Our leaders, of course, love democracy – until it comes up with an answer different to the one they were expecting. Last week, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announced an online poll for the public to vote for the name of a new Arctic and Antarctic-going vessel to replace my ageing near-namesake the RRS James Clark Ross. The outcome will tell us volumes about what public bodies really think of public opinion.
While a few members of the public favoured suggestions such as the RRS (royal research ship) David Attenborough and the RRS Henry Worsley, after the explorer who died in January after coming very close to the end of a solo crossing of Antarctic, the overwhelming favourite so far is the RRS Boaty McBoatface – a suggestion put forward by a former BBC presenter James Hand. At the time of writing it has 10 times as many votes as the next-highest suggestion.
So does that mean that come 2019 scientists will be packing their theodolites and setting sail on the RRS Boaty McBoatface? Don’t bet on it.
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