Forget Brexit, we need to start talking about the real issue blighting our nation – potholes

It’s no surprise that listeners are turning off the Today programme on Radio 4 – a diet of Brexit, Syria, the Irish border and the complex wording of trade agreements is an indigestible mix first thing in the morning.

Where are the real issues that ordinary people (as opposed to the chattering classes) worry about?

Forget items about the legacy of Philip Roth or smarmy interviews with a Rolling Stone – but potholes. There, I’ve said the unsayable – I’m more interested in the state of the roads than I am in whether Mick Jagger is hot at 108 or whether Theresa May can mesh together the warring factions in her cabinet.

To get a more balanced view of the news agenda, I rely on my local newspaper, the Harrogate Advertiser, which I have been reading for 30 years. Packed with news about the community, crime reports, and reports from flower clubs, cricket leagues and local rock bands, there’s something for everyone. Prince Charles has written a letter supporting Local Newspaper Week – revealing he takes the John O’Groat Journal.

As for potholes – the road to my house in Upper Nidderdale is almost undriveable and visitors have been leaving their cars 100 yards away and walking. To register my pothole (actually about 50 potholes), I was forced to open an account with the North Yorkshire County Council website which tells me 23 other people have complained about the same patch of road, but there is no box for comments. I might as well open my windows and shout out in despair.

As a council tax payer, I have a voice but no one in mission control is listening. A column in the Harrogate Advertiser this week written by Don Mackenzie, NYCC executive member for Highways, claims that 250 streets are scheduled to be repaired, 75 miles at a cost of £4m, of which the government has contributed £1.2m. Apparently a £100,000 Jetpatcher (whatever that is) is going to be bought to carry out rapid pothole repairs. I loathe this man’s emollient tone – he doesn’t live where I do.