Perhaps you can help clarify something that Phillip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, said in the House of Commons? He was asked why winter tyres were not made compulsory, or at least encouraged, in this country. He said that chains, studs, snow tyres AND winter tyres would not be suitable as they deteriorated quickly unless driven on hard-packed snow, something that does not occur for long in this country. He seemed to be lumping 'winter tyres' in with the others, which I appreciate one could only use on a few days a year. I gathered from what you have said that Winter Tyres are in most respects identical to normal tyres, except they do not 'solidify' in cold weather and so maintain their grip on the road. Is this not so?