Let there be light. Lots of it.

Was anyone in the city centre last night? According to an article in the Manchester Evening News, you couldn't really tell it was Earth Hour (as organised by that well-known radical grassroots group WWF).

The Big Wheel kept on turning, mostly lit up. The Palace Theatre was ablaze (figuratively), "as did the lights of signature buildings in the corporate Spinningfields district off Deansgate."

Hmm. The best comment (if you're a hopeless curmudgeon) was a tweet by the following chap, http://twitter.com/CarbonHeart :

Just think turning lights off is a feeble gesture, like bailing the Titanic with a teaspoon. Detracts attention from more effective actions.

But I digress. The MEN piece closes with the following -

City centre spokesman Coun Pat Karney said: "Poor marks for Manchester, we have let the side down. Most of us were probably more preoccupied with putting the clocks forward that with Earth Hour, which saw many other city centres across the world dramatically plunged into darkness.

"It's a possibility that it wasn't well enough publicised in the city. I only started reading about it about a day or two before it was happening and I'm sure the majority of people had no idea it was happening. We can only apologise to the rest of the world and make sure we make a better effort next year."

Sure. I feel safer already. How about having a monthly Council backed one? To get people into the swing of things...