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Republicans would be foolish to treat this 90-day pause as a victory big enough to justify scurrying back to their holes, to hide from the wrath of Dear Leader.

The earthquake has reduced it to a mountain of twisted rebar and shattered concrete, dwarfing the hundreds of rescue workers scurrying around it.

It means neighbourhoods are going weeks without collections, sometimes resulting in 6ft bin bag stacks and "rats the size of cats" scurrying around.

Mr Thomas jokes he will "drive up and down it enjoying the clear road", while Barlow hopes to drop off an 11th birthday cake before the lights are scurried away.

But Richardson said he wasn’t sure the prospect of “more rats scurrying around” will be any more galvanizing than pictures of “the sad polar bear floating on ice.”