Our bureaucratic overlords have been spending the taxpayers’ dime on mixed messages, as it appears the Welsh government aren’t the only ones who’ve been funding dodgy adverts. According to the The Telegraph, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have been paying social media influencers to post videos about why we should use wood burners this winter, advertising this trendy way of heating homes is great thanks to their lovely “cosy vibe“. These aren’t the only Defra-funded campaigns on smokey stoves…

At the same time, Defra has also been funding the London Wood Burning Project, a group of 18 London boroughs sharing information on the “human health impacts” of wood burners. The campaign warns against wood burners leading to cancer and lung disease, with ads labelling them “burny“, with taglines like “careless not cosy.” Perhaps our pen pushers’ new year’s resolution should be to spend our money on just the one line of argument…