Back in the time of Margaret Thatcher, there was a revolving door in politics: here, business folk and politicians passed through, gaining contacts and directorships as they went. This habit has not gone away. Now, it is lobbyists and advisors that pass through the door, as demonstrated with the release yesterday of a list of Special Advisors (SpADs), together with details of their remuneration packages.
Head SpAD, not surprisingly, is Andy Coulson (and trousering an agreeable 140k with it), but look further down the list to those attached to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and you will see the name Susie Squire. Susie who? Ah well. La Squire is a former staffer at the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance (representing less than one tenth of one per cent of all taxpayers, and still not publishing full accounts).
No actual salary is shown for her, but given the PB2 grading, this will be somewhere between 60k and 70k – not bad for someone whose CV features such highlights as “Identifying Council non jobs”, while filling one herself. La Squire is one of the new users of the latest revolving door: last month part of an Astroturf lobby group, and now on the Government payroll.
That’ll be the payroll that the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance says is too high, and funds too many hangers on. Hey, even its former “campaign director” says so. And who was that “campaign director”? Step forward Susie Squire!
Can you smell a faint whiff of hypocrisy?
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Monday, 14 June 2010
What The Fox?
Much was made by Young Dave and his jolly good chaps of the tendency of Pa Broon and his clan to make policy announcements to the press, and not, as was previously the case before the New Labour Project, to Parliament. Now that the boot is very much on the other foot, the new and improved two-headed donkey seems to be carrying on the same way.
Typifying this not very new politics is Defence Secretary Liam Fox, reliably right wing although, on occasion, a loose cannon. Fox clearly wants a new Chief of the Defence Staff, but incumbent Jock Stirrup has not yet volunteered his resignation. The solution was clear: Fox went on the Beeb’s Politics Show yesterday lunchtime, told how there had been “amicable” discussions, and that Stirrup, along with Permanent Under Secretary Bill Jeffrey, would be on their way soon.
The two, it now transpires, could be out before the upcoming Defence Review, which may bring a smaller Army – Fox is telling that he cannot rule any option out. Perhaps he will also not rule out bringing his news to Parliament. If Mr Speaker uses this as a means of reasserting the authority of the Commons, of one thing we can be certain: those commentators who applauded his warnings to Pa Broon will find adversely on any perceived upbraiding of Young Dave.
Meanwhile, the last word on Defence has to go to Liam Fox, who has told that nothing is ruled out of the Defence Review, save for the nuclear deterrent, because “ ... the threat is so great that we can’t drop the deterrent”.
Er, hello? If you can’t drop it, why have it?
Typifying this not very new politics is Defence Secretary Liam Fox, reliably right wing although, on occasion, a loose cannon. Fox clearly wants a new Chief of the Defence Staff, but incumbent Jock Stirrup has not yet volunteered his resignation. The solution was clear: Fox went on the Beeb’s Politics Show yesterday lunchtime, told how there had been “amicable” discussions, and that Stirrup, along with Permanent Under Secretary Bill Jeffrey, would be on their way soon.
The two, it now transpires, could be out before the upcoming Defence Review, which may bring a smaller Army – Fox is telling that he cannot rule any option out. Perhaps he will also not rule out bringing his news to Parliament. If Mr Speaker uses this as a means of reasserting the authority of the Commons, of one thing we can be certain: those commentators who applauded his warnings to Pa Broon will find adversely on any perceived upbraiding of Young Dave.
Meanwhile, the last word on Defence has to go to Liam Fox, who has told that nothing is ruled out of the Defence Review, save for the nuclear deterrent, because “ ... the threat is so great that we can’t drop the deterrent”.
Er, hello? If you can’t drop it, why have it?
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Summer Days In Cheshire
Today is that flip side of the warm summer day, the showery aftermath. But yesterday was the kind of summer Saturday of fondest memory: high, strong sunshine, a little breeze, and fewer clouds as the afternoon wore on. Maybe the benefit of this interlude was not felt everywhere in the UK, but then, Cheshire does benefit from its position well away from the effect of anything coming off the cold North Sea, while being sheltered from the Atlantic approaches.
The day can be summed up in this photo taken during the afternoon at the wayside station in the village of Mouldsworth, a few miles east of Chester, and on the fringe of the Delamere Forest. Returning to the other side of the Pennines in the stately manner one would expect of times past, a charter train hauled by a steam locomotive rumbles past the trees and hedgerows. The idyllic scene is not from idealised memory, but very much of the present day.
Having the city of Chester as a destination may also have sold the tour to some of the participants. There are some photos of Chester HERE, in case you’re not familiar with the place.
The day can be summed up in this photo taken during the afternoon at the wayside station in the village of Mouldsworth, a few miles east of Chester, and on the fringe of the Delamere Forest. Returning to the other side of the Pennines in the stately manner one would expect of times past, a charter train hauled by a steam locomotive rumbles past the trees and hedgerows. The idyllic scene is not from idealised memory, but very much of the present day.
Having the city of Chester as a destination may also have sold the tour to some of the participants. There are some photos of Chester HERE, in case you’re not familiar with the place.
Good Riddance, Terry Tesco – 3
Those looking for a USP that sets Tesco apart from its competitors need look no further than the loyalty scheme that is the Clubcard. It’s a simple and nifty idea: punters get a point for every pound they spend, and those points can be redeemed at a penny a go – but only at Tesco stores.
On the face of it, this looks like a generous act, but it isn’t. Those vouchers that drop through the letter boxes of the Tesco faithful are not some kind of universal money substitute – although you can cash them in (not with Tesco) for less than their face value – but a means of causing those punters to keep choosing one retailer over another.
Clubcard points don’t mean you get a discount of any significance on your shopping: their full “value” is only redeemed if you do yet more shopping. And the information this provides Tesco about your retail preferences is worth it. That information enables the retailer to target new products and services far more effectively. Thus more bang is extracted from each promotional buck: those Clubcard points more than pay for themselves.
And Clubcard points are given entirely at the discretion of Tesco – which means, for instance, that not every forecourt gives them on petrol sales. Generally, you’re more likely to get points on petrol where there is a large enough store nearby – in other words, there is more likelihood that you will be doing enough shopping to make it worthwhile for Tesco to offer a little inducement. As ever, any advantage from this arrangement accrues to them, not to you.
But the facade must be maintained: all those “personalised” letters that accompany Clubcard statements and vouchers help reinforce this. In reality, they are yet another way of targeting punters according to their shopping habits. The idea that Tim Mason, or any of his minions, give any attention to mere individuals is laughable.
And the brains behind Clubcard? Step forward Terry Leahy. This scheme is Leahy in a nutshell: the appearance is given that the customer matters, but the reality is that there is only one beneficiary, and that is Tesco. You’ve signed up to the Clubcard myth? More fool you.
On the face of it, this looks like a generous act, but it isn’t. Those vouchers that drop through the letter boxes of the Tesco faithful are not some kind of universal money substitute – although you can cash them in (not with Tesco) for less than their face value – but a means of causing those punters to keep choosing one retailer over another.
Clubcard points don’t mean you get a discount of any significance on your shopping: their full “value” is only redeemed if you do yet more shopping. And the information this provides Tesco about your retail preferences is worth it. That information enables the retailer to target new products and services far more effectively. Thus more bang is extracted from each promotional buck: those Clubcard points more than pay for themselves.
And Clubcard points are given entirely at the discretion of Tesco – which means, for instance, that not every forecourt gives them on petrol sales. Generally, you’re more likely to get points on petrol where there is a large enough store nearby – in other words, there is more likelihood that you will be doing enough shopping to make it worthwhile for Tesco to offer a little inducement. As ever, any advantage from this arrangement accrues to them, not to you.
But the facade must be maintained: all those “personalised” letters that accompany Clubcard statements and vouchers help reinforce this. In reality, they are yet another way of targeting punters according to their shopping habits. The idea that Tim Mason, or any of his minions, give any attention to mere individuals is laughable.
And the brains behind Clubcard? Step forward Terry Leahy. This scheme is Leahy in a nutshell: the appearance is given that the customer matters, but the reality is that there is only one beneficiary, and that is Tesco. You’ve signed up to the Clubcard myth? More fool you.
Ingerlundflags! – 2
So the big game finally arrived. And now it has passed into the realms of bad memories. What went wrong?
Those still inclined to follow England should not throw in the towel yet: the team drew its first match in 1966, and didn’t even manage a goal. England came close to going out at the group stage in 1986, before finally being undone by the best and worst of Diego Maradona.
Moreover, the USA can field a side with a very good value goalkeeper: their first choice is Tim Howard, who plays in the Premiership with Everton. Toffees’ manager David Moyes and his squad give that league’s best value for money by the proverbial country mile.
But, when all’s said and done, the effect of all those Ingerlundflags was, more or less, zero. There are an awful lot of cheesy looking motahs running around to no avail.
As ever, it will be down to the team. And the manager.
Those still inclined to follow England should not throw in the towel yet: the team drew its first match in 1966, and didn’t even manage a goal. England came close to going out at the group stage in 1986, before finally being undone by the best and worst of Diego Maradona.
Moreover, the USA can field a side with a very good value goalkeeper: their first choice is Tim Howard, who plays in the Premiership with Everton. Toffees’ manager David Moyes and his squad give that league’s best value for money by the proverbial country mile.
But, when all’s said and done, the effect of all those Ingerlundflags was, more or less, zero. There are an awful lot of cheesy looking motahs running around to no avail.
As ever, it will be down to the team. And the manager.
Friday, 11 June 2010
Several Years Missed, Nothing Much Changes
Last night, for the first time in several years, I found myself watching the Beeb’s recently controversial Question Time. And very little seems to have changed over time: Dimbleby Major is still in charge (he’s not a patch on Robin Day), the audience contributions are not unlike panning for gold (you have to sift through a lot of dross), and some of the panel you would not want to get stuck with in the proverbial lift.
The new and improved two-headed donkey put up a real minister for this edition, the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. I had only previously seen still photos of him, and seeing the bloke in the flesh, he appears disturbingly swivel-eyed. This was a reason, back in the 70s and 80s, for much of the Fourth Estate to dump on politicians like Tony Benn, but as Hunt is a Tory, this aspect of his demeanour will probably pass unnoticed.
The right wing credentials of the panel were further bolstered by Toby Young, who as an associate editor of the Spectator and a food critic, qualifies without question as one of those clever people who talk loudly in restaurants. Unfortunately for the TV audience, he was also allowed to talk loudly on Question Time. Young echoed much of the right leaning press and blogosphere in finding adversely upon Barack Obama’s stance on BP, without pausing to consider what we in the UK might have thought of an oil major overseeing the pollution of hundreds of miles of beaches.
Young and those of similar thought would be more credible if mainstream centre right politicians were making the same noises, but other than Mayor of London Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, who has railed against Obama’s judgement in the course of extracting his “chicken feed” from the Maily Telegraph, nobody else of any note wants to know.
Fortunately for the cause of balance, the panel also included Respect leader Salma Yaqoob, who was not phased by Hunt or Young, or indeed token business person Katie Hopkins, whose ability to drone on in a strangely unattractive monotone did not endear her to the audience. Oh, and Ben Bradshaw, now Hunt’s shadow, was also present, but strangely unmemorable, apart from allowing Dimbleby to trip him up over Labour leadership nominations. As, ultimately, was the programme.
Not really worth Andy Coulson having a stampy tantrum over, was it?
The new and improved two-headed donkey put up a real minister for this edition, the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. I had only previously seen still photos of him, and seeing the bloke in the flesh, he appears disturbingly swivel-eyed. This was a reason, back in the 70s and 80s, for much of the Fourth Estate to dump on politicians like Tony Benn, but as Hunt is a Tory, this aspect of his demeanour will probably pass unnoticed.
The right wing credentials of the panel were further bolstered by Toby Young, who as an associate editor of the Spectator and a food critic, qualifies without question as one of those clever people who talk loudly in restaurants. Unfortunately for the TV audience, he was also allowed to talk loudly on Question Time. Young echoed much of the right leaning press and blogosphere in finding adversely upon Barack Obama’s stance on BP, without pausing to consider what we in the UK might have thought of an oil major overseeing the pollution of hundreds of miles of beaches.
Young and those of similar thought would be more credible if mainstream centre right politicians were making the same noises, but other than Mayor of London Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, who has railed against Obama’s judgement in the course of extracting his “chicken feed” from the Maily Telegraph, nobody else of any note wants to know.
Fortunately for the cause of balance, the panel also included Respect leader Salma Yaqoob, who was not phased by Hunt or Young, or indeed token business person Katie Hopkins, whose ability to drone on in a strangely unattractive monotone did not endear her to the audience. Oh, and Ben Bradshaw, now Hunt’s shadow, was also present, but strangely unmemorable, apart from allowing Dimbleby to trip him up over Labour leadership nominations. As, ultimately, was the programme.
Not really worth Andy Coulson having a stampy tantrum over, was it?
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Good Riddance, Terry Tesco – 2
As I mentioned the other day, Tesco are not universally acclaimed for good customer service, and nothing throws this into sharper focus than an attempt to obtain refund or replacement for faulty electrical goods.
Many jokes have been made at the expense of catalogue store Argos (one of the best known being Jasper Carrott’s characterisation of the name as “the Greek God of queuing”). But when your electrical product breaks down, you’re entitled to take it back, and you take it back, they then tend to take it back. Not so Tesco.
The experience of retired teacher Peter Ward at the hands of Terry Leahy’s finest, following the breakdown of his television, is not unique. And the hoops he had to jump through in order to get the retailer just to comply with current legislation will be familiar to many. First of these is the helpline.
Why bother with “helplines”? Wouldn’t it be cheaper, and better business, just to concede the point and make a refund? Ah well. That misses two crucial reasons for having the helpline in the first place. First, the helpline charges enough to bring in significant extra revenue, and second, punters are held in the queue long enough not only to make more money, but to put many of them off. You have to be determined to get your money back from Tesco.
Then, as Peter Ward found out, going to the store is not in itself enough. The minimum requirement for any progress is that the duty store manager must be summoned. Even then, there is bound to be a stand-off (I won’t go into my own experiences in any detail, save to say that I recognise Ward’s situation). Only when the customer has dug their heels in and refused to be moved will any kind of service be forthcoming.
This, too, puts punters off. The money generated from helplines that tend not to provide much in the way of help, and the difficulty in getting redress – your entitlement as a consumer – both contribute to the bottom line. This behaviour does not just happen, but is part of a corporate culture. It starts at the top.
Terry Tesco may receive rave reviews from the business correspondents. But the ordinary Joes and Joannes contribute to those headline numbers by getting fobbed off with appalling customer service.
That’s not good enough.
Many jokes have been made at the expense of catalogue store Argos (one of the best known being Jasper Carrott’s characterisation of the name as “the Greek God of queuing”). But when your electrical product breaks down, you’re entitled to take it back, and you take it back, they then tend to take it back. Not so Tesco.
The experience of retired teacher Peter Ward at the hands of Terry Leahy’s finest, following the breakdown of his television, is not unique. And the hoops he had to jump through in order to get the retailer just to comply with current legislation will be familiar to many. First of these is the helpline.
Why bother with “helplines”? Wouldn’t it be cheaper, and better business, just to concede the point and make a refund? Ah well. That misses two crucial reasons for having the helpline in the first place. First, the helpline charges enough to bring in significant extra revenue, and second, punters are held in the queue long enough not only to make more money, but to put many of them off. You have to be determined to get your money back from Tesco.
Then, as Peter Ward found out, going to the store is not in itself enough. The minimum requirement for any progress is that the duty store manager must be summoned. Even then, there is bound to be a stand-off (I won’t go into my own experiences in any detail, save to say that I recognise Ward’s situation). Only when the customer has dug their heels in and refused to be moved will any kind of service be forthcoming.
This, too, puts punters off. The money generated from helplines that tend not to provide much in the way of help, and the difficulty in getting redress – your entitlement as a consumer – both contribute to the bottom line. This behaviour does not just happen, but is part of a corporate culture. It starts at the top.
Terry Tesco may receive rave reviews from the business correspondents. But the ordinary Joes and Joannes contribute to those headline numbers by getting fobbed off with appalling customer service.
That’s not good enough.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Whoring The Brand
It’s World Cup time. Football. Getting fresh air and exercise. Better health for all those couch potatoes. So you’d think that the kind of product associated with the competition would be in tune with this particular zeitgeist.
Wrong.
The official restaurant of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is, and I’m not in sick joke mode here, McDonald’s.
Er, hello? Just exactly how many of the England squad would go near the place? A very round number, that’s how many. Could FIFA really do no better than to lend their name to the world’s most notorious purveyors of Jumbo Offalfurters?
Maybe the endorsement is looking to appeal to a certain kind of fan. In Crewe, that would mean those who visit the WaddleThru (tm) on Macon Way. Yes, I can picture them now – car adorned with an unfeasibly large number of Ingerlundflags, one or more of the occupants in a state of advanced circumferential challengement, pining for their fix of low grade junk.
It actually makes commercial sense. In a sick and exploitative kind of way.
Wrong.
The official restaurant of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is, and I’m not in sick joke mode here, McDonald’s.
Er, hello? Just exactly how many of the England squad would go near the place? A very round number, that’s how many. Could FIFA really do no better than to lend their name to the world’s most notorious purveyors of Jumbo Offalfurters?
Maybe the endorsement is looking to appeal to a certain kind of fan. In Crewe, that would mean those who visit the WaddleThru (tm) on Macon Way. Yes, I can picture them now – car adorned with an unfeasibly large number of Ingerlundflags, one or more of the occupants in a state of advanced circumferential challengement, pining for their fix of low grade junk.
It actually makes commercial sense. In a sick and exploitative kind of way.
Good Riddance, Terry Tesco
So, after fourteen years at the top, Terry Leahy is to retire from Tesco. This has prompted the impressionists’ favourite Beeb business correspondent, Robert Peston, to tell how Tel did it, expanding Tesco into the largest supermarket chain in the UK, leaving behind Sainsbury’s and the rest, in a kind of eulogy for the Leahy reign.
Meanwhile, those of us who are merely consumers don’t appear to be getting a hearing. Perhaps Peston and his fellow analysts are more concerned with the market share, share price, and things like the price/earnings ratio to be fussed about the folks who have to suffer the dubious product that underpins them.
When I arrived in Crewe almost six years ago, there was no Tesco presence in the town: the nearest stores were in Kidsgrove and Northwich. But neither was there any sign of any difficulty among the population in locating supermarkets and stocking up, and nor was there any visible movement stirring, ready to agitate for Tesco to come to town.
Then Morrisons took over Safeway – and both had a store in Crewe. The Safeway was placed on a list of stores from which Morrisons had to dispose of a certain number. Therefore they did not have to sell if enough disposals could be made from the rest of the list. Tesco, who took over the Safeway, would therefore have paid a premium.
Thus it was no surprise when the store became Crewe’s first 24 hour supermarket, and since then, Tesco have taken over two fuel stations and turned them into “Express” branded convenience shops. Has the town benefited from this supposed increase in competition? Doubtful. But, as Kwik Save lost its way and shut up shop, one of its two Crewe stores was levelled and turned into a residential development, so the actual amount of retail floor space may well have shrunk.
And, as I’ll consider later, the Crewe Tesco is a by-word for abysmal customer service. Moreover, the car park still isn’t filling up at busy times, unlike the council P&D outside Asda, which is packed Thursday to Sunday. Maybe we’re not up to speed in accepting Tescopoly.
Or maybe Terry Tesco is getting out before his over saturation of the market catches up with him.
Meanwhile, those of us who are merely consumers don’t appear to be getting a hearing. Perhaps Peston and his fellow analysts are more concerned with the market share, share price, and things like the price/earnings ratio to be fussed about the folks who have to suffer the dubious product that underpins them.
When I arrived in Crewe almost six years ago, there was no Tesco presence in the town: the nearest stores were in Kidsgrove and Northwich. But neither was there any sign of any difficulty among the population in locating supermarkets and stocking up, and nor was there any visible movement stirring, ready to agitate for Tesco to come to town.
Then Morrisons took over Safeway – and both had a store in Crewe. The Safeway was placed on a list of stores from which Morrisons had to dispose of a certain number. Therefore they did not have to sell if enough disposals could be made from the rest of the list. Tesco, who took over the Safeway, would therefore have paid a premium.
Thus it was no surprise when the store became Crewe’s first 24 hour supermarket, and since then, Tesco have taken over two fuel stations and turned them into “Express” branded convenience shops. Has the town benefited from this supposed increase in competition? Doubtful. But, as Kwik Save lost its way and shut up shop, one of its two Crewe stores was levelled and turned into a residential development, so the actual amount of retail floor space may well have shrunk.
And, as I’ll consider later, the Crewe Tesco is a by-word for abysmal customer service. Moreover, the car park still isn’t filling up at busy times, unlike the council P&D outside Asda, which is packed Thursday to Sunday. Maybe we’re not up to speed in accepting Tescopoly.
Or maybe Terry Tesco is getting out before his over saturation of the market catches up with him.
The Republican Wrong – More Death Panels
As the health care reform bill has passed into law, it might be thought that the welter of scare stories from the right would die down. But that would be to forget the upcoming mid term elections, and the need for candidates to garner votes by a variety of tactics, including frightening the voters.
One state where the voter frightening has been ratcheted up is Florida: here, there is a larger than average percentage of retirees, and so they have been routinely targeted by hopefuls including retired airline pilot Dan Fanelli, running against a Democrat incumbent in Florida’s 8th district, which includes the city of Orlando.
Fanelli has put together a video with one central thrust: that under “Obamacare”, the elderly will be denied treatment once they have passed the “age limit”. This claim has aroused the interest of the folks at Politifact.com, who have investigated in their customarily rigorous style.
And, sad to say for Orlando’s Republican cheerleaders, they have found Fanelli’s claim to have no basis in fact – at all. So they have been able to award the former pilot their coveted “Pants on Fire” award.
Expect more of the same between now and November.
One state where the voter frightening has been ratcheted up is Florida: here, there is a larger than average percentage of retirees, and so they have been routinely targeted by hopefuls including retired airline pilot Dan Fanelli, running against a Democrat incumbent in Florida’s 8th district, which includes the city of Orlando.
Fanelli has put together a video with one central thrust: that under “Obamacare”, the elderly will be denied treatment once they have passed the “age limit”. This claim has aroused the interest of the folks at Politifact.com, who have investigated in their customarily rigorous style.
And, sad to say for Orlando’s Republican cheerleaders, they have found Fanelli’s claim to have no basis in fact – at all. So they have been able to award the former pilot their coveted “Pants on Fire” award.
Expect more of the same between now and November.
Monday, 7 June 2010
Ingerlundflags!
The World Cup approaches. Who should we support? Well, for me this is in the no-brainer category: I support England. And that is as far as it goes. I’ll no doubt watch some of the matches, and hope that I get to watch England at more than just the group stage.
But for some more or less serious fans, merely willing or cheering on the England team is not enough. There has to be a visible sign of their allegiance. And the most obvious sign, available for your car at just about any supermarket, is one or more Ingerlundflags.
Thus your motah will look suitably cheesy, its fuel economy will decrease, but your support will somehow be superior to mere agnostics like me. Well, that’s how I imagine it to be justified. But to my way of thinking, it’s another way of tempting fate.
My first recollection of large numbers of Ingerlundflags being displayed was during the 2004 European Cup. We didn’t win. True, Sol Campbell looked to have scored a perfectly good goal, and the caricatures of the referee with a golden retriever guide dog photoshopped in were great, but we still didn’t win.
Then there were lots of Ingerlundflags on display in 2006 for the World Cup. There was confidence in the air. And we didn’t win again. Portugal and penalties once more. So that’s lots of Ingerlundflags and no tournaments won.
This time round, there are lots and lots of Ingerlundflags appearing on cars all over town. So it doesn’t look good.
But for some more or less serious fans, merely willing or cheering on the England team is not enough. There has to be a visible sign of their allegiance. And the most obvious sign, available for your car at just about any supermarket, is one or more Ingerlundflags.
Thus your motah will look suitably cheesy, its fuel economy will decrease, but your support will somehow be superior to mere agnostics like me. Well, that’s how I imagine it to be justified. But to my way of thinking, it’s another way of tempting fate.
My first recollection of large numbers of Ingerlundflags being displayed was during the 2004 European Cup. We didn’t win. True, Sol Campbell looked to have scored a perfectly good goal, and the caricatures of the referee with a golden retriever guide dog photoshopped in were great, but we still didn’t win.
Then there were lots of Ingerlundflags on display in 2006 for the World Cup. There was confidence in the air. And we didn’t win again. Portugal and penalties once more. So that’s lots of Ingerlundflags and no tournaments won.
This time round, there are lots and lots of Ingerlundflags appearing on cars all over town. So it doesn’t look good.
Back To Chasing Ambulances
News came through yesterday evening of a passenger train derailment. The initial details were sketchy, but as ever, there were those ready to scream “rail crash”. The boring facts are that the 1820 hours Glasgow to Oban service derailed, and that the front coach of the two-coach unit suffered a rupture to its fuel tank, resulting in a fire. Nobody was seriously injured and all passengers were evacuated safely.
So far, so prosaic, but the Fourth Estate have papers to sell, so a little exaggeration is in order. In the vanguard of horror stories has been the Daily Mail, telling that “two coaches” were “precariously balanced” over an embankment, as it sounds hairier than “one coach”. But for once the empire of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre is comparatively restrained.
The real overkill has been done by Rupe’s troops over at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun, who tell that “60 cheat death in train crash”. The passengers, it asserts, “miraculously survived a horror fireball”, but the article then confirms that the flames were outside the coaches. The journalese extends to stating “Sixty travellers ... also told how they were blown off their feet by the giant blast” before managing to find only one.
Routinely bad journalism, for sure, and not exceptional, but the image it seeks to project is that there is something frightening about rail travel. Unfortunately for the scare merchants, the facts show a different picture: there has been only one passenger fatality in the last five and a half years (in the 2007 Lambrigg derailment). Rail is the safest land travel mode by some distance, but for some, there is a career to be forged from frightening the public.
One voice not yet heard following last night’s derailment is that of solicitor Louise Christian, who – regrettably for her – has had little to complain about of late, given the lack of fatalities. She whinged in a Guardian article back in 2007 that suggestions she was “some kind of ambulance chasing lawyer” were “deeply offensive”. But every time there is any kind of incident on the passenger carrying railway, the impression is given that Christian is not far behind.
Speaking up for her clients is something that Louise Christian is fully entitled to do, and I commend her for so doing. But to sink to the level of the tabloid press, and try to project an image of rail travel far removed from reality, is not credible, not helpful, and will invariably result in more assertions that she finds “deeply offensive”.
So far, so prosaic, but the Fourth Estate have papers to sell, so a little exaggeration is in order. In the vanguard of horror stories has been the Daily Mail, telling that “two coaches” were “precariously balanced” over an embankment, as it sounds hairier than “one coach”. But for once the empire of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre is comparatively restrained.
The real overkill has been done by Rupe’s troops over at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun, who tell that “60 cheat death in train crash”. The passengers, it asserts, “miraculously survived a horror fireball”, but the article then confirms that the flames were outside the coaches. The journalese extends to stating “Sixty travellers ... also told how they were blown off their feet by the giant blast” before managing to find only one.
Routinely bad journalism, for sure, and not exceptional, but the image it seeks to project is that there is something frightening about rail travel. Unfortunately for the scare merchants, the facts show a different picture: there has been only one passenger fatality in the last five and a half years (in the 2007 Lambrigg derailment). Rail is the safest land travel mode by some distance, but for some, there is a career to be forged from frightening the public.
One voice not yet heard following last night’s derailment is that of solicitor Louise Christian, who – regrettably for her – has had little to complain about of late, given the lack of fatalities. She whinged in a Guardian article back in 2007 that suggestions she was “some kind of ambulance chasing lawyer” were “deeply offensive”. But every time there is any kind of incident on the passenger carrying railway, the impression is given that Christian is not far behind.
Speaking up for her clients is something that Louise Christian is fully entitled to do, and I commend her for so doing. But to sink to the level of the tabloid press, and try to project an image of rail travel far removed from reality, is not credible, not helpful, and will invariably result in more assertions that she finds “deeply offensive”.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Disaster Tourism
It was discovered by espionage author Chapman Pincher that “dead men don’t sue”. This revelation meant that Pincher found it much easier to denounce former head of MI5 Roger Hollis as a KGB agent in 1981, because Hollis was by this time eight years dead. The practice has been perpetuated by the tabloid press in the last few days following the Cumbria shootings, as Derrick Bird, who did the shooting, ultimately took his own life.
Rupe’s troops at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun led the pack with the characterisation of Bird as “Psycho Cabbie”, and the rest have followed suit, in the customary rush to milk the story and put on sales before the public tire of it and the hacks go back to their usual diet of sleb-trashing, football, and frightening their readers using a variety of bogeymen.
To some, the blanket coverage of Bird’s shooting spree may cause revulsion, but to many others there is a macabre fascination with such acts. Just how much was brought home to me by a work colleague some years ago when I was on an assignment near Bristol. At the time when Fred and Rose West had been arrested, but before their house had been flattened, that colleague had just remarried, and with his new wife was doing the rounds of friends and relatives in and around Gloucester.
After starting back for Bristol, they realised that the Wests’ house was not far off their route. But, they both agreed, disaster tourism was something that one shouldn’t really do – and then curiosity got the better of them. The car was parked up and they walked the couple of hundred metres to Cromwell Street. Turning the last corner, they were amazed to find just how many more people had succumbed to that curiosity.
Scores of sightseers were milling around outside the Wests’ now former home. A mobile hot dog and burger van was doing good business, as was another selling ice cream. But the most startling presence was a stall selling souvenirs – mugs, key rings, T-shirts – which the punters were lapping up.
Just as they lap up the tabloid tat. It’s business, but not as we might like to know it.
Rupe’s troops at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun led the pack with the characterisation of Bird as “Psycho Cabbie”, and the rest have followed suit, in the customary rush to milk the story and put on sales before the public tire of it and the hacks go back to their usual diet of sleb-trashing, football, and frightening their readers using a variety of bogeymen.
To some, the blanket coverage of Bird’s shooting spree may cause revulsion, but to many others there is a macabre fascination with such acts. Just how much was brought home to me by a work colleague some years ago when I was on an assignment near Bristol. At the time when Fred and Rose West had been arrested, but before their house had been flattened, that colleague had just remarried, and with his new wife was doing the rounds of friends and relatives in and around Gloucester.
After starting back for Bristol, they realised that the Wests’ house was not far off their route. But, they both agreed, disaster tourism was something that one shouldn’t really do – and then curiosity got the better of them. The car was parked up and they walked the couple of hundred metres to Cromwell Street. Turning the last corner, they were amazed to find just how many more people had succumbed to that curiosity.
Scores of sightseers were milling around outside the Wests’ now former home. A mobile hot dog and burger van was doing good business, as was another selling ice cream. But the most startling presence was a stall selling souvenirs – mugs, key rings, T-shirts – which the punters were lapping up.
Just as they lap up the tabloid tat. It’s business, but not as we might like to know it.
Saturday, 5 June 2010
The Republican Wrong – Blame Gaming
There has been, you will have noticed, an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Following a fatal platform fire, a ruptured well is spewing out crude at a depth of over 30,000 feet – and it’s making rather a large mess. It could be thought that this would silence the right wing “drill, baby, drill” crowd, but such a thought would be wrong.
First out of the traps, back on May 17, was the odious Rush Limbaugh, who asserted that drilling in deep water areas was the fault of environmentalist “wackos”. Limbaugh’s reasoning was that there was plenty of oil “practically begging” to be extracted closer to shore – except there isn’t. The prospects for lucrative extraction in deeper water are that much better.
Then, this week, the same line has been taken by former Alaska Governor – yes, it’s her again – Sarah Palin, in a Facebook note. Palin baselessly talks, as does Limbaugh, of these drilling areas close to shore, without telling her readers that permits to drill in those areas have also been given recently. It’s just that the opportunities further offshore are more appealing.
Palin bangs on about the USA becoming beholden to “foreign companies” and that this will “outsource jobs”, somehow managing to forget that she is married to a bloke who has more than ten years’ service with, er, BP – the company involved in the spill. She accuses environmentalists of “protests and lawsuits and lies”, although does not feel the need to cite one.
Along with Palin’s assertions have come the usual supporting suspects, notably Rupe’s new troops at the increasingly downmarket Wall Street Journal, and his established body of slanted “journalism” at Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse).
All of this talk of “locking up” shallow water drilling was then disproved by US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who confirmed in a Washington Post article that there had been “no moratorium” on shallow water drilling.
So it looks rather like the usual right wing suspects are displaying their usual level of veracity: very little.
First out of the traps, back on May 17, was the odious Rush Limbaugh, who asserted that drilling in deep water areas was the fault of environmentalist “wackos”. Limbaugh’s reasoning was that there was plenty of oil “practically begging” to be extracted closer to shore – except there isn’t. The prospects for lucrative extraction in deeper water are that much better.
Then, this week, the same line has been taken by former Alaska Governor – yes, it’s her again – Sarah Palin, in a Facebook note. Palin baselessly talks, as does Limbaugh, of these drilling areas close to shore, without telling her readers that permits to drill in those areas have also been given recently. It’s just that the opportunities further offshore are more appealing.
Palin bangs on about the USA becoming beholden to “foreign companies” and that this will “outsource jobs”, somehow managing to forget that she is married to a bloke who has more than ten years’ service with, er, BP – the company involved in the spill. She accuses environmentalists of “protests and lawsuits and lies”, although does not feel the need to cite one.
Along with Palin’s assertions have come the usual supporting suspects, notably Rupe’s new troops at the increasingly downmarket Wall Street Journal, and his established body of slanted “journalism” at Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse).
All of this talk of “locking up” shallow water drilling was then disproved by US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who confirmed in a Washington Post article that there had been “no moratorium” on shallow water drilling.
So it looks rather like the usual right wing suspects are displaying their usual level of veracity: very little.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Dear Old Pink Pancras
Whether he would have approved of the over-supply of retail “opportunities” packed into the station and its undercroft, John Betjeman, whose statue stands at the western side of Barlow’s great trainshed at St Pancras, would be mightily relieved that the station has survived.
Moreover, with the cleaning of the roof, we can see what the structure would have looked like back in 1868, before decades of steam traction left its mark. The glazed panels let the light flood in: it’s only a pity that our border controls forbid anyone bar Eurostar passengers from getting past the security screens.
The recently expanded station is worth a visit. It shows that we can do impressive and worthwhile civil engineering – and it’s a sight better organised than, for instance, Madrid’s Puerta de Atocha terminus, which is a bit of a warren, despite the palm house.
The New Politics?
Yesterday brought Young Dave’s first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), which, as I was on a day out – in London, as it happened – had to be viewed retrospectively. This meant that much of my information was bound to come second hand, and possibly influenced by post event commentary.
It is into this last category that pundits and bloggers attempt to make their mark, but, sad to say, as the House of Commons record is available online, the opportunity for slipping through the odd porkie is very slender. Nevertheless, blinded by the light shining out of, well, somewhere, Iain Dale, a compliant and reliable conduit for Tory propaganda, tried his best.
Cameron’s debut, he told, was “assured”. He was “in command of his office”. And he “answered the questions put to him”. Er, no he didn’t.
Living in the north west, I take some interest in news from around the region. And that region was represented at yesterday’s PMQs by Labour MP Jim Dobbin, who represents Heywood and Middleton. His question was whether Cameron could confirm that four school building projects in that constituency would be seen through to completion.
Young Dave replied that the schools budget had been protected, that there was a commitment to building new schools, and managed not to answer the question that Dobbin had put to him. No commitment was given in respect of all, or indeed any, of the four projects mentioned.
The exchange is, as ever, recorded in Hansard, and can be viewed HERE (as Dale likes to put it). Specifically, it is recorded as Q4 [000429]. I know that Dale is a Tory supporter, but one might have expected better from someone who parades his ability to take an even handed view.
Or not.
It is into this last category that pundits and bloggers attempt to make their mark, but, sad to say, as the House of Commons record is available online, the opportunity for slipping through the odd porkie is very slender. Nevertheless, blinded by the light shining out of, well, somewhere, Iain Dale, a compliant and reliable conduit for Tory propaganda, tried his best.
Cameron’s debut, he told, was “assured”. He was “in command of his office”. And he “answered the questions put to him”. Er, no he didn’t.
Living in the north west, I take some interest in news from around the region. And that region was represented at yesterday’s PMQs by Labour MP Jim Dobbin, who represents Heywood and Middleton. His question was whether Cameron could confirm that four school building projects in that constituency would be seen through to completion.
Young Dave replied that the schools budget had been protected, that there was a commitment to building new schools, and managed not to answer the question that Dobbin had put to him. No commitment was given in respect of all, or indeed any, of the four projects mentioned.
The exchange is, as ever, recorded in Hansard, and can be viewed HERE (as Dale likes to put it). Specifically, it is recorded as Q4 [000429]. I know that Dale is a Tory supporter, but one might have expected better from someone who parades his ability to take an even handed view.
Or not.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Calling All Proud Hearted Christians
Ha! Got that confession wrong!
Repent, repent, on pain of being harangued by Doctor Parsley!
Motherly Love
At the end of a particularly fraught journey from Birmingham’s New Street station to Rugby yesterday, a harassed and angry Mum stood on Platform 5, having assembled her offspring, one of which had made the journey less than totally enjoyable.
The child concerned, a less than appealing little boy, had reduced the unfortunate Mum to snapping, cursing, and eventually irrationally crying out to no-one in particular “Why don’t Social Services just come and take him away?”.
Ah, the love that binds those family ties ...
The child concerned, a less than appealing little boy, had reduced the unfortunate Mum to snapping, cursing, and eventually irrationally crying out to no-one in particular “Why don’t Social Services just come and take him away?”.
Ah, the love that binds those family ties ...
Bad Day For Tel Aviv – 2
The Israeli ability to open mouth and insert boot was highlighted in the most unfortunate fashion yesterday when the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), a body with whom you would be well advised never to mess, botched the interception of a convoy carrying aid to Gaza.
The bad news is that at least ten civilians died in the IDF action, but yet worse news has told of the sheer farce into which the raid descended. The convoy was intercepted in international waters – more than twenty miles from Israel’s own patch – and so the action could have been interpreted as piracy. Then, the part of the IDF carrying out the raid were trained for combat, not for controlling what was effectively a water borne demonstration with attitude.
At first, not enough soldiers were dropped onto the ship which had not stopped in response to Israeli order, so they were outnumbered. Then their first attempt to exercise control was with paintball weapons. Yeah, right. From those, the escalation was not to tear gas and stun grenades, but directly to live ammunition.
And now, most of those on board the ship, the Mavi Marmara, are being interrogated by the IDF with Israel having imposed a news blackout. Into the media void has come Israel’s own account of what happened, telling of a variety of resistance from the Mavi Marmara, but for some reason the video stops just as the IDF switches to live ammunition.
The condemnation has been widespread, but there are inevitably those who will see the affair as justifying Israel’s behaviour. Unfortunately for them, their numbers are dwindling over time as the IDF behave with one consistency – that of heavy handedness and overreaction. As I posted last week, the days of Israel being excused its actions and treated as a special case are over.
So that’ll be more boycotts, more isolation, more dependence on the USA, and of course more ritual carpetings for Israeli ambassadors around the globe.
The bad news is that at least ten civilians died in the IDF action, but yet worse news has told of the sheer farce into which the raid descended. The convoy was intercepted in international waters – more than twenty miles from Israel’s own patch – and so the action could have been interpreted as piracy. Then, the part of the IDF carrying out the raid were trained for combat, not for controlling what was effectively a water borne demonstration with attitude.
At first, not enough soldiers were dropped onto the ship which had not stopped in response to Israeli order, so they were outnumbered. Then their first attempt to exercise control was with paintball weapons. Yeah, right. From those, the escalation was not to tear gas and stun grenades, but directly to live ammunition.
And now, most of those on board the ship, the Mavi Marmara, are being interrogated by the IDF with Israel having imposed a news blackout. Into the media void has come Israel’s own account of what happened, telling of a variety of resistance from the Mavi Marmara, but for some reason the video stops just as the IDF switches to live ammunition.
The condemnation has been widespread, but there are inevitably those who will see the affair as justifying Israel’s behaviour. Unfortunately for them, their numbers are dwindling over time as the IDF behave with one consistency – that of heavy handedness and overreaction. As I posted last week, the days of Israel being excused its actions and treated as a special case are over.
So that’ll be more boycotts, more isolation, more dependence on the USA, and of course more ritual carpetings for Israeli ambassadors around the globe.
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