Toby Archer reveals Finland’s selection of small but perfectly formed ice climbs

I’ve noticed over the years that the BBC uses Finland as a social democratic nirvana against which to contrast the UK’s failings. In a story on youth imprisonment in the UK, the reporter interviewing Finnish experts on their system explained that in Finland they are closing down prisons – his hotel used to be Helsinki’s main gaol. The last bit is true, and it’s a cool hotel I would recommend – but the reporter failed to note that there is a new, larger prison outside town, nor that Finnish prisons have regularly been criticized by the Council of Europe for their poor conditions. Similarly, the Finnish education system does very well in international comparisons but is still far from perfect and you have to feel sorry for the kids in the good, downtown schools who are paraded out in front of the world’s media (including the BBC on numerous occasions) by the proud Finnish ministry of education officials week after week. Last winter when the whole of the UK was in grip of snow and cold temperatures, the BBC did a piece on why Helsinki airport stays open when snow closes Heathrow. One would have thought that most people could work out for themselves that an airport that can expect snow on the ground for about 4 months of the year and has one fifth of the passenger traffic of Heathrow probably would have its ploughing capacity sorted. At about the same time, the Guardian ran a story noting that in Finland the council will come and put winter tyres on your car! Having done this tedious bi-annual chore for the last decade, I can promise you that they do not. But regardless of the actual truth of the matter, there is nothing more that the Finnish media loves than reporting the positive reporting of Finland in another nation’s media.