Healthy suspicion

The Ministry of Health building. It seems to have had a recent lick of paint as it looked even more bright than normal as I cycled past. Of course three seconds after taking this picture I was accosted by a security guard and informed it was against the rules to photograph the building. I made some vague comment about not doing it again but he couldn’t tell me why it was a specific rule or whether it applies to other government buildings. Perhaps there’s a crippling fear that British men on bikes are undercover journalists desperate to unearth state health secrets.

I think I’d like to live in a world where relationships between governments and citizens are cordial enough that no one freaks out when a government building is captured on an iPhone. Especially when a building has been purposefully painted yellow and will therefore attract passersby. Arguably, if people aren’t allowed to record the aesthetic, the Ministry should have remained a drab colour and spent its limited resources on tackling various national health crises.