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After everyone has de-layered and the chairs surrounding us are piled with coats, gloves, scarves, bags and hats, Jon kicks off with: 鈥満诙瓷缜� sites are dangerous places. The main problem is that there鈥檚 too much red tape and a sense of individual responsibility has been taken away.鈥�

鈥淎nd work鈥檚 driven commercially these days,鈥� chips in Steve. 鈥淭he focus is not on health and safety as it is not related to money and there is therefore no incentive.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 shocking that is what we鈥檝e come to. What does that say about society?鈥� asks Claire-Lise. A moment鈥檚 reflection and we鈥檙e off again. 鈥淟ook at Big Brother? What does that say about us?鈥� asks Howard.

Steve is quick to jump in on the debate: 鈥淲ell, it鈥檚 hit the nationals, reached India and really it鈥檚 just bullying, which is horrible, but has been part and parcel of every other Big Brother.鈥�

鈥淏ut should it be part and parcel?鈥� asks Jon. 鈥淪hould we accept it? My wife鈥檚 a teacher and her pupils are young and they watch it. It鈥檚 not a good example.鈥�

鈥淭V in general has a bad affect on children, I think,鈥� says Steve. 鈥淲hen I was young it was 3:30 to 5:30 at the most. Now kids can watch it 24 hours a day on about a million channels.鈥�

鈥淲hen I was a child it took half an hour to even warm the TV up,鈥� adds Jon. The rest of the table don鈥檛 know whether to believe this, and so the conversation moves on. 鈥淲ell, I think it鈥檚 weird that we鈥檙e prepared to forget Iraq and Darfur to complain about Big Brother,鈥� says Claire-Lise.

Jon says a more appropriate reality programme would be 鈥淐ommuter鈥� which would track travellers in and out of the capital and discover their gripes. 鈥淚n Paris the system鈥檚 heavily subsidised. It鈥檚 a service for the public. Here it鈥檚 about making a shedload of money,鈥� says Claire-Lise.

鈥淲hen I was job hunting, I looked for a company on this side of London. It was part of my criteria as I couldn鈥檛 face the tube,鈥� reveals Steve. The group decide that this is probably a deciding factor for most people when choosing a company.

At this point everyone begins to shuffle in their seats and look at their watches. The mention of public transport has reminded us that we need to get home, and soon we鈥檙e bundling back out into the cold, bravely marching off to begin the grim trek.