adds up - on average we press it 5 times per day. The European Commission estimates that it costs EU citizens 343 million hours per year. And who is there to represent the impacts of seemingly minor issues like this in a systematic way? We want quibble to be the answer. In the case of the cookie banner, lots of advocacy has rightly focused on privacy, but has this meant that user experience has taken a backseat? We believe there are ways to improve user experience without compromising on privacy. We will share more about this soon. Consider another example. Did you know that in some government-run car parks you can be fined for a minor keying error, such as accidentally typing a zero instead of an “o”? Again, we will come to the detail of this quibble in the coming weeks, but for now just consider again the question: who? Who is there currently to systematically represent the interests of the parker who is given an unfair ticket? An inherent feature of consumer interests is that those who have them rarely have enough other things in common to make collective organisation and representation feasible. This is the gap that quibble seeks to fill. Now of course excellent consumer interest groups exist. But understandably quibbles might not be at the top of their lists. Our hope is that quibble will be complementary; picking up the bottom-of-the-list issues faced by various groups - the stuff they are almost too embarrassed to raise because they are too small. We are not embarrassed about detail. If you’ve ever had a splinter, you know small things can have a big impact. This is what quibble is committed to tackling, and our wider hope is that by doing so we will also incentivise policy makers to be even more careful about detail. Check out our website here, including our first four campaigns: quibble.org.uk

@ScottGoetz_ Interesting - will look into it, thanks.

Could you campaign to assume that all pre packaged sandwiches are being taken away so that I no longer have to lie to avoid VAT at Pret.

@RobLister4 Interesting, thank you - will look into it.

@QuibbleUK Don’t ask for plastic recycling to be rinsed. It would increase recycling rates and save water (it takes much more water to rinse 1,000 yoghurt pots individually). They do it in Europe, why not here?

It was great to be on @BBCr4today and @TimesRadio on Tuesday morning. Do also listen out for us on @LBC this Saturday morning, and @BBCWiltshire on Monday morning. We’re still holding out for North Norfolk Digital… reckon Alan would ruddy love quibble.