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March 31, 2004

Hmmm, yummy

I prefer the mint ones myself.

(Thanks to Councillor Bob Piper for the link)

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Posted by Clive at 10:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Broken Promises

Oh well, while the optomists - myself included - were hoping for a government defeat on the Higher Education Bill, instead we witness the first steps on the road to a multi-tier education system as the government won by 316 - 288. Hard to believe that a Labour Government could oversee the introduction of an elitist policy, and I bet Hardie is spinning in his grave. Chalk it up as another broken manifesto promise, or maybe just another illustration of the mendacity of this government. My only hope now is that somehow some sense of fairness and equality can be brought to higher education before the gloves come off in 2010. In the meantime expect to see the frantic scurrying of those students from poorer backgrounds brave enough to consider higher education, as they take their £2,700 and search for the cheapest courses. And it won't solve the funding crisis that the government claimed was its intention.

Some advice to this government....

Qui habet aures audiendi audiat

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Posted by Clive at 8:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Trains

Another £26 billion is to be poured into the railways in an effort to improve punctuality by 2009. That's £14 million a day for the next 5 years, and will restore punctuality to the levels prior to the Hatfield crash in 2000. Personally I can't see any real, substantial improvements being made to the rail network as long as it remains in its current fragmented state. And while any loss of life is tragic, Hatfield should have been put into perspective. At the time of the Hatfield crash, deaths per billion passenger kilometres were running at about 2, while on the roads fatalities were running at 10 per billion vehicle kilometres. In other words, Railtrack's reaction (or rather overreaction) to the Hatfield crash effectively wiped out any progress in railway improvements, in spite of being in line with trends.

So lets take a look at how privatisation was meant to improve matters.

Reduce cost to tax payer

Just consider the amount of money that has been thrown at the railways since privatisation, and compare it with the largest ever subsidy given to British Rail of £1.9 billion (in todays terms) in 1982. In fact the initial targetted increase in subsidy was intended to be 150%, from £908 million to £2.3billion. And while some may counter that BR was chronically under-funded, and the legacy is the current state of the network, a significant portion of the increase was due to placing all transactions on a formal contract basis, and factoring in to the contracts a profit-markup. In fact it can be shown that on a like-for-like basis, any given piece of work will cost 2.5 times as much under privatisation than it did under nationalisation. Now compare that with the original estimates that cost savings and revenue increases would result in a subsidy to the entire network of only £771 million by end of fiscal year 03/04. So the original plans regarding decreasing the subsidy have been comprehensively missed.

Improve productivity

Now cost savings were supposed to help improve the finances of the various companies, especially the TOCs. And some progress was made, with productivity improving by 4.6%, although this has been achieved by reducing staffing levels by 4%. So in order to meet future targets, the TOCs are going to have to find alternative methods for improving productivity. And if you compare the productivity improvements with the same figures for British Rail of 6.7% (1980-1985) and 4.6% (1995-1998) then privatisation has done nothing for productivity improvements.

Better rolling stock

One of the touted benefits was that increased investment would allow for improved rolling stock. Unfortunately, Railtrack introduced an entire new layer of overhead, especially with regard to train acceptance procedures. As a result, the introduction of new rolling stock has been running nearly 60% below target.

More passengers

The other aspect of reducing the cost to the tax payer was by increasing the number of passengers carried. And certainly up until 2000, passenger growth had reached unprecedented levels. Unfortunatelt, more passengers required more trains, resulting in an infrastructure overload where trains were blocking each other thus increasing delays and therefore public dissatisfaction. And the complicated nature of finance, charges and penalties effectively became a revenue choke.

Conclusions

The public were always sceptical of a privatised rail network, a position shared with Labour in opposition. Thus in spite of any improvements in the early years, there was always public hostility to contend with. Ironically the public would have supported re-nationalisation at a time when the Labour government was effectively paying the least attention to the railways, most likely because at the time everything seemed to be working out ok. With Hatfield and Railtrack's over-reaction resulting in the government taking a more interventionist approach it would seem that Labour have squandered one of the few opportunities available to get things right with the railways.

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Posted by Clive at 3:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Terror

Well, regardless of the outcome of yesterday's raids, one thing is for sure, and that is that some of the reporting was less than quality.

The Sun manages to come out with Mosque full of bombers thus accusing every muslim who attends Langley Green Mosque of being a terrorist, overlooking the fact that apart from half a ton of ammoniun nitrate, no bomb has yet been found.

The Telegraph wades in with Islamic bomb attack foiled, again with only the fertiliser as evidence of a bomb, and once again pointing the finger at an entire community rather than certain specific elements.

Even those papers taking a more toned-down approach still seem convinced that it is a bomb, and that Al Qaeda is behind it. But does anyone remember the alleged plot to release cyanide on the London underground that came to nothing? In the current climate it is too easy to get carried away.

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March 30, 2004

Smelling blood

Will be interesting to see the result of tomorrow's vote on the Higher Education Bill, which includes the highly contentious top-up fees. Not only have a group of university heads come out and urged the Government reconsider, but Charles Clarke is attempting to smear the rebels, a tactic that may very well backfire. Especially when he claims that the author of the ammendment doesn't understand the implications of the ammendment. I suspect a number, a large number of MPs can smell blood here. --------

Posted by Clive at 6:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

1 in 10

This new targetting of habitual criminals is all very well if your crime was one of the 10%, not so great otherwise. And we should be a bit more precise here. That's 10% of reported crimes for which a perpetrator has been identified, or where investigation has turned up the person responsible and a successful conviction has been mounted.

Doesn't look quite so impressive now, does it.

There is a rundown council estate not a mile from where I sit writing this. Crime there is a way of life, with many people in surrounding areas suffering domestic burglaries, car thefts and acts of vandalism. However, in spite of the fact that for us, this one area is the source of nearly 80% of all local crimes, not one individual there would fall under the auspices of this new scheme. Which is hardly surprising when the scheme itself will only target 5640 criminals across England and Wales.

Still, it sounds good, and that's what counts after all....

Update - 19:56 - Actually, the more I think about this, the less I like it. It shows the level of contempt that Tony Blair holds for civil liberties. After all, whilst the people being targeted may not be paragons of virtue, they are in effect being persecuted for crimes they have yet to commit and indeed may not commit. Seems to me that this is a blatant violation of the ECHR, specifically Article 7 under Freedoms where

Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications.

Of course the cynics amongst might think that it could simply be an indirect backhander to Matrix, Cherie's outfit. The classic one-two where Tony introduces some legislation guaranteed to generate plenty of work (and dosh) for all the human rights lawyers out there.

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Posted by Clive at 4:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Political Correctness

So there's no harm (at the moment, though I'm sure the PC police will soon step in) in a children's football team being drubbed 29-0, but it is damaging to them to report the defeat. Like that makes a lot of sense. Speaking from personal experience the actual defeat will hurt far more than any reporting. I remember a school rugby match where we were not merely beaten, or even trounced, but were totally and utterly crushed and humiliated by an 84-0 defeat. The shame (and, now outlawed I guess, verbal haranging by the games teacher) were pretty bad, but filled the squad with a desire for revenge. We subsequently beat then 56-48 in a bloody and brutal yet satisfying rematch. Personally I think this sort of PC approach to protecting the losers feelings does more harm than good. --------

Posted by Clive at 1:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Drugs

Care to guess how much the NHS spends each year on prescription anti-depressants? £10 million, maybe or perhaps £50 million, but no more than £100 million surely? The frightening answer is that the NHS spent £308 million on anti-depressants in 2002, with 26 million prescriptions being issued that year alone. The problem doesn't really lie with the GPs issuing these prescriptions, but instead with a chronic shortage of qualified counsellors and therapists. A patient can wait on average 6 months for an appointment to see a therapist and the result is that many GPs have nothing to offer patients apart from drugs such as Prozac and Seroxat. As a consequence some 6 million people (about 10% of the population) are now using these drugs. Perhaps worse still are those who require treatment, but remain undiagnosed, and the Depression Alliance estimates their number as being perhaps as high as 8.7 million. So inspite of all the money being poured into the NHS, it is failing to adequately treat a substantial part of the population. A classic illustration that it isn't how much money that is spend that matters, but the way in which it is being spent.

And a final thought, drugs such as Seroxat and other SSRIs are currently under investigation by the UK drug regulator regarding harmful side effects such as violence behaviour and suicidal tendencies.

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Posted by Clive at 11:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Beverley Hughes

Q. How do you know that Beverley Hughes is lying? A. Her mouth is open.

So David Blunkett has suspended immigration applications from Romania and Bulgaria in response to an email from the now-suspended diplomat at the British Embassy in Bucharest. It would make more sense to suspend, or rather sack, ms Hughes for incompetence and dishonesty. This issue regarding the fast-tracking of immigration applications has been rumbling on for a month now. First we get the allegation, then the denial followed closely by the revelation of evidence supporting the original allegation. Then Ms Hughes declines to resign and either Tony Blair or David Blunkett steps up to defend her. Finally the whole sorry saga repeats itself again. With this issue the only people to suffer are the whistle-blowers; with both Stephen Moxon (Sheffield) and the unnamed Bucharest diplomat being suspended.

We are even going to be treated to the unedifying prospect of an formal enquiry being re-opened. Kenneth Sutton has already investigated previous concerns, and is now scheduled to look at the latest set of allegations. What concerns me is that the need to re-open the enquiry would seem to imply that the original investigation was either inadequate or hamstrung, a choice I leave to readers.

Meanwhile we're treated to pearls of wisdom such as this quote from Blunkett...

I carry ultimate responsibility and accountability for what goes on and I will answer for it today in the House.

So David, that'll be your resignation announcement for appointing and supporting a person obviously incapable of exercising their duties to any acceptable standard? No, I didn't think so, that "resigning honourably" is so terribly passe and not at all New Labour.

And what does Ms Hughes have to say...

They simply want to use this material for their own political ends to fuel people's fears about immigration and keep a bad story running.

Oh, so now it is wrong to capitalise on her incompetence for political ends? Talk about trying to deflect attention away from the real issue. Which is that a senior minister doesn't appear to know what is going on in her department, and in fact, doesn't seem to care. Instead she prefers to try and simply "bury" the bad news to use a traditional New Labour phrase. If she'd had anything about her, she would have ordered a full and comprehensive investigation after the original revelations, then gone before parliament to explain what was going on. The problem with that approach being that it required more than a modicum of honesty on Ms Hughes part.

Update - 13:15 - And now it appears that the Home Office was warned more than 18 months ago about a potential migrant scam. So either Beverley Hughes knew about them and lied, or she has spent her time at her department asleep at the wheel and presiding over a culture of blind eyes and deniable ignorance. Either way she has shown herself to be an unsuitable candidate for high office.

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Posted by Clive at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Alistair Cooke R.I.P.

BroadcasterAlistair Cooke has died at the age of 95. I grew up listening to his "Letter from America" broadcasts on Radio 4, and indeed many of my formative opinions of the US and its people were coloured by what he told us about that country. It is a sad day for for us all to have lost such an inciteful and elegant spokesman for transatlantic understanding. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 29, 2004

F**king Lawyers

While I sympathise with the descendants of slaves, and would never condone slavery, I can't help thinking that taking legal action against Lloyds of London for insuring the slave ships is going to prove mightily counter-productive to all concerned, apart from the lawyers themselves. Take a look at some of the leading lawyer Edward Fagan's comments on the matter...

Lloyd's was one of the spokes in a hub-and-spoke conspiracy.

Conspiracy eh? Well, at the time slavery was considered a legitimate business, so to call the slave trade a conspiracy is an attempt to make it sound even more sinister.

Lloyd's knew what they were doing led to the destruction of indigenous populations.

I'd love to the evidence supporting this claim.

They took people, put them on board ships and wiped out their identities.

Now hey, I know insurers aren't perceived as being the nicest bunch on the planet, but I think Mr Fagan is confusing the roles here. Lloyds were in the business of insuring ships rather than being directly involved in the actual trade itself.

There's ongoing injuries that these people suffer from.

Can't argue with that.

Why is it too far fetched to say blacks should be entitled to compensation for damages and genocide committed against them, when every other group in the world that has been victimised in this way has been?

Well, for starters I think the main objection is to his chosen target. And there are plenty of other groups that have not recieved compensation. How about all the Saxons who suffered at the hands of the Normans. Should we now sue the French government? Or more recently, how about the British PoWs captured by the Japanese in WWII?

I suspect that Edward Fagan's action is more motivated by desire for celebrity, notoriety and financial reward than righting injustices. If he was truly concerned with bringing to account those responsible then his first action should be against the governments of those nations for whom slavery was a legal activity. Or even the inheritors to the slave trading companies. How about the companies that built the slave ships? The iron foundries where the shackles and chains were made? The chandlers that supplied the ships; the gunsmiths that manufactured the slavers weapons; etc, etc. The list is endless, and in going after Lloyds, Fagan is copping out and taking the soft option - picking on the only large business involved (no matter how slight) in slave-trade related activity and still extant with coffers worth plundering.

Perhaps the victims of terrorist bombings should sue the explosives manufacturers. Or the families of people killed in hit-and-run incidents sue the car manufacturers.

Slavery is evil, an activity that cannot be condoned and the descendants of slaves have to live with the legacy of the slave trade every day of their lives. However, responsibility needs to be accepted at a national level, not at a corporate level. If we are going to condemn those companies involved in the slave trade, then we should look first to those governments which considered it to be a legitimate, legal activity. But this search for financial compensation will just draw attention away from the real issues, the real injustices and may well result in the genuine victims simply being branded as money grabber.

And if previous actions against Lloyds are anything to go by, then they'll end up with nothing anyway, and the only winner will be Edward Fagan.

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Posted by Clive at 5:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Watch this space

Tution fees are in the news again, as the government prepares to face yet another revolt. And should the government lose, the blame will fall squarely on the shoulders of those in government too arrogant to consider any ammendments to their beloved legislation. There were two key factors in the governments previous, 5-vote victory over the rebels last time; the Hutton Report and the opportunity for the bill to be ammended during the committee stage. Well the Hutton report was published and the government survived that, but in their arrogance they have brooked no change at committee. As a result, I suspect that more back-benchers will vote against the government this time, secure that there would be no no-confidence issues were the government to lose. And accusing many back-bench rebels of collusion with the Conservatives won't sit very well with those who object on non-partisan grounds.

My prediction is that the government will lose by half a dozen votes.

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Posted by Clive at 1:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

MP Idol - Who Wants To Be An MP - Vote For Me

This is such a bad idea. --------

Posted by Clive at 1:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

First Sheffield...

... now the Croydon Immigration Office is revealed to have implemented a fast-track approval system with ministerial backing. This time David Blunkett has waded in to support the less than open (or honest it would seem) Ms Hughes, trying to deflect attention by accusing previous Tory governments of implementing similar schemes. So once again missing the point that people are fed up with a government that crowed about bein open and honest, white than white and a real change from the sleaze-ridden Tories, only to prove subsequently that it was no better and in many cases worse than its predecessors.

It is this culture of habitual dishonesty that is the problem, along with a chronic inability to accept any responsibility. And as with Mandelsson, Moore, Byers et al, Ms Hughes wont go honourably (probably can't even spell the word), but we can hope that eventually we may be rid of another ministerial liability, another third rate politico with fourth rate policies.

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Posted by Clive at 1:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Total Bollocks

They say that leadership comes from the top. So if you've ever wonder where that marvellous New labour value of hypocrisy comes from, look no further than the Blairs. Once again they are complaining to the PCC regarding what they call intrusive reporting about their son, Nicky. The best bit is...

The Blairs have been protective of their family's privacy since entering Downing Street in 1997. They say the children should be able to grow up outside the media glare.

I've got a bit of advice for them. If they want to protect their children from the media glare, then do it consistently. Don't trot them out for a lovely happy families photo-shoot one day, then bitch about press intrusion the next. Personally I'd as soon not see hide nor hair of Cherie and the Blair brats, but Tony and Cherie are unwilling to grant us that small mercy. If the complaint to the PCC had that result, then great, but in the meantime I encourage the press to keep at them in the faint hope that one day they might just get the effing message.

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Posted by Clive at 1:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 26, 2004

Getting off lightly

Yesterday we mentioned the case of two Scottish teenagers accused of the crime of "violation of sepulchre". Today they were both found guilty and bailed pending sentencing. While they are probably feeling sorry for themselves, they should count their blessings and consider that any sentence they get will be less severe than that decreed by Claudius Caesar...

"Ordinance of Caesar. It is my pleasure that graves and tombs remain perpetually undisturbed .... In case of violation I desire that the offender be sentenced to capital punishment on charge of violation of sepulchre"

And some peachy methods they had too...

"Many have been condemned to the wild beasts for sacrilege, some even burned alive, and others hanged on the gallows." - Ulpian's Duties of the Proconsul (c. 220 A.D.)

.. or, for the lucky ones...

"deportation to an island."

So I guess if they get community service, or some non-custodial sentence, then they should offer a prayer in thanks for moderation.

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Posted by Clive at 8:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Water, water, everywhere

Current top price for a bottle of Dasani stands at £8 for a 500ml bottle on Ebay, with just under 2 hours to go. Though one brave punter has put a "Buy Now" price of £15 on a bottle. Always nice to see Joe Public profit at the expense of a multinational. --------

Posted by Clive at 2:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Missing the point

Polly Toynbee unleashes a tirade against the Daily Mail in the Guardian today. It is quite entertaining to notice that while putting the boot in to Paul Dacre for his paper's extreme dislike of the government, she manages to overlook the extreme cozying-up which some other publications indulge in. Sure the press shoudl display balance, but that requires movement at both ends of the spectrum.

Most entertaining was her closing comment:

Britain now has one of the cleanest and least corrupt systems of government in the world and yet the public thinks the opposite. Why?

Now I agree that our government probably ranks pretty low on the corruption front, with nothing worse than a bit of cronyism (think Lord Falconer), and it may be a bit cleaner now Alistair Campbell has departed Downing St. So why do we think otherwise? Simply because the behaviour of our government, the lack of openess, unwillingness to accept responsibility, misrepresentation of facts, and at times undemocratic practices have lead to a breakdown in trust. Now agreed, the primary focus of our lack of trust is in Tony Blair, but his cult of personality approach to government is such that any loss of trust in him is translated into a loss of trust in the government as a whole. And if the public feel that they can't trust the government, then they will undoubtedly be prepared to believe the worst of it.

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Posted by Clive at 2:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Loo with a view

Anyone fancy buying an old public toilet for £25,000? At first sight it may not seem like a very good idea, but check the details. Planning permission exists for conversion to a beach chalet and it is located on the beach front at Charmouth in Dorset. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

EU Constitution

The prospect of an EU constitution has come back to haunt us all. The aftermath of the Madrid bombings has produced a sense of European unity that was lacking last year, and the consequence appears to be a drive towards getting the constitution in place. Tony Blair claims that Britain will maintain control of taxation, defence and criminal justice, but given the man's track record I for one take what he says with a pinch of salt. In an ideal world the government would hold a referendum on the matter, given the far-reaching implications for our sovereignty, but I suspect that Blair will attempt to railroad it without any resort to democratic processes. Undoubtedly he will weasel his way around the matter by saying that a) it doesn't really affect us that much and b) we've already had a referendum on membership so why have one on a small matter such as this. The first is - of course - a lie, and the second is plain and simple misrepresentation of historical fact. What we voted on in 1975 was continued membership of a common market, not a European superstate.

As I see it, the only option open to democracy is for the electorate to express their desires by way of the European Elections on June 10th, and give Labour a huge and unstoppable bloody nose. Use your votes well to ensure that democracy triumphs over personal agrandisment.

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Posted by Clive at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 25, 2004

Obscure crime

Never heard of the crime of violation of a sepulchre? Neither had I until yesterday. More details have come out and it makes for pretty macarbre reading. Though I have to admit to raising a smile at the BBC's phonetic quoting in places...

"The smell was horrendous. Sonny was running aboot going mental with it"

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Posted by Clive at 7:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Out of fashion

It's reassuring to see that the concept of accountability and responsibility is still out of fashion with this government. It now appears that the recent immigration issues were a result of excessive zeal, and do not constitute grounds for Ms Hughes resignation. Oh really. How about resigning over not coming clean, or not paying attention to communications informing her of concerns with policy implementation.

Even if the minister wasn't directly responsible for the specific case themselves, her handling of the situation with its confused and conflicting messages, not to mention her apparent ineptitude in running a high-profile department should alone be sufficient grounds for her resignation. However, in common with many other ministers and former ministers since 1997 she has no concept of ultimate responsibility or honour. Instead we will once again be treated to the unedifying sight of a flawed minister tenaciously hanging on to power until, knuckles cracking and finger nails tearing, the winds of inevitability wrench them away.

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Posted by Clive at 7:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Oops

So the situation with the six trapped British cavers in Mexico is gradually escalating into a diplomatic row, muc to the apparent bemusement of Foreign Office. Personally I can understand the Mexican government's ire, after all they've only just found out that we were eavesdropping on their UN mission for the US in the run-up to the war in Iraq, not an activity conducive to maintaining good diplomatic relations. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Water under the bridge

Well, along half a million bottles of Dasani, Coca-Cola has effectively flushed £70 million down the pan as it abandons the launch of Dasani in the UK. And at the same time they've put the French and German launches on hold as well. Still there may be a way of recovering the situation. A quick glance at ebay shows a number of Dasani items up for auction, and with a 500ml bottle going for £4.70 a controlled release might at least recoup some of the expense. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Immigration

It looks like action is finally being taken against the people behind the smuggled entry of illegal immigrant workers into this country. Although there is no direct connection between these arrests and the deaths of the 20 Chinese who rowned in Morecombe Bay last month, I suspect that the sheer scale of that incident acted as a wake-up call, especially when taken in conjunction with other incidents involving immigrant workers. As was pointed out at the time, the issue of illegal immigrant workers needs to be addressed with a high degree of urgency not just from the protectionist perspective, but also from the point of view of protecting these people from unscrupulous gangs. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A Warning for Blair

This month's Progress Magazine carries a dire warning for Tony Blair on the consequences for both him and a Labour Government should they fail to win another landslide victory in the next general election.

While it honestly points out that the chances of Michael Howard making it to No. 10 after the next election are pretty slim, it points out the risks to both Blair and New Labour should the Conservatives seriously reduce their majority. And it makes for interesting reading.

With a 5% swing to the Conservatives, Labour's majority is pegged back to under a hundred MPs. At first glance this may not appear too bad a result for a government entering its third term. For Blair though, it would be more problematic as 30 of the 50 or so losing MPs are Blairite loyalists. Conversely the hard left would be down about 4 members, so the overall effect would be an internal swing within the PLP from New to Old Labour.

While a 10% swing seems fanciful - Blair came to power in 1997 on a 10.2% swing, but consider the state of the Major government by then - it would have a devastating effect on Labour, wiping out 130 of their MPs and taking with it Labour's overall majority. And in this scenario, the New labour bloodletting is even worse, leaving the composition of the PLP looking very similar to its 1983 state. Worse still for Blair, there would be a need for Labour to rely on the support of the Lib-Dems in running the country. Although in this scenario we might at last see the introduction of PR.

Looking at this it becomes obvious that while Labour look in a comfortable position to win the next election, Tony Blair has a far harder task personally, needing to keep any swing below 5% to avoid watching New Labour derail itself. Meanwhile over in Tory HQ I suspect the game plan is to try and wound New Labour, and then let internal divisions within the government do the real damage as Labour returns to its old habits of internecine strife.

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Posted by Clive at 11:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 24, 2004

Animal Rights

While I've always been a supporter of animal rights, I often found animal rights supporters to be a pretty humourless bunch, a trait they seem to have in common with many similar rights groups. Their attempts to get I am not an animal, a cartoon produced by Steve Coogan's Baby Cow Productions, banned just goes to show that when it comes to dark, satirical entertainment many of them have had a sense-of-humour failure. Is it me or is irony unfashionable, and satire only acceptable when plastered with warning labels? It would seem that many right-on groups have decided that we're all so stupid that we are unable to exercise our own judgement and should rely on them to do so for us. --------

Posted by Clive at 7:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Your taxes at work

Some government spending figures for you:

• No. 10 Press Office - £1.4 million, up approx £225,000 on last year.
• MOD websites - £609,000 per annum
• Constitutional Affairs - approx £1,222,000
• Foriegn and Commonwealth Affairs - recruitment advertising approx £716,000 for last year
• Central Office of Information - advertising expenditure last year approx £138 million
• NHS - website redesign - £3 million (currently tracking down online reference)

That little lot could pay for a few nurses, doctors, teachers and policemen. The COI advertising spend is the most disturbing, as it is basically the government telling us how wonderful it is. Seriously, a lot of that expenditure is to advertise new policies such as various tax credits, that are so complicated that few people claim them anyway. Widespread simplification of the system would be a better way of helping people claim the benefits they're entitled to, but then what would the COI do instead?

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Posted by Clive at 5:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Trains

Sorry folks, more ungood news regarding the British railway network. Yesterday we reported on the bonuses being paid to railway maintenance companies for simply doing the job they were contracted to do. Today it has been announced that one of those companies, Jarvis, has won three contracts to renew track a two different sites in the UK. The ironic (or simply crazy) aspect of these contracts is that one of them covers track renewal at Potters Bar where, in 2002, there occured a major train crash in which seven people died. And the company currently under investigation over the crash is - you guessed it - Jarvis. --------

Posted by Clive at 4:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Slice of the action

Let's see, personal savings are at an all time low, personal debt is nearing £1 trillion and the credit-fuelled consumer spree shows no sign of ending. Obviously the Inland Revenue is feeling left out and fancies a slice of the action. Why else would they be considering the idea of letting people pay their tax bills by credit card? Talk about inconsistency. One minute we have the Treasury getting angry with credit card firms, and the next we have the Inland Revenue wanting to let taxpayers used credit cards to settle their bills. How long before the Inland Revenue issues its own credit card, with tax points instead of air miles? Just for once, it would be nice to have a bit of consistency from within a government department, but I'm not going to hold my breath. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

One Ugly Building

I have to admit to being surprised at the level of media coverage given to the demolition of the Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth. Having lived there for a couple of years, I can honestly say that anyone who considers the centre to be a building with any merit needs their head examining. The Tricorn Centre can be summed up very simply; it is (soon to be was) one seriously ugly, f**ked up monster of '60s architectural design given hideous, concrete form. The architect responsible believes that Portsmouth will come to regret the demolition of the Tricorn Centre. Personally I reckon the only regret the City Council may have is that it has taken this long to get rid of the eyesore. --------

Posted by Clive at 2:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Above all...

... its a Tata. So far this year MG Rover has sold over 3,000 Tata Indicas, rebadged as City Rovers. As far as I can see, the only people to really benefit from this are the Board and Shareholders of MG Rover. After all, the UK based workers have virtually zero input into the production of the cars so the company can reap the benefits of slapping a slightly upmarket badge on an Indian built car, with all the cost savings that implies. The UK workers loose out on the jobs front, and the Indian workers receive a standard local wage in spite of building cars for a supposedly upmarket brand.

So MG Rover joins the ranks of corporate colonialists. At one time there was a lot of talk of joint ventures with Asian firms to develop new models, but of late it has gone very quiet. This is a shame, as joint development ventures would be a far more suitable way of helping the car manufacturers in India and China to grow than a simple rebadging exercise. If these developing nations want to compete on the world stage as equals, then they need to aquire skills and expertise rather than being sweatshops for cheap products, and joint ventures are an ideal way of achieving this with very little in the way of negative social impact for all parties.

Maybe MG Rover can redeem themselves by bringing a successful new model to market in conjunction with an Asian partner. My suspicion is that a lot hinges on the City Rover/Indica. If it sells well and makes sufficient money, then I fear that MG Rover will follow the same route for other new mass-market models. Certainly the recent conduct of the board doesn't bode well for UK workers and the City Rover may well prove to be the start of a new business plan based on exploitation of cheap labour abroad with no consideration for the long-term social costs.

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Reconstruction

Another contract awarded to a British firm. Or rather a US-UK partnership. It would be nice if at some point a UK business could win a significant contract on their own merit, rather than by association with US businesses, but that is probably too much to expect from a US government that is more than just a little duplicitous. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Double standard

The last part of this article in the Sun on the fallout from the killing of Ahmed Yassin had me almost wetting myself with laughter.

As tension in the region reached breaking point, Britain called for calm.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "All sides need to show restraint. Violence and military action will not achieve anything."

The spokesman obviously missed the words "unless we're taking the military action alongside the US. In which case blowing people up and shooting them is okay, because Saddam was eeevil!"

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Opportunism

To a certain extent I agree with Michael Howard that a visit to Libya by Tony Blair so close to the Madrid attacks might appear insensitive to the families of the Lockerbie victims. However, given the efforts that Libya has made with regards to victims compensation, handing over suspects and abandoning its WMD programs, it would be churlish to try and make political capital out of the situation. In the current war on terror, opportunities to engage in meaningful dialog with former terrorist sponsors may prove few and far between, especially when the two nations leading the war are more than willing to play fast and loose with international laws, using force whenever it suits them.

Update - 13:30 - It has been confirmed that Tony Blair will visit Libya tomorrow.

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Posted by Clive at 9:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Stop and search

Plus ca change and all that. It appears that the police are still having problems with exercising their stop-and-search powers, with the result that many black and asian people feel victimised by the process. Hardly surprising when you read the figures in the article. What is of more concern is that given the problems the police have with existing powers, what sort of a mess will be made with the additional powers contained within proposed anti-terror measures? Inappropriate application of such powers, along with an apparent race bias will actually be counter-productive in both fighting everyday crime and terrorist activity. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 23, 2004

Trains

I promise I'll try and post some railway related good news, it's just that there isn't very much. For now I'll just point out that the sooner the Channel Tunnel Link is completed, the sooner the risk of a serious incident occuring on the existing, over-crowded lines will be reduced. Thank heavens for observant drivers and trains only doing 20mph. --------

Posted by Clive at 2:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Race is On

Assuming the Elphinstone Place development gets the go ahead from the planning authorities, does anyone want odds on it being complete quicker, and for less money, than Holyrood? --------

Posted by Clive at 12:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Technology

How long before this is subverted by the government? Eats veggie burgers, buys the Guardian, must be a Labour voter. Eats falafel, bought a copy of the Koran from Waterstones in Oxford Street, must be a member of Al Quaeda. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hmmm

This is what happens when you try to portray yourselves as whiter than white (excuse the pun).

To be honest, there's nothing wrong in exploring the issues of race discrimination in the way Matt Cavanagh does in his book Against Equality of Opportunity and I find it refreshing that David Blunkett should choose him as his special advisor on race. Cavanagh has an ability to challenge our preconceptions as to what constitutes discrimination and equality, and asks us to re-think our opinions on these issues.

In fact, had I been in Blunkett's shoes, I would have made a big deal out of Cavanagh's original appointment as it shows a willingness to at least consider less othodox positions, and a desire to get to grips with the underlying issues, rather than simply relying on focus groups and opinion polls. It would have been just the sort of announcement that would have gone hand-in-glove with New Labour's supposedly radical approach to the old problems of society, a classic example of thinking the unthinkable.

Instead of which, Matt Cavanagh's role has now become the subject of an attempt by the Lib-Dems to make some kind of political capital out of New Labour's policies with regard to immigration and asylum. To a certain extent, New Labour have only themselves to blame. Their handling of numerous issues since 1997 when, in spite of all their protestations at being anti-sleaze, the good guys with nothing to hide have managed to look as tarnished as their predecessors, if not more so. Had they truly been as open and honest as they claimed, then the sorts of allegations being made against messrs Blunkett and Cavanagh would not have found such fertile ground.

PS - If you're interested in issues of discrimination and equality then I'd recommend Cavanagh's book. At the very least it will make you think about the issues, and possibly cause you to challenge your own preconceptions.

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Posted by Clive at 10:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Interview Day

Today interviews are being held for the post of chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC. None of the candidates have been named, although rumours suggest Michael Grade and David Dimbleby to be amongst the applicants. My sincere hope is that the post is awarded to someone who understands the BBC and what it stands for, and is prepared to uphold those underlying principles. It should not, in fact must not go to Michael Grade, or any other candidate similar to him. Personally, I'd accept either Dimbleby or Baroness Young, the current vice-chairman. --------

Posted by Clive at 8:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Out of touch

Lord Greville Janner somehow manages to completely miss the point and at the same time demonstrate just how out of touch the World Jewish Congress can appear, when he writes in today's Sun.

Just as Britain seeks to rid the world of Osama Bin Laden and of his cronies in Afghanistan, so the death of Yassin should be seen as a major victory in the free world's war against terror. Sir John Stevens has warned a terrorist attack against London is "inevitable".

Given that Hamas restricted its activities to Israeli targets, equating Yassin to Osama is highly disingeneous. And by throwing in the comment made by Sir John Stevens, Janner tries to imply that Hamas would have had a role in any such attack. Which is pretty much a load of b*****ks.

British police and security services are focused on how to deter, to prevent and to combat terrorist attacks here. Equally, the job of Israel's democratically-elected government is to seek to protect their citizens.

And now he tries to justify the attack on Yassin by equating Israel's security forces with our own. Somehow I don't recall the British Army ever using helicopter gunships and missiles in an attempt to take out the Army Council of the IRA after a Sunday service.

So it should be no surprise when that Government removes the area's terrorist mastermind. Israel is taking anti-terrorist action which we are already using in Iraq and Afghanistan. We should understand the deep problems of our proud, democratic, Western ally.

Hmmm. Given how little the actions in Afghanistan and Iraq have done to increase World security, what make Janner think that the use of a similar approach will have any greater effect in Israel.

We should hope and pray the end of Yassin marks the beginning of a real move towards peace which both peoples need so desperately.

He can hope and pray all he likes. The unlawful killing of Yassin, and in such a brutal and almost indescriminate manner, is yet another step backwards on the path to peace. You don't eradicate terrorism by force, by blowing up the leaders. Terrorist groups are like Hydra, cut off one head and a dozen spring up in its place. The only solution is to address, by peaceful and negotiated means, the issues that lead to feelings of alienation and disenfranchisement in the communities from which these groups draw their members. And I hardly consider riots in which British troops in Basra are attacked with firebombs to signal the beginning of any move towards peace. We can expect to see many such protests directed not only at Israel, but also at her perceived allies over the next few days and possibly weeks.

If Lord Janner's view is typical, then Israel can expect to suffer at the hands of these extremists for decades to come. The UK never completely lost sight of the need for a negotiated settlement in Northern Ireland, and for all its hiccups, the Good Friday Agreement is a testament to the belief in a peaceful solution. This is a lesson Israel needs to learn, and learn quickly.

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Posted by Clive at 8:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Bondesque

It's the sort of thing you'd only expect to see in a Bond film, but apparently the casino at the Ritz was hit for a £1.3 million fraund by 3 Eastern European gamblers using laser detectors in mobile phone. Not only does it make the more traditional use of magnets seem old-fashioned, but it goes to highlight just how sophisticated some Eastern European crime gangs have become. It will be interesting to see if there is any increase in the activity of these gangs once the new countries accede to the EU this year and our immigration controls are relaxed for them. --------

Posted by Clive at 7:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 22, 2004

Record Breakers

Nearly a quarter of a million children have set a new world record for mass poetry reading. All done for charity, and a light amongst the current gloom. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Climate of paranoia

I can hardly see the latest suggestions from the police having a beneficial effect on the levels of fear amongst the general public. I mean, take a look at these:

• Landlords, hoteliers and motor traders to report suspicions about customers who might seek short-term accommodation or pay lots of money for vehicles
• People should watch out for individuals being unusually secretive about their identity
• Report anyone paying an unusual amount of attention to security measures at public buildings, shopping centres or train stations
• Banks should be on alert for people trying to set up a bogus bank account or using cloned credit cards

Talk about creating a climate of paranoia in the capital. Personally I think they'd be better spending their efforts improving their security measures. After all, if two protestors can climb St Stephen's Tower at the Palace of Westminster in spite of the increased level of security, I doubt that asking us to voice our suspicions is going to help very much. In fact it is more likely to have a negative effect by swamping the police with huge volumes of spurious allegations. --------

Posted by Clive at 2:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Lunacy

Warning. Doing the back-stroke can seriously damage your health. At least Blackburn with Darwen Council think so. They've banned swimmers from doing the backstroke as they believe it is too dangerous. They've already banned water-polo, and I presume it can only be a matter of time before they get rid of diving boards (obvious risk) and outlaw the breast-stroke (done properly requires putting one's head beneath the water, thus risk of drowning). --------

Posted by Clive at 2:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hmmm

So let's get this straight. Jack Straw condemns Israel's attack on Ahmed Yassin, spiritual head of Hamas, as unlawful. He goes on to say...

"It is unacceptable, unjust and very unlikely to achieve [Israel's] objectives,"

Right, so how is that different from our actions in Iraq? Let's take another quote...

"We repeatedly made clear our opposition to Israel's use of targeted killings, but equally we recognise Israel's right to protect itself from terror.

What short memories our politicians have. They didn't see anything wrong in taking out a Baghdad restaurant in an attempt to get Saddam.

Bloody hypocrits!

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Posted by Clive at 12:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

NHS Spending

Want to know where some of that extra money being spent on the NHS goes? How about on paying a surgeon's £80,000 salary while he is suspended for allegedly taking an extra bowl of soup in the staff canteen? Or maybe covering the £3 million cost of updating the NHS website? Or possibly (and in spite of the additional medical staff recruited last year) the 36,000 managers and 164,000 administration and clerical staff?

At some point this government must demonstrate that it understands that it is not enough simply to throw more money at inefficient organisations. It claims to understand, but as in all these issues it is delivery that counts.

Update - 15:30 - Of course the EU restriction on doctor's working hours, limiting them to 58 hours per week shouldn't have come as a surprise. That the shortfall of 3,700 doctors was easily forseen and yet the NHS did nothing just goes to show that many of the managers and administrators are obviously not earning their salaries.

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Posted by Clive at 10:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 21, 2004

GM Food - Update

Back on the 17th March we mentioned John Clark and his campaign against GM crops. In addition to people actually planting non-GM maize, John would like details including names and addresses of these people. With this information, he can bring to bear as much influence as possible on Margaret Beckett and DEFRA and in these matters numbers count. I would therefore recommend everyone interested in opposing GM crops takes a look at his website at www.gmfreeryedale.org.uk --------

Posted by Clive at 6:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 20, 2004

Trains

Well, this just sucks big time. Jarvis, one of the largest railway maintenance companies, and the company at the heart of the Potter's Bar rail accident, is to receive a bonus of several hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers money for simply doing the job it was contracted to do. It is just incredible. And Balfour Beatty, linked to the Hatfield rail disaster which has resulted in two of its employees facing manslaughter charges, has already received an undisclosed bonus. And some people wonder why our rail network is so utterly f**ked. --------

Posted by Clive at 6:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October?

Well, the rumours have started, most likely fueled by last week's budget which was, without a shadow of a doubt, more political than economic in nature, that Tony Blair may well call a snap election this October. What is interesting is how quickly the rumurs change. Last month the Daily Mirror reported that Blair was being urged to delay until October 2005 or even May 2006 instead of the planned election for May 2005. Today the same paper claims that October 2004 is on the cards. And last summer the Guardian was touting October 2005 as a likely date.

It is one of the failings of the British parliamentary system that it allows a Prime Minister to choose the timing of the general election. That Tony should consider going to the country with 20 months left of the current term to run smacks of fear. If he believes the time is right because his policies are at last bearing fruit, then surely to wait longer would give him more ammunition, more successes to crow about. Or is it that he knows the gamble that has been made with the economy? Does he fear that by May 2006; with either tax increases or spending cuts being forced upon him; with reconstruction still stalled in Iraq and British forces still taking losses in the Gulf, and with the prospect of a major terrorist attack in Britain; that the last year and a half of this term will be a decline with more negatives than positives? Or could it be that the failure of his efforts to join the Euro, or implement constructive constitutional reform have pushed him into this decision? That the only way he sees of getting his own way is to make these policies manifesto commitments and then hope to railroad the PLP into supporting him. Just possibly he thinks that the longer he waits, the more chance there is for Michael Howard to get some momentum behind the Conservatives, and that if he goes to the country this autumn he will at least have a chance of maintain a significant majority in excess of 100 MPs.

Whatever the reasons, we will have to wait until the European elections are out of the way before any announcements. And the crucial issue will not be terrorism or the war in Iraw itself, but rather trust. And that is the question we will all need to ask ourselves; can we trust Tony Blair. For a pretty straight sort of guy, that must be incredibly galling.

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Posted by Clive at 5:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

London Demo

Somewhere between 25,000 (police estimate) and 75,000 (organisers estimate) protestors took to the streets of London today to mark the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. That two Greenpeace protestors managed to scale St. Stephens Tower (which houses Big Ben) at the Palace of Westminster shows just how vigilant our security forces are in the war on terror.

Meanwhile Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the UK's special representative to Iraq, has pointed out what many of us already suspected, that bringing democracy to Iraq was always going to be a bigger task than anticipated by the planners, stating...

"A lot of us kept our mouths shut at that point, aware that Iraq has a violent history. We knew it would be a huge enterprise to bring it into a new state, and for the region as well, in terms of its political construct,"

So a year after the invasion and not much has changed for the better. We been lied to by our leaders, families have suffered at the hands of terrorists, yet politicians such as Tony Blair still try to convince us that the war was justified. It is sad to reflect that in all likelihood things will be no better this time next year, especially as long as we allow liars such as Blair and Bush to get away with their self-centred and misguided designs for the world.

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Posted by Clive at 5:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Who

The BBC has announced the actor who will be playing Doctor Who when it returns in 2005. All I can say is that inChristopher Eccleston I believe the BBC has made an inspired choice. Couple Eccleston's acting talents with the writing and production skills of Russell T Davies (of Queer as Folk fame) and the BBC is onto a sure-fire winner. --------

Posted by Clive at 4:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 19, 2004

Disturbing

Am I the only one to find it deeply disturbing that politicians feel the need to curry favour with Rupert Murdoch. Michael Howard seems quite prepared to sell his soul to the media satan in exchange for support at election time. One then begins to wonder whether Murdoch is simply reporting the policies of Bush and Blair or, more disturbingly, actual helping to define their policies. At the very least it seems that leading politicians attempt to pander to his attitudes and the attitudes of his readers.

This is ably illustrated by the political response to the Sun's headline story yesterday regarding the release without charge of the Camp X-Ray Britons. We now have the unedifying sight of David Davies and Ann Widdecombe demanding that they be arrested and charged with treason.

Once again we have people who, it would appear, are incapable of joining the dots, or following their own arguments. For example, in the article we find the following passage:

But yesterday we printed claims by America that they had weapons training from al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters while in Afghanistan.

One even allegedly admitted the UK and US were his enemies.

Mr Davis said: "If the evidence from the US is accurate the Home Secretary has serious questions to answer."

I've highlighted the key words. Claims, and evidence. The letter from the US Embassy to the Sun in no way constitutes evidence. Claims do not equal evidence. Ok?

And if it turns out that the US has evidence which it did not disclose to us, then certainly arrest the men, but let's save our ire for a loyal ally that does not appear to give a flying f**k about our national security.

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Posted by Clive at 7:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Dead in the water

Good old Coca-Cola. Not only do they try and flog us purified tap water at a premium price by calling it Dasani, but then it turns out that the stuff has had to be recalled because it isn't as pure as tap water after all. Half a million bottles are to be recalled over the next 24 hours as a consequence of Dasani containing up to twice the allowable levels of bromate. Were one of the water supply companies to make this sort of mistake, they could expect massive fines. Dasani costs about 3,000 times as much as tap water, yet Coca-Cola will probably not even get their knuckles rapped. The only good thing to come out of this is that Dasani is probably dead in the water as far as the UK market is concerned. --------

Posted by Clive at 6:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Galloway settlement

MP George Galloway has accepted a settlement in his libel action against the Christian Science Monitor, an American publication that accused him of accepting money from Saddam Hussein. Whether or not you approve of Galloways politics or opinions, the bottom line is that he didn't deserve to be libelled. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Iraq Protest

Things are pretty quiet at Menwith Hill now with the usual peaceful protesting going off, though apparently things did get out of hand early this morning, resulting in the arrest of 22 protesters. Usual charges of obstruction, with a couple for criminal damage. In spite of it being called RAF Menwith Hill, the base is actually a listening post for the NSA, with GCHQ only being fed occasional scraps of information. Completely unaccountable, the place is one of the bigger threats to civil liberties in this country. If you haven't got up there already and get the chance, then I'd recommend you visit. Even if you're not going to participate in the NVDA, there are plenty of other activities arranged by which you can demonstrate your support. You'll find the base here though once you reach Cold Coates Lane off the A59 chances are that the police will direct you. --------

Posted by Clive at 2:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tony's cronies shelved

In a blow for democracy, Tony Blair has dropped any plans for further reform of the Lords before the next general election. All I can say is that it has taken him long enough to get the message. The problem was that while many people supported the idea of getting rid of hereditary peers, the thought of replacing them with un-elected appointees was particularly unpalatable. Once the Lords had given the government a bloody nose over plans for a Supreme Court, it was inevitable that the chances of completing the unholy mess that were Tony's plans for an upper house were almost zero.

This country needs constitutional reform, especially at a time when the government holds such a large majority yet seems - until recently - to have had no internal dissent to policies defined by a select few. In these situations, what is needed is a strong and democratically elected upper house to act as check and balance on the excesses of the government. But the confused and ill-considered approach adopted by New Labour was never going to provide a satisifactory and workable alternative.

Not that the Conservatives have exactly covered themselves in glory either. Their opposition to a supreme court while at the same time supporting an elected upper house shows just how little thought they have given to the reform process themselves.

Constitutional change is too important to be left to one party, or to be publicised and advocated as a manifesto pledge. What is needed is a broad concensus, with proposals developed with cross-party consulation and agreement, followed by a referundum to allow us, the citizens of this country, to decide how we wish to be governed.

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Posted by Clive at 11:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 18, 2004

Essex Man or The Pied Piper of Maldon

You've got to laugh. --------

Posted by Clive at 4:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Irony

Now call me an old cynic, but whilst I approve of the Department for International Development running democracy lessons in Iraq, I think it would be useful if the DfES ran similar lessons for the persons in Westminster who appear to have lost touch with the underlying principles. Principles such as honesty, openess and accountability for example. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Over-stretch anyone

Now I don't decry the work of peace keepers, but I'm more than a little concerned over the need to send an additional 750 British soldiers to Kosovo. Not just from the over-stretch aspect, but also because the NATO intervention was nearly 5 years ago, and the situation still isn't resolved. With that in mind, what hope is there for a prompt solution in Iraq? --------

Posted by Clive at 3:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Duh!

I get the feeling the prats at the Sun find the concepts of justice and "innocent until proven guilty" difficult to get their tiny minds around. How else could they manage to publish the following two statements in the same article, one following the other.

Nothing is proved against the four men.

But if they ARE dangerous, why are they not under lock and key?

Er, because there is no proof perhaps.

Update - 15:35 - Imagine what the Sun will make of this story about the unjustified detention of a Libyan for 15 months, and Blunkett's failure to mount a sucessful challenge in the Court of Appeal. I bet the story would feature Treacherous Judges in it somewhere.

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Posted by Clive at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Nostalgia

A first edition of the Beano from 1938 went for £12,100 at auction yesterday. Nice to see a return of interest in early British comics, which have for a long time taken a back seat to their American equivalents. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Out for the count

Throughout the darkest days of the miner's strike, nothing it seemed could stop Arthur Scargill in his tracks - at least physically. What irony then, that he should miss a meeting to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the miners as a result of being hit by a luggage trolley on Sheffield station. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Work longer

According to the Adam Smith Institute, tax freedom day this year falls on 1st June 2004. And as a result of yesterday's budget, TFD will fall a day later on 2nd June 2004. Compare that to TFD in 1997 which fell on 25th May 1997.

Starting from 1st Jan, Tax Freedom Day is the date when you have finished earning sufficient money to pay your tax burdens, and can start earning money for youself. So this year, it will take 5 months for the average person to have earned sufficient money to cover their tax bills or put another way, the average person spends 5 months of the year working for the government and 7 months working for themselves.

Since New Labour took over, you've had to work an extra 10 days for the government. Think of it as a form of detention for naughty citizens, who in the eyes of the government don't pay enough tax.

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Posted by Clive at 10:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 17, 2004

Budget Update

• Fuel duty increase defered to September
• Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise to merge
• Extra £100 for pensioners over 70
• Typical primary school to get direct payment of over £55,000, and typical secondary of £180,000
• Budget for Education to rise to £77 billion per annum by 2008
• Home Office, transport and defence budgets to be increased
• NHS R&D budget to approach £1.2 billion per annum by 2008
• New Deal for Skills - guarantee every adult an opportunity to gain Level 2 skills
• 19% tax on dividends for owner-managed business
• Pensions - existing tax schemes to be replaced by single lieftime allownce capped at £1.5 million
• NHS speding to rise by 7.2% per annum until 2008
• Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise to reduce staff by 10,500 by 2008
• Department of Work and Pensions to reduce staff by 30,000 by 2008
• 0% Corporation Tax Allowance on first £10,000 profit to remain in place
• Cigarettes up 8p per packet
• 1p on a pint of beer, 4p on a bottle of wine, no increase on cider, sparkling wine or spirits
• 20,000 jobs to be relocated out of Whitehall
• VAT registration threshold raised to £58,000
• Inheritance tax threshold raised to £263,000
• No increase in aggregates levy, betting duty, stamp duty, income tax, capital gains tax, air passenger duty, insurance premium tax, vehicle excise duty or climate change levy

An interesting set of measures there, some sensible, some mere window dressing and a fair few tax increases by virtue of allowance erosion.

The merging of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise makes sense, as it should allow for greater efficiencies. Given that some of Custom's functions were to be moved to the SOCA, and other frontier duties to the Immigration Service, then it was almost inevitable that VAT and duty collection would end up with the Inland Revenue. All that is needed now is someone more competant and in tune with business than Dawn Primarolo as Paymaster General.

The relocation of 20,000 jobs from Whitehall to the regions is also a good move, as is the focus on cost savings at the Department of Work and Pensions. And the simplification of the tax schemes surrounding pension makes good sense, although will be of little consolation to those already hammered by Gordon in previous budgets, or who have seen their pension schemes wound up.

Strange that given recent government concerns over binge drinking and obesity, we see minimal tax increases on alcohol and no additional burden on sweets or other junk foods, yet cigarettes get clobbered for another 8p per packet; a move more like to result in less revenue as there is now an increased incentive to smuggle tobacco.

Leaving capital gains tax, stamp duty and income tax allowances unchange is effectively a tax increase, as more people will fall into higher rates. Likewise the increase in the VAT registration threshold, which will be of minimal benefit to most business. The retention of the corporation tax allowance and the introduction of the 19% dividend tax is going to have an impact on many small businesses, but from Gordon's point of view it allows him to capture more tax than he would have done by simply removing the allowance.

The £100 payment to pensioners over 70 is an attempt to buy their aquiesence in the light of recent council tax protests. Whether people are daft enough to be fooled by it remains to be seen.

It will be interesting to see how Gordon balances the books in the longer term. There are still significant spending increases in this budget, none of which are net revenue generators for the country. Once again public finances are hostage to growth predictions, and we could very well find ourselves in a buy-now-pay-later situation by 2006.

Update - 17:50 - Thanks to JonnyB for pointing out that I'd missed the VAT relief on repairs to churches. Seems like a simple step now to get your house consecrated, buy an ordination from the net and then reclaim the VAT on all sorts of home improvements. Must be a catch somewhere.

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Posted by Clive at 1:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Resignation required

So Beverley Hughes did know and indeed approved a policy to fast-track immigration checks. It may not have been the local policy found in Sheffield and revealed last week, but the way she has handled the matter smacks of evasion and cover-up. Yet the worst she can expect is to be moved to a lower profile role this summer. Is this government so short of talent and honour that it has to hang on to ministers who have already demonstrated their lack of suitability? Do openess and honesty really count for so little these days? If Beverley Hughes had an ounce of honour and honesty, she would have resigned by now. Not necessarily for the latest fast-track policy, but rather for her bungled mishandling of the whole matter of changes to immigration policy and her parliamentary performance on such a sensitive issue. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Youngsters today

When I was a lad, we used to nick glasses from pubs. After all, glasses are useful, especially when you're a poor impoverished student. I guess that's a bit old-fashioned and out of touch, not to say too boring. Why not nick something a bit more exotic, something like a....

... mummified hand!

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Posted by Clive at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

GM Food

All credit to John Clark, a Liberal councillor from Ryedale who has come up with a brilliant plan to fight against the growing of GM crops. He is supplying organic maize for people to grow at home, the theory being that the government has to consult with any farm growing organic crops before a GM crop can be planted locally, and that there has to be a minimum distance between GM and organic crops. I'm not sure what constitutes a farm or organic crop in the government's plans, but it has to be worth a try. If you're interested, then try getting in touch with an organic seed supplier. Google is your friend, but some suggestions for starters:

• Tamar Organics
• Organic Seeds
• Chiltern Seeds
• Halcyon Seeds
• Edwin Tucker and Sons
• S.M. McArd

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Posted by Clive at 12:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Gord of the Rings

This is just so funny. Thanks to Bloggerheads for the link. --------

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1976 and all that

It would appear that in spite of the drought, Britain going cap in hand to the IMF, interest rates soaring and Viv Richards scoring 291 against England at the Oval, 1976 was the year when national happiness peaked. The interesting aspect is that the result is not based purely on economic measures such as GDP, but also takes into account social and environmental costs. So the 80% increase in GDP is offset by the consequences of the rising social inequalities in the Thatcherite 1980s - which the Labour government has "failed to curb". What is also interesting is how many of the social measures - divorce rate, crime figures - fell from peaks in the early 90's, but have recently started rising again. The full detail of the report from the New Economics Foundation can be found here --------

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Lock up your green belt

With housing demand outstripping supply, forcing prices up and fueling consumer spending whilst reducing the number of first time buyers, the Barker Review has identified a requirement to build up to 140,000 new homes a year. This is all well and good provided that a) they're not all built in the South East and London areas and b) there is a preference for developing brown field sites rather than encroaching on the Green Belt. --------

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Budget Day

Brace yourselves for today is Budget Day, that time of year when Gordon Brown drones on for hours about how wonderful everything is whilst taking more with the left hand than he gives with the right, and hiding all the real bombshells in amongst the volumes of detail.

Small business owners can expect a hammering, as can savers. Home owners are probably up for a bit of a beating as well, although micro-breweries will do okay. Expect no increase in income tax, but rather a widespread fiddling with allowances and tax credits.

Details here as they become available.

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The Acme Thunderer

You couldn't make it up, could you. Midland Mainline has one of the worst punctuality records of all the UK Train Operating Companies (TOCs), with figures of 60% of trains running on time being well below the government target of 95%. Their solution was to purchase 500 super-loud Acme Thunderer whistles. So instead of being asked to hurry along, passengers will now be treated to a piercing blast from one of Birmingham's finest whistles. Punctuality has improved to 78%, but still way short of target. Perhaps an Acme Tornado 2000 might be better. --------

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March 16, 2004

Talking Sense

The Treasury has finally published the results of the Lyon's Review into Public Sector Relocation and it makes for interesting reading. It identifies up to 20,000 jobs that could be relocated from London and the South East, and recommends the implementation of positive measures to encourage the creation of future public sector jobs outside of the South East.

Suitable areas under review for departments to relocate to include:

• Newcastle


• Glasgow


• York


• Leeds


• Liverpool


• Manchester


• Sheffield


• Birmingham


• Bristol


• Cardiff

One example of successful relocation is the Department for International Development which, by the creation of a satellite office of 500 employees in East Kilbride, is one of the few Whitehall Departments to have more than 50% of its workforce located outside London.

Part of the impetus for change is potential cost savings of £2 billion, so this shouldn't be seen as an altruistic gesture to the regions. It is however a sensible proposal (one of few to come from the Treasury recently) and one that I wholeheartedly support. Just as long as they don't decide to outsource the call centres offshore.

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Community Spirit

A heart warming tale of collective responsibility and community spirit from the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. And the figures speak for themselves with the population increasing in size, new businesses being establish and £1 million being paid back after only 2 years. Congratulations to the appropriately named Willie McSporran and the people of Gigha. --------

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Contradiction

Yesterday David Blunkett announced that...

"We are at no greater risk now than we were before the World Trade Center attack, because they had already planned for it, before the Afghanistan war, before the Iraqi conflict and before last Thursday."

Which I think is trying to over-simplify the situation by branding Al-Qaeda as simple terrorists. Terrorists they are for sure, but simple is doing everyone an injustice. An organisation that can plan and execute operations of the complexity of 9-11 and Madrid cannot be tagged with the lable "simple".

And to say that we are at no greater risk now than before 9-11 is just plain misleading. Of course they'd planned the attack on the WTC before Afghanistan and Iraq, because the subsequent conflicts were the US and UK response to 9-11. If Blunkett is right, then we can safely assume that if the risk hasn't increased, that Al-Qaeda have been planning an attack against the UK (and by association, Spain) for at least 3 years. Right.

Then today the Metropolitan Police Comissioner has said that...

"...there is an inevitablity that some sort of attack will get through but my job is to make sure that does not happen."

I hope he remembers the underlying principle of terrorist acts, that while the terrorist only needs to be lucky once, the security forces need to be lucky every time. The only real solution is to resolve the issues that drive people to support the extremist cause in the first place. And that won't be achieved by force of arms in foriegn lands.

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In words of one syllable

There seems to be a message than many of the major new organisations either can't or don't want to understand. So let's make it very simple.

The result of the elections in Spain at the weekend was not the direct consequence of terrorist action, but rather a response by the electorate to the less than honest way that the outgoing government had presented the terrorist threat.

And that is the real reason why the Spanish election result should have put the fear of God into Tony Blair.

Update: 12:30 - Bloggerheads has much to say on this, which can be found here and here

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Be Prepared

It would appear that the scouting movement held little to no appeal to Tony Blair and many members of the government. How else can we explain the woeful state of preparation for the war in Iraq, and the war against terror in general?

Barely days after the Madrid bombings, it is revealed that there will be 50 fewer British Transport Police officers by the end of the year. And this at a time when it is estimated that the number of officers needs to increase by about 10% to deal with security post-Madrid. Now the BTP aren't the direct responsibility of the Home Office, instead being funded from Network Rail and the TOCs, but the responsibility for managing (or should that be mis-managing) the railway network lies with the Transport Minister. So much for joined up government.

And then take a look at the latest reports on the shambles that was the supply operation for British forces in Iraq. 2 weeks after fighting had started, and still 60% of desert equipment had yet to arrive in the Gulf. And the excuse for this shambles? The British Government didn't want to give the impression that it had given up on the diplomatic solution by preparing too far in advance. The same excuse used to explain the woeful lack of thought given to post-war reconstruction.

It strikes me as incredible that insufficient thought and planning was given to such a major activity. It seems that most of the public put more effort into planning a weekend shopping trip to the supermarket than HMG put into the war in Iraq. The overall impression this gives is that Blair was surprised a) that the UN wouldn't back military action and b) that Bush would contemplate invading Iraq without a clear UN mandate. Hardly the shrewd international player and judge of character that he'd have believe him to be. There can be no excuse for a lack of preparation when taking a pro-active approach to military operations. So the only conclusion to be drawn is that Blair's strategy had actualy placed the government in a position where no matter what happened, it would be responding to external influences, rather than retaining a degree of control over plans and events.

Yet in spite of the Madrid bombings, and other acts of terror, we have the sight of our government telling us that our involvment in the invasion of Iraq has not increased the threat of terrorist action against us. Somehow I doubt that there are many in Spain who share that view. And the raft of new anti-terror legislation, the increased levels of policing, the heightened security alerts all give the lie to the government's statements. Without a shadow of a doubt, the US-supporting world is a far less safer place today.

That the Prime Minister of this country can be so inept, so duplicitous, so naive and so stubborn on such a matter is a cause for great concern. In participating in the war in Iraq, and in behaving in such a mendacious manner, Tony Blair has failed in the primary role expected of our national leader; he has failed to look after the security and safety of the nation, instead exposing it to increased threats. For this alone he should consider his position, and while I doubt that he is capable of any real level of objectivity it is to be hoped that the British people will speak out by exercising their democratic rights. And as I said yesterday, let events at the weekend in Spain serve as a warning to Blair.

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March 15, 2004

Err

Now why did I think of Bill Gates when I saw this? --------

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Never admit you're wrong

If you're the Chancellor of the Exchequer, then never admit you are wrong. 2 years ago, and against the advice of accountants, the CBI and other organisations, Gordon Brown introduced a zero rate of corporation tax for small businesses. As a result, a large number of self employed people set up limited companies in order to take advantage of the option to pay income as dividends. In the budget this week it is expected that Gordon will now hammer small businesses by potentially introducing NICs on dividend payments.

Now I don't expect to hear great outpourings of support for people who own and run small businesses, but consider this. Not only is Gordon Brown's ill-considered legislation the cause of increased tax avoidance (which is legal, unlike evasion), but in order to maximise his return on the revised legislation it is likely that his budget proposals will be introduced with effect from 17th March 2004 (budget day) or 6th April 2004 (start of tax year) at the latest. Which makes any attempt at business planning pretty pointless. Imagine playing football, and you're 2-0 up against opponents who get to write the rules. All of a sudden you're 3-0 down without any warning. What effect this will have on the British economy is hard to tell, but who in their right mind would want to start up and run a business under this Chancellor. By introducing changes not to the level of tax, but rather to how tax is levied, without any notice or formal consulation should be a warning to everyone. Gordon has a £10 billion hole in his finances and you and me are the ones expected to fill it, be it from our savings, our houses, our pensions or any other source of finances, with the exception of the open and honest option - income tax.

Come the revolution, watch out Gordon. Because one day I might well introduce a 99% tax on all assets of anyone related to a Scottish ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer who can spell prudence, but doesn't know the meaning of the word. A Chancellor who gives not a stuff for the problems he leave for future governments as long as he can keep dipping his grubby paws in our pockets. A Chancellor who has presided over an increase in personal debt that is likely to reach £1 trillion this year. While at the same time, personal savings have been in constant decline since New Labour came to power, standing at a mere 5.4% of disposable income, compared with 9.6% in 1997. A Chancellor who has raided pension funds.

I don't know how much longer he thinks he can get away with such wilful acts of legerdemain, but the pendulum is beginning to swing away from increased taxation. Whilst we all would like improved public services, simply throwing money at them is no longer acceptable and a direct consequence of Brown's policies may well be a return to the neglect of the Thatcher years.

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For bright people....

... they're pretty stupid. Whilst many people can probably sympathise with the AUT over their grievance with employers regarding pay, taking action which will at the end of the day hurt the very people they are employed to educate strikes me as incredibly stupid. It is hard enough for students to cope with the debt of following higher education, without the prospect of having 3 or 4 years of work screwed up by a squabble over a framework that is still open for negotiation. And the AUT are pretty much on their own on this one, although the NUS is supportive as a body, I suspect that individual students will be pretty pissed off. --------

Posted by Clive at 4:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Web abuse

Whilst there is no problem with using a website to express opinions, there comes a point where a line is crossed and expression becomes incitement. The disturbing aspect of the Redwatch websites is the publication of names and addresses, along with careful worded statements such that proving they constitute a crime of incitement to violence may prove difficult.

A simple whois lookup on some of the domains may make for interesting reading:

Simon Sheppard / White Nationalist Party
PO Box 1004
Hull
Yorkshire
HU3 2YT
GB

And before anyone accuses me of stooping to their level by publishing an address, the post code listed is not valid according to the Royal Mail.

What sites like Redwatch do goes far beyond listing names and addresses of people the extreme Right opposes. Instead they begin to make acceptable the sorts of restrictions of freedom of speech that we have come to see as a right. Whilst there should be some legal recourse to ensure that addresses and phone numbers are not published, if we value our liberties, we cannot gag these sick extremists, no matter how desirable it may appear to do so. In the current climate, with issues and concerns about immigration and asylum, it is critical that we manage to find a point of balance with regard to this activity.

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Dilemma

The events of last Thursday in Madrid, and the fallout in both human and political terms may well have a profound effect on the United Kingdom over the next year. Last Thursday as the first bombs exploded in the morning, the Spanish government stood as a close friend and ally of the US and UK in the war on terror, despite the lack of popular support for the war within Spain. 5 days later, the Spanish have a new government, Tony Blair has lost a close ally in the EU with the departure of Jose Maria Anzar, and the new Spanish government will recall its troops from Iraq at the end of June if the transfer of sovereignty doesn't go ahead.

The most telling point is that the Madrid bombings have managed to effect a change of government in Spain. Whether this was a direct consequence of the attacks themselves, a reaction to the outgoing government's botched handling of the ETA/Al-Qaeda responsibility, a profound expression of disgust by the electorate in response to their country's involvment in an unpopular war, or a combination of these we may never know. What we can be sure of is that Al Qaeda will view this consequence as being sucess of the highest order. And with the US presidential election campaigns starting, and a possible general election in the UK next year, Al Qaeda may well consider the timing of terrorist acts as fast ripening.

And where does that leave the government of the UK? Tony Blair still believes in standing firm, and David Blunket would rather be "tough now than blamed later". But while the security forces need to be lucky every time, the terrorists need only be lucky once. And if the price of increased security measures is a reduction in civil liberties, then how much longer would a British electorate tolerate such a state. And beyond the war in Iraq, Tony Blair has lost a close friend and ally in his attempts to mitigate the excesses of the EU. Today more than ever, Blair stands isolated in Europe.

As Spanish Prime Minister-elect Jose Zapatero stated, "The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation of Iraq is a disaster." On current performance, the war on terror has been an abject failure, and support for America's unilateral militaristic approach to address the challenge is becoming smaller and smaller. At some point Blair may need to consider whether or not he can continue to support such a morally and ethically bankrupt foreign policy. Let us hope that the choice is made before families here have to experience the grief and suffering now being felt in Spain.

Update - 17:40 "And so it begins"

According to this report from Reuters, plain-clothes police are now patrol the London Underground, equipped with stop-and-search powers to frisk anyone looking suspicious.

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March 12, 2004

Council Tax

Way back in 1992 it was considered a sure-fire election loser, and resulted in Bryan Gould heading back to New Zealand while John Smith became leader of Labour. Twelve years later it looks like this government may very well introduce some form of local income tax. Funny how a policy once considered electoral suicide is now deemed acceptable to the electorate. Or at least the electorate in England. Looking north of the border it would appear that the concept has found far less favour, where a debate on the matter prompted some heated exhanges. It will be more than a little interesting to see just what happens if the two parliaments go different ways.

While there is undoubtedly some appeal to introducing a local tax based on ability to pay, the thought of the local council trying to implement such a policiy gives me nightmares. Inevitably such a scheme would tend to hammer the middle-income households, a consequence of the majority of New Labour tax changes. And that alone may make them baulk at such a proposal. Worse still will be the impact on employers who would effectively have to run the system. Given how far many people commute to work, it is not unlikely that an employer may have to calculate and administer the tax for a number of different local authorities. And every time an employee moves house, their tax would need to be recalculated again. The cost of administering this would run to millions of pounds across the country, and could drive some small employers out of business.

A better idea might be to adopt the approach proposed by the Scottish Green Party, a system of land value tax already in use in countries such as Denmark and Australia.

The interesting aspect to all of this is that while the main parties in Westminster indulge in sound-bite politicing, north of the border the MSPs are actually discussing, debating and proposing alternatives. And regardless of whether or not you support their proposals, the fact that the Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Green Party have the opportunity to put forward proposals for debate in their Parliament can only be good for democracy in Scotland at least. I would ask only one thing, that when the time comes to vote on any proposals for England, the Scottish MPs abstain. Meanwhile I'll sit back and wait to see what kind of partisan mess the Labour and Conservative Parties manage to come up with. Whoever carries the day, it ain't gonna be pretty, and it probably wont be fair.

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Rebuilding Iraq

Thanks to Seamus for pointing this story out. At first it looks wonderful, a British company - and inspite of the name, Amec are British - winning a substantial contract in Iraq worth £278 million. However, it is worth having a look at the partnership between Amec and Fluor, an American company with whom Amec have previously worked in Iraq. The two companies set up a joint venture FluorAmec at the beginning of 2003, specifically to bid on Iraq reconstruction contracts. This was probably a wise move for both companies. For Fluor it improved their chances of getting contracts which although appearing to satisfy British interests, would ensure that some of the money filled the coffers of a US company. From Amec's point of view, it gave them a foot in the door with regard to bidding on contracts that might otherwise have gone to exclusively US companies. There is no better illustration of this than the award of a contract last month as detailed here. At the end of the day, the US is still looking after its own interests first. I doubt very much if more than one or two major contracts are awarded exclusively to British companies. --------

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Economic Stability

So according to Gordon, we can't take economic stability for granted. Well given the way he's increased public expenditure over recent years, that's hardly surprising. What I suspect many will find frustrating is that in spite of the massive increase in public sector spending, in many cases we have seen little to no return on the investment of our taxes. And now he's going to cut back all spending increases outside of health and education. So expect your council taxes to keep rising (until it's replaced), the railways to stay in the same parlous state, road improvement schemes to be cancelled, further defence cuts, etc, etc, etc.

Meanwhile he has to find a way of trying to reduce the hole create by defecit funding of the public sector spending increases. His main target is tax avoidance, which apparently costs the country £13 billion per year. Most of his proposed measures are apparently aimed at tackling the big avoiders, but based on past performance the people to really suffer will be the owners of smaller businesses. Meanwhile the big boys can afford to pay for the quality advice to get round some of the legislation introduced.

Of course, had he not taken the course of bogging business down in excessive red-tape, botched the introduction of 0-rate corporation tax and many other measures, then perhaps his corporation tax income might have been greater. Instead of which, he has squeezed the revenue generators in order to fund a massive expansion of the public sector, which itself spends vastly more than it contributes to the country's finances. Oh, and let's throw in the active way members of this government encourage the movement of jobs overseas to countries such as India. Not only does he loose the income tax from the employees, but also the VAT and corporation tax. But what the heck, it probably makes the government feel all warm and fuzzy in a whigish sort of way. The fact that everyone would be better off if employment were retained here, and aid and investment in developing nations carried out in a more controlled and constructive manner. Instead of which, by actively encouraging outsourcing they are supporting the sort of colonial activity that they despise when it comes to the nation, but obviously find palatable when conducted by multinational corportations who donate money.

My prediction for the 17th March:

• Most public spending rises capped to inflation.
• Income tax unchanged in an attempt to make us think he isn't putting tax up.
• Tax on alcohol and cigarettes unchanged to try and keep us sweet.
• National insurance on dividend payments to owner-managers. Which will f**k a lot of small businesses, have minimal impact on the big boys, and save Gordon having to admit he got it wrong before.
• More tax credits, administered by the employers, but too confusing for many eligible people to claim, makes him look generous
• Merging the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise
• Tax allowances unchanged, an effective tax increase, but without using the word increase

Don't expect anything if you pay into a company pension, have an endowment, wish to save for the future or are generally financially prudent. Gordon doesn't like you having money of your own, give it all to him and he'll spend it wisely for you.

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Dasani

For anyone who missed out on the secret ingredient in Coca Cola's Dasani tap water, it is now too late. Someone responsible for the website as obviously picked up on thread posted by Scaryduck and spotted that spunk has a completely different meaning this side of the Atlantic.

Update: Scaryduck has thankfully preserve a screen capture of the original here.

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March 11, 2004

Rebuilding Iraq

Interesting way things are presented at times. According to the Guardian, 3 British firms today picked up contracts to rebuild Iraq. The companies concerned are Foster Wheeler, Parsons-Brinkerhoff and Halcrow, all of whom are members of consortia that have won contracts worth £43 million. Seems like good news, doesn't it? UK businesses getting a slice of the action in rebuilding Iraq. Then you take a closer look.

Foster Wheeler are American, the only British aspect being that they have an office in Reading that has done significant work in the oil industry in the Middle East.

Parsons-Brinkerhof are American as well. The work will actually be carried out by PB Power, a subsidiary of Parsons-Brinkerhof, and who happen to have an office in Newcastle.

Halcrow are British, but then they didn't really win the contract. The actual winner was CH2M Hill and Parsons, who have subcontracted Halcrow to carry out work on water supplies in Iraq.

So it would be more accurate to say that no British firms won contracts in the latest round of bidding.

The big winners so far have been Bechtel (US - Construction) and Halliburton (US - Oil).If you take a closer look at Halliburton, you find that they used to be run by US Vice President Dick Cheney. What a surprise. Better still, Halliburton is under investigation for a number of transgressions ranging from overcharging the US government for oil from Kuwait to taking $6 million in kickbacks in Iraq. Not to mention a $4 billion settlement of asbestos claims.

Still, Mike O'Brien the Minister for Trade, Investment and Overseas Affairs, and Scott McLean from the UK Trade and Investment Office are both optimistic that British companies will strike gold in the next round of contracts. Personally I don't share their optimism. We may never know what George Bush offered Tony Blair in return for British support in Iraq, but I doubt that Tony will ever collect. The fact that a company like Halliburton can land a $1.2 billion contract in Iraq barely 3 days after the Pentagon issued a warning should be evidence enough of just how skewed this process is going to be.

And every British win should be held up for examination to ensure that the truth comes out about where the contracts are going, and to avoid the sort of spun headlines that the Guardian went with today.

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Assorted

Maxine Carr is facing 12 charges of fraud.

David Beckham's autobiography has been shortlisted for Best Book of the Year in the W.H. Smith Awards!

The new arch at Wembley Stadium has been declared unsafe.

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Posted by Clive at 3:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Big Brother is watching you...

... get changed, have a cup of tea, read the newspaper whilst having a dump, etc. Okay so some form of workplace monitoring is required, and I find the monitoring of email, telephone and web-surfing habits at work to be acceptable. After all, they're your employer's resources. However, the level of surveillance reported here is just plain unacceptable.

And this quote from the CBI's legal advisor is just plain disingeneous:

"Unfortunately there is a minority of staff that abuses company trust. The majority of company fraud is committed internally and over 40% of firms have had to dismiss staff for e-mail or internet misuse"

Well, I can see the e-mail or internet misuse bit, although employers should be obliged to publish clearly defined acceptable use policies in the first case. But how the hell is installing a camera in a changing room or staff room going to clamp down on fraud? That's just an invasion of privacy surely.

And on a related note, it would seem that a number of Lothian and Borders Police officers and support staff are dirty spankers. Now the porn and (possibly) the explicit e-mails I can understand, but jokes? Okay, so they're police officers and shouldn't really have the time to be emailing jokes, but is it such a big deal? It is interesting to see that no laws have been broken, and some of those investigated are being offered counselling. Perhaps a bit more enlightened than the CBI.

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Freed

Police have released without charge the three remaining former Guatanamo Bay detainees. A fourth was released yesterday and the fifth on Tuesday. So let's see. Th US held them without trial or charge for two years. After at most 48 hours in police custody all five have been released without charge. Either the US investigators are criminally stupid and incompetant, or - and this is more likely - they couldn't give a f**k. All I hope is that they can get on with their lives.

Oh, and sue the arse off the US government for kidnap or unlawful detention. They may never see a penny of compensation, but it must be recorded formally as a consequence of due legal process that the US has acted in an unlawful manner. It is, after all, hard to distinguish between the treatment of the Guantanamo Bay detainees and the way many terrorist hostages have been treated in the past. This episode puts the US on the same level as the students who siezed the American Embassy in Iran or the Beirut terrorists who held Terry Waite and others hostage to name but two. If you consider that the hostage crisis in Iran lasted for 444 days during which about 70 Americans were held captive, then it appears almost insignificant when compared to Camp Delta and X-Ray, where more than 300 detainees have been held without trial, some for more than 2 years.

I'm not condoning terrorist activity, but when you look at the current behaviour of the US security services, there's precious little to differentiate them from a number of terrorist organisations. Other than the fact that the US forces are better equipped, better funded and supposedly fighting to support democracy and human rights (allegedly).

And in the euphoria of the moment, spare a thought for the families of the other four Briton's detained in Cuba. And ponder the complicity of the British Government in this affair.

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March 10, 2004

Interesting

The interesting part of this article about 14 Greenpeace protestors, who chained themselves to tanks in protest at the war in Iraq, is not that the Lord Chancellor's advice on the legality of the war is inadmissable, but rather this quote from the Lord Chancellor's QC...

He also told the court that the Attorney General's evidence amounted to a "matter of opinion".

So the Lord Chancellor's advice on the eve of war was actually nothing more than his opinion. Well that is no surprise, but it is becoming more and more apparent that Lord Goldsmith's opinion on the matter is not very well founded and won't stand examination in the cold light of day. Worse still, it would seem that after the collapse of the Katharine Gun trial, the judiciary is prepared to dismiss as irrelevant any attempt at using the prevention of an illegal act as justification for active protest. I leave readers to draw their own conclusions as to the motivation underlying this apparent change in attitude, and will only note that it may well result in many people being unfairly convicted.

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Anti-smoking and obesity pill

Interesting development in the fight against smoking and obesity. Should also prove useful for anyone suffering from a bad case of the munchies after too much weed. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

War on climate change next

It's probably a good job that Tony Blair doesn't share Sir David King's recently published views on the magnitude of the threat posed by climate change. If he did, we'd probably find ourselves involved in a war on climate change, with the worst offenders being targetted. Hang on a sec' that'd mean having a pop at the US of A. Maybe that's the reason why Downing Street tried to stop him from speaking out. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Good news for whisky drinkers

Anyone who is partial to a wee dram should be pleased to hear that Diageo are scrapping their controversial pure malt version of Cardhu. The idea of marketing a blend of malts from local distilleries and calling it a pure malt was always a poor choice, and I should imagine many members of the Scotch Whisky Association will be quietly content, and entitled to be more than a little smug. --------

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His Dark Materials

A big round of applause to the Archbishop of Canterbury for suggesting that Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy should be included as a part of children's relgious studies in schools. Having read the novels concerned, I wholeheartedly agree with the Archbishop that far from being maliciously blasphemous, the books are a challenge to our preconceptions regarding organised religion.

Better still, the Archbishop criticised Tony Blair's policy makers for suggesting that atheism should be included in religious education. Atheism is by definition an absence of belief in either a God or Gods, and to try and include it in religious education makes me wonder whether the policy makers have access to a dictionary. It is very reminiscent of the religious conservatives in the US who tried to get science categorised as a the religion of secular humanism in order to reduce its status to that of RE, and to encourage the teaching of Creationism. Invariably the people making these suggestions have an agenda, and quite often one that is contrary to the desires of the majority.

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Tell us something we didn't know

Well, what a surprise. Commons Leader Peter Hain is complaining that Labour ignores its own members. Given that we have a Prime Minister that ignores most of the PLP, and a government that really couldn't give a stuff about what the population thinks, why should we be surprised that the rank and file membership of the Labour Party also feels marginalised. When you have a government led by small minded technocrats with inflated egos and big ideas, is it any wonder that there exists a disconnect between the corridors of power and the real world. --------

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When the lights go out.

According to Dieter Helm, an expert advisor on energy policy to the government, the UK could suffer widespread power cuts within 2 years. The problem is two-fold. Firstly a chronic underinvestment in the infrastructure has resulted from falling supplier prices in the deregulated electricity market place. So while you and I shop around for a saving of a penny a unit here or there, the generation companies can barely make a profit. And in order to maintain current levels, expenditure would need to double. The second issue comes down to our reliance on imported gas for generation, usage of which has increased from 1.7% in 1990 to 29.7% in 2002. Any interruption in the flow of gas would be catastrophic. And just to pile on the pressure, most of the UK's remaining coal fired power stations are due for replacement, and most nuclear plants have a remaining lifespan of no more than 10 years. --------

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Rusedski cleared

British No. 2 tennis player Greg Rusedski has been cleared of the charge of deliberately taking the banned steroid nandrolone. However, although Greg has been cleared, the situation with regards to drug use in sport has never been more complicated. The problem is that the drug developers will always be one step ahead of the testers, and no matter how quickly new tests are developed, there is always a window of opportunity during which an unfair advantage can be gained. And as long as the financial rewards for sucess are so lucrative there will always be an incentive to cheat in order to gain any advantage. That doesn't mean that we should give up on drug testing, just that we need to find a cultural solution to the problem, a substantial disincentive to cheat other than simply banning the guilty. --------

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March 9, 2004

The Passion

An interesting move by four parish churches to try and boost their congregations. I can't help but think that they're being just a little optimistic with this one. Maybe vouchers for free popcorn and a soft drink, or even tickets to a different film yes, but whatever your opinion of The Passion, it is just the sort of film to make newcomers feel that modern Christianity is seriously heavy, and is more likely to put them off than encourage them in. --------

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No change

Everyone blames (and to some extent rightly so) the North-South divide on 18 years of Conservative rule. One thing many of us outside the South East were looking to this government for was some restoration of balance. Well, according to the Child Poverty Action Group report Britain - A nation divided by poverty that hasn't really changed in the last 7 years either. The UK has almost the worst regional inequality in the industrialised world - second only to Mexico. On the positive side, child poverty is on target to have reduced by 25% by next year, but there is still a lot of work to be done. --------

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Homeward Bound

As five British citizens freed from Guantanamo Bay make their way home for questioning, David Blunkett appears to have thrown in the towel with regard to the remaining Britons held in Cuba.

The evidence that has been picked up is best used in the US, not in Britain, because the people who evaluated that evidence, who heard that evidence, are of course those who were present and have been involved with the interrogation process. Translation - If we don't shut up, George is going to get stroppy, and to be honest, we'd rather wash our hands of the whole affair.

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MacDonalds Baaad - GM Goood

The quality of the food we eat is such a concern with regards to obesity that MacDonalds have gone all healthy on us. Well, healthy may be overstating things, but you can now buy salad, fresh fruit and grilled chicken in addition to the more traditional gut-busting Big Mac and large fries. Bless 'em, they've even developed a healthy salt shaker to reduce the amount of salt that can be added. Presumably the holes are so small and so few in number that you're arm aches before you can add salt to excess. Or maybe the additional exercise burns of more calories. Somehow I doubt whether MacDonalds are doing it for our benefit. For starters, the new dishes are more expensive than your typical cheeseburger and secondly all the bad old foods are still available. From MacDonalds perspective it must be viewed as a win-win situation. If you buy the healthy option then they get more money off you, and even if you stick to burger and fries, they can still crow about offering a healthy choice.

At the same time, it now seems that GM food is ok. At least it is if you subscribe to the Gospel According to St. Tone. Personally I'd like the sort of reassurance that comes from rigourous scientific investigation, rather than simply take the word of a government which has demonstrated poor judgement on too many occasions. Not to mention possible issues of bias or conflict of interest. And I can't help wondering if this is another attempt to cosy up to Bush, a big time advocate of GM crops.

The bottom line is that while stuffing your face with a Big Mac, large fries and chocolate shake may well eventually lead to you becoming overweight before carking it with a coronary, it isn't going to f**k up the environment or have long term detrimental effects on our health. And you can make a very simple choice to walk past the golden arches, but it could become a hell of a lot more difficult to avoid GM-tainted foodstuffs.

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Quiz

I'm not usually into the lame quizes that many people post. You know, the "Which Psycho Am I?", "Which Buffy Season Am I?" sort of quizes. But I spotted a link to this one at bloggerheads which appealed to me. The result - You are a medium-core libertarian, probably self-consciously so. Your friends probably encourage you to quit talking about your views so much. Woo. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

War on terror

This is why Bush and Blair's approach to fighting terrorism will never suceed. If George had his way, it would probably be shock and awe on Hounslow and Derby, with Tony's support as long as he could come up with some quasi-legal position to justify it. The real solution is to address the issues in order to undermine any popular support, but that's a bit too tricky for George. He'd much rather simply blow 'em away. Besides which, the military option is good for America's military and industrial business, and that's the important bit. --------

Posted by Clive at 10:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Immigration Revisited

When is a policy not a policy? When it is a covert strategy operated by individual offices. Even a fool could have seen that implementing a fast-track approach to immigration from Eastern Europe was not the best adjunct to an immigration policy that was already deemed controversial by many. A day after this was first reported, and it gets no better. Now we can add incompetance to the list that currently includes naivety and poor judgment. How Beverly Hughes can consider staying as Immigration Minister after the revelation that a) she doesn't appear to know what is going on in her department and b) ignored for 2 months, a communication that would have enlightened her, is beyond me.

Let's spare a thought for Steven Moxon, the whistleblower in this case. The documents he produced were genuine, guideline documents that allowed people in with business plans that said things such as "Carpenter. Aim to target people who need a carpenter". The process was outrageous, unconstitutional and most likely illegeal. It certainly wasn't in accord with the Civil Service charter, and yet when Mr Moxon attempted to inform people higher up, he was prevented from doing so, and had to resort to sending an email which was ignored for 2 months. Worse still, he has been suspended from his job, while Beverly Hughes prattles on about it not being her fault. Oh no, it was local guidance, and we shouldn't let the fact that Labour is big on devolved powers and local autonomy colour our opinions now, should we.

As in all these cases, everyone in positions of responsibility will simply point the finger at someone else, and the poor whistleblower will instead carry the can.

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Bonkers

Does anyone think this is a good idea? --------

Posted by Clive at 9:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Constitutional Change

Good news for anyone who thinks the process of constitutional change in the country is poorly planned and rushed in implementation. Last night the Lords sent the Constitutional Reform Bill to a special committee for further scrutiny. Baroness Amos, the Leader of the Lords, can bitch all she likes about this being based on political opportunism, but the truth is that something needs to be done to ensure that any constitutional changes made are positive steps forward, and not complete bodges such as Blair's efforts to stuff the Lords with unelected cronies. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 8, 2004

Safety Glass

Well, that's the safer pint pot developed to reduce the danger of glassing. I guess the typical bar brawl in Rossendale will now use alcopop bottles or short glasses, or maybe even bar stools. Am I the only person who thinks a better solution would be to address the causes of pub violence, rather than trying to make the weapons safer. After all, we've had plastic pint glasses for years now, so making them from safety glass is just a variation. --------

Posted by Clive at 6:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Immigration

Reading about the waiving of immigration checks on immigrants from Eastern Europe is an unedifying experience. Whether the checks were waived to massage the figures as a whistleblower claims, or simply a way to reduce the backlog of applications is irrelevant. In the present climate when immigration - especially from the acceding nations - is such a hot potato, the immigration service cannot afford these sort of issues. --------

Posted by Clive at 5:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Railway or failway?

I guess we all knew that the railway network was out of control financially, and riddled with inefficiencies. However a report by Transport 2000 (why oh why do they use frames) shows just how bad the situation is.

In one case, they examine the costs of a recently built single platform station. The cost for the heating and ventilation system alone was £850,000 out of a total price of £2.15 million. By way of comparison, an equivalent station built in 1999 in West Yorkshire cost only £800,000.

To illustrate another example of inefficiency, the West Coast Mainline modernisation project has no less than 1200 people managing it. Compared with 40 people managing the Dutch High Speed Line Project, and 12 in charge of the Madrid Metro.

And there is significant cost variation. The cost of replacing 1 metre of single rail in the old Western Region is £116, yet in East Anglia the cost is £223. And prices have increased year on year by as much as 24% in some places.

If you're a regular rail user who has had enough, please head over to South West Trains - How To Complain at Bloggerheads where you will find some useful advice on how to make more of an impact with your complaints. Although the page refers to South West Trains, the advice is applicable to any TOC.

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Posted by Clive at 2:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Guantanamo

So David Blunkett is pushing for a fair deal for British Guantanamo Bay detainees. Given that many have been incarcerated for up to 2 years without trial, and that Bush is at least as entrenched today as he ever has been on the matter, does Blunkett really rate his chances? You would have thought by now that the British Government might at least realise that cosying up to a self-obsessed, neo-conservative American government was always going to be a one-way street with regards to human rights. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Something for the weekend

Been a mixed weekend for the leaders of the two main political parties.

For Michael Howard it has been a pretty good one, with a success spring conference at Harrogate, and some positive feedback from the press. For the first time since 1997 the Conservatives have a leader who actually is convincing when he talks about winning the next election. And with that election probably only 12 months away, it is about time too. I don't honestly think the Conservatives can reverse Labour's majority overnight, but they do at last look capable of making Tony's third term an unpleasant experience.

Then there's poor old Tony. On top of the various Iraq-related issues of recent weeks, now Peter Foster comes back to haunt him with "revelations" of Blair's "intimate relationship" with Carole Caplin. While I doubt very much that there's any real truth in Foster's story, it is a reminder of just how poor the Blair's judgment can be when choosing friends and associates. Which doesn't reflect too well on Tony as Prime Minister.

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March 5, 2004

Your taxes at work - Public Sector Job for the week #2

This week's public sector employment gem is based in either Sheffield or Leeds:

Employer : Jobcentre Plus
Title : Senior Improvement Manager
Salary : £43,460 t- £56,440
Description : Identify teams that achieve the best in performance and develop optimum operating models based on these. Lead an initiative to spread high achievement and communicate the key themes of team working, learning from others and delivering excellent customer service.

Yup, another value-for-money job in the public sector. Well, it might be, but once again a clearly defined salary is being offered for a ill-defined job.

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Posted by Clive at 7:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Threat or Excuse - Update

Well, the full text of Tony's speach can be found here and while it was better than I expected, it was still a revisionist approach that was selective in its use of facts and has a rather dubious slant on some historical events.

The interesting bit for me was towards the end where he addresses the concerns many have with the US taking unilateral action without a UN mandate. In summary he seems to take the approach that if the UN fails to see the world the same way as the leaders of the free nations (i.e. Bush and himself), then it is the UN that needs reforming. The whole speech is tinged with this air of "I don't care what you think, because I'm right regardless".

At the end of the day it will do nothing to address the concerns many of us have, and almost seems to accept the divisiveness that has resulted from the war. That a leader of a democratic nation can be willing to accept such a situation as the price to be paid for doing what he believes to be right is a matter of some concern.

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You've been Blixed!

Hans Blix - "I don't buy the argument that the war was legalised by the Iraqi violation of earlier resolutions," Hans Bilx - "It's the security council that is party to the ceasefire, not the UK and US individually, and therefore it is the council that has the ownership of the ceasefire, in my interpretation."

The Guardian
The Independant

And before anyone jumps in and says "But Blix is just a UN Weapons Inspector", I'd just like to point you to this brief bio for Dr Hans Blix, and the bit about At Stockholm University he attained a doctorate in law and served as a professor in international law and He has written several books on subjects associated with international and constitutional law. So we can safely say that he is probably a bit more au fait with the detail of international law than Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, who had to seek a second opinion with only 3 days to go to war, an opinion to fit the political requirements rather than the international legalities.

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The beginning of the end

Have we now reached the beginning of the end of Tony Blair's New Labour experiment? Never has he seemed more beleagured than at present, battered by Iraq; failure to achieve significant results in the improvement of public services, in spite of increased expenditure; faced with council tax protests, pensions protests; and an economy that whilst relatively stable, is balanced precariously on a mountain of personal debt funded by booming house prices.

And then consider where his friends and supporters are. If we take a look at the core team that went to the US to copy the Democrats' policies and presentation approach...

• Peter Mandelson
• Philip Gould
• Jonathon Powell
• Alistair Campbell

... then add in Gordon Brown and you have the core of New Labour. But where are they now? Mandelson had his profile forcibly lowered after too many embarassing disclosures; Campbell departed Downing St after becoming the story; Philip Gould's leaked memos showed his loss of confidence in the credibility of the project; and Jonathon Powell was tarnished by the Formula 1 tobacco advertising issue. Gordon Brown is still Chancellor, but his manipulative dealings with Nick Brown and emasculation of the tuition fee rebels has effectively alienate him from a majority in the party. Further more, the rumour mill has him potentially heading off to the IMF, though that would mean that Gordon had finally given up on getting the top job.

And now Blair has to deal with vocal dissent from within the party, criticsing not merely his policies, but the man himself. Robin Cook and Clare Short may have been two of the more vocal critics, but there are other voices as well. Today the ranks of vocal critics are joined by Dennis Healy who believes that the time has come for Blair to retire. Healy isn't the first to raise this subject (which goes all the way back to the Granita deal) and he won't be the last. But as a politician from the old right of Labour, and thus supposedly more sympathetic to the policies of New Labour, his comments should carry some weight.

We've already seen Rupert Murdoch inviting Michael Howard to woo him on behalf of the Conservatives, a not insignificant point to note. Casting our minds back to 1992, the perception was that Kinnock losing that election was down to the unceasingly hostile coverage of Labour by The Sun. As a result, in 1995 Tony Blair flew to Australia to abase himself before the throne of Murdoch and swear an oath of fealty before the board of News International. That Murdoch should now be questioning the value of the New Labour connection is something that should be giving Tony many sleepless nights.

Since 1995, a small clique has conned the party, marginalising the PLP and effectively staging a hostile takeover. The takeover metaphor is aposite, given the top down management style adopted by New Labour. Tony Blair behaves in a manner more suited to the CEO of UK Plc than Prime Minister and Gordon Brown wields the club of public finances in a style that befits a Finance Director of UK Plc. For a long time the PLP has let them get away with it, baffled by the smoke and mirrors of pseudo-business-speak, without realising that the people running the New Labour project weren't the brightest stars in the firmament.

But all is not well at UK Plc. Whilst dissent in the board room is ruthlessly trampled on, there is dissent further down, from the managers (back-bench MPs) though the work force (Unions) and in the client base (the Public). If someone had asked me a year ago whether I thought the future for New Labour and UK Plc was secure, I would have had to say yes. What a difference 12 months makes.

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Posted by Clive at 2:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Threat or Excuse

So today Tony Blair is going to tell us why we should all lie awake at night worrying about terror attacks on Britain, and what wonderful measures he is putting in to place to combat the threat. Apparently we underestimate the terrorism threat, although personally I think Osama is probably killing himself with laughter at the way he has got the western nations confused and divided. And Blair is hardly one to tell us to be realistic about things, after all, where are the vaunted WMDs that could be launched in 45 minutes eh?

The bottom line is that the current situation is an ideal opportunity for an intensely statist government to introduce further controls and restrictions that impinge on and potentially erode our civil liberties. Given that the focus of attention is still on Iraq rather than on domestic policies, then it is inevitable that Blair will take every opportunity to try and convince us that he was right on Iraq.

If he is truly concerned about the threat of nuclear proliferation, then he would be addressing countries such a Pakistan, N. Korea and some of the former Soviet Union states. However I suspect that his real motivation is to continue to try and justify the war, and counter the criticism from people such as Clare Short.

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20 Years Ago

20 years ago today an event started which was to have the most profound post-war impact on society in the country. I refer, of course, to the Miner's Strike which began on March 5th 1984 when miners in the Yorkshire coalfield walked out after a local ballot. The following day pickets arrived in the Nottinghamshire coalfield, and a week later on 12th March 1984 Arthur Scargill declared the various actions across the country's coalfields to be a national strike. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 4, 2004

Be Happy

Tomorrow marks the start of the Happy Poster Project in the PRSY. A quality selection of the fine posters has been printed off in both A4 and A3 sizes, and the shops of Barnsley will be tackled tomorrow. Photographic evidence of any successes will be posted here, along with a mention of the shop(s) in question. --------

Posted by Clive at 5:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Incestuous little clique

While Rebekah Wade lays the boot in to Clare Short over at the Sun, her partner, Ross Kemp, is acting as compere to that extremely nice Alistair Campbell. Meanwhile Alistair is once again a jobbing journo for Murdoch's News International. All very cozy, and one can't help wondering whether Campbell is involved in the Sun's campaign, if only behind the scenes. --------

Posted by Clive at 4:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Elvish lives

At least there is still some hope for education in this country if schools can find time for lessons in Elvish.How long before Google offers it as an interface language alongside Klingon? --------

Posted by Clive at 4:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

They would say that, wouldn't they

So according to the Government, all of the UK's 6000+ speed cameras are in the right place. And none of them are sited purely for revenue generating purposes. Why am I not surprised. I wouldn't object to the cameras so much if there was a police presence to crack down on other motoring offences. But instead the cameras seem to be used as a substitute for quality traffice policing, with the perception being that speeding is the most critical motoring offence. Well locally I know of at least two locations where there is a 30 mph speed limit outside a school which is readily broken, yet there are no speed cameras to enforce the limits. At the same time, there are a least two other locations in the middle of nowhere where speed cameras are present to enforce a 60mph limit. It is these sort of issues that make me question the original statement above. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

After the Deepcut Inquiry

After the fifth and final report from the Deepcut Inquiry by Surrey Police, which found no evidence to suggest the four deaths at Deepcut barracks were the result of murder, the families are going get a new inquiry by the House of Commons Defence Committee. It isn't the public inquiry the families of the deceased want and in all honesty deserve. The deaths occured in a period going back to 1995, and the tragedy is that only now are lessons being learnt. Given the equipment fiascos in Iraq and on other military exercises, I can only assume that the MoD has the same atitude towards military personnel as the government i.e. who gives a f**k. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Does anyone want them

John "Basher" Prescott is hitting the North West (metaphorically I hasten to add) in an effort to drum up some enthusiasm for introducing an elected Regional Assembly. Given that a recent YouGov poll showed only 32% in favour of such an assembly, one has to admire John's fortitude whilst at the same time questioning his dedication to such a unpopular cause. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Seconds out, round two

Nice to see Lord Woolf sticking the boot in to the Government. All credit to him for challenging the encroachment into the legal arena of politicians. This government's desire to involve politicians in every process, and at the same time to reduce the influence of independant bodies such as the judiciary once again highlights the contempt the government holds for your rights as an individual. Asylum and immigration issues have at their heart the fundamental principles of basic human rights. By blocking the judiciary from hearing appeals, the government is effectively making a statement that they, and not the law, are the ultimate authority in asylum and immigration cases.

But this is just the thin end of the wedge. What other areas of government would be hidden from view, what other decisions would avoid the scrutiny of the legal system? We already have in the Lord Chancellor an unelected and virtually unaccountable individual who wields far too much power and influence via the Department for Constitutional Affairs. And the Home Office looms in the background threatening, through introducing new legislation and increasing its scope, to become some overly powerful political body, extending its influence to all areas of life. If that sounds melodramatic, then cast you eyes back over many of the recent proposals to emerge from Queen Anne's Gate and tell me I'm wrong.

Perhaps the time has finally come for a written constitution. We may have managed very well without one so far, but if the creeping politicisation of our lives continues, then a formal, written constitution may be the only way to ensure the continuation of our individual rights and liberties.

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Posted by Clive at 10:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Capturing the truth - Painting vs Photography

There's an interesting article in the Guardian where David Hockney discusses the relationship between painting, photography and recording the truth. He is certainly right that the explosion of digital photography and editing software has now in many ways reduced the level of trust that can be placed in the photographic image. We're fast reaching the stage where the only reliable record will be direct experience. All other forms of reporting of events will be subject to doubt. More fuel on the fire of an uncertain world. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hutton dismayed

So poor old Lord Hutton is dismayed by the fallout from his report. Apparently he was convinced he had produced an even-handed finding of fact. What a naive person he must be if he is shocked by the aftermath of the Hutton Inquiry. Any fool could have seen that the Government was just spoiling to have a go at the BBC, and that in consequence there would be resignations. So the poor little Lord refers to certain passages that he says were overlooked by the media. Given the way they were worded, it is hardly surprising that the media misinterpreted them, if indeed Hutton's original intentions were as he stated.

The bottom line is that the Hutton report was at the very least overly sympathetic to the Government's position, and lacking in any awareness of the challenges facing investigative journalism. As a consequence - and whether he intended it or not - Hutton effectively let the Government off the hook, merely chided the MoD and left the BBC wide open to the howling mob of politicos. And if the end result causes him discomfort and sleepless nights, all well and good. Maybe he won't be so quick to be a pawn in someone elses chess game in future.

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Posted by Clive at 9:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 3, 2004

30 Pieces of Silver

I can't help wondering what price Rupert Murdoch will exact from whichever political party he gives his support to. That he is inviting the Conservatives to woo him wouldn't be related to this report into the future of the BBC by any chance. --------

Posted by Clive at 8:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

No way!

So Tony Blair is realistic enough to realise that public funding of political parties will be unpopular. No s**t Sherlock. Is it going to stop him from pressing on with the idea? Of course not. After all, Labour can't expect to rely on the loyalty of wealthy millionaire backers such as Rupert Murdoch. However, rather than push the policy himself, he instead hopes that the Electoral Commission will effectively provide a smokescreen to enable Labour to introduce such a measure without taking the flak for it. Sort of "Not our idea guv, blame the commission".

In order to preserve its historic relationship with the unions (apart from the RMT who were recently expelled), Labour opposes wholesale public funding or the introduction of a donations cap. Although the state funding would not be used for advertising, it could be spent on candidate training and education, policy development and intra-party communications. Well, that'll be an effective use of tax payers money then. Still, the Government could always cut its advertising budget and use the funds currently committed to telling us how good it is. After all, the Central Office of Information was just pushed into the number two position behind Procter & Gamble in the list of the UK's advertising big spenders In spite of a spending increase of almost 15% to nearly £140 million last year.

Love 'em or loathe 'em, you've got to admire this Government's ability to spend your money. It's just a pity so much of it is wasted.

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Posted by Clive at 6:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

A natural order

Well, over the pond in the US of A, Super Tuesday is out of the way. "But what does this have to do with the UK today?" I hear you ask. Put simply, US Presidential elections are always view with a mixture of fear and trepidation in No. 10 Downing St, tinged with a slight frisson of anticipation. After all, when the WTC and the Pentagon were attacked, who went to war? That's right, the UK. And the infamous New Labour Third Way? Pehaps a Clintonesque concept.

Traditionally there has been a natural order to the relationship between Prime Minister and President; Conservative and Republican, Labour and Democrat. Who can forget the closeness of Thatcher and Reagan, Major and Bush snr in Desert Storm and Blair and Clinton. Which makes the current chuminess of Blair and Bush seem kind of odd, especially to the old Left over here. Now that John Kerry has effectively received the Democrat nomination, it will be interesting to see how the Blair-Bush relationship changes. Moreso given the friendship that already exists between Kerry and Gordon Brown, and further tinged by the possibility of having a Prime Minister who was (and is) defiantly pro-war trying to forge a relationship with a Democrat White House that has campaigned against Bush's foriegn policy.

All in all the upcoming Presidential Race will make for interesting viewing, and should be considered as having more than just a superficial effect on the UK.

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Posted by Clive at 4:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Having it both ways

So according to Tone, although the name might change, everything else will stay the same at the CPS PPS. I wonder if he has actually discussed and reviewed matters with Blunkett, or whether this is just another case of trying to have it both ways and keep the reality of the situation under wraps? --------

Posted by Clive at 2:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

What's in a name?

It is well known that there is a fondness for republicanism within the ranks of New Labour. However, rather than engage in open and honest debate on the matter, this government seems intent on removal of the monarchy and the introduction of a republic by the backdoor. We've already had Her Majesty's Prison Service renamed as the National Offender Management Service, and yesterday saw the rebranding of the Crown Prosecution Service as the Public Prosecution Service. And in a frenzy of Whigish revisionism, there is also talk of a major overhaul of the honours system, include the removal of references to the Empire.

But what concerns me most, is the changes in perception and attitude that go hand in hand with this rebranding. For example, the name change from CPS to PPS was announced by Blunkett with the statement "We have to get across that the public prosecutor is not neutral - they are on the side of the public."

What's all that about then? I thought the purpose of the CPS PPS was to be on the side of the law, not the public. Does it now mean that prosecutions will be driven by public opinion or the agendas of politicians, rather than the rule of law? I know the PPS has not always got it right, but the thought of a prosecution service driven by political expediency or media witchunt to me seems far worse.

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March 2, 2004

That's big of him

So David Trimble has - unsurprisingly - quit the Good Friday Agreement review. Hardly constructive behaviour, and an action unlikely to do his cause any good. It is interesting to note that other parties from both the Nationalist and Loyaist sides have condemned his actions.

What was interesting was that Chief Constable Hugh Orde was able to state that the persons involved in the incident were members of the Provisional IRA. Yet when the four accused appeared in court, the IRA membership charges were subsequently dropped.

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The Scottish Moneypit

In September 1997, the cost of the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood was estimated at between £10 million and £40 million, before either the design or the site had been identified.

Nearly 7 years later, and after somewhere in the region of 15,000 design changes, the cost has risen to about £430 million. Meanwhile the architect has died, the first Scottish First Minister has passed away, the Project Director has quit, and still the building isn't finished.

One wonders whether any of the guilty parties are still around. By the time the building is complete and in use it is highly likely that none of the guilty parties will be around to receive punishment for their incompetance and near-criminal ineptitude.

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Posted by Clive at 5:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Everywhere you look

If one thing is certain about the war in Iraq, it is that lawyers are making a packet. Everywhere you look there is a legal action relating to the war.

The International Criminal Court in the Hague is being asked to investigate allegations of war crimes against messrs Blair, Straw and Hoon. These allegations having been raised by Legal Action Against War.

Then there's the soon(?) to be heard criminal damage case against five peace activists. They're hoping to plead a defence of necessity and prevention of crime, arguing that going to war was an illegal act.

And the Attorney General may be forced to hand over the text of his position on the legality of the war to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Of course the issue was sidestepped with the collapse of the prosecution of Katharine Gun, the GCHQ translator.

Ironic that a government who's Prime Minister, Foriegn Minister and Defence Minister are all lawyers should find itself so tangled in legal complications. Some might say that they're only reaping what they sowed, but in fact it is the rest of us who must suffer the bitter harvest.

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Posted by Clive at 3:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Immigration twist

Ever wondered how the NHS struggles by in the grotty, run-down and ultimately grim areas of this country? The answer lies in immigrants, 44,433 immigrant health care workers who recieved work permits last year, up by a factor of more than 27 times since 1993. On the whole this is good for the NHS (keeping in mind issues of quality of skills being imported), and a bonus for the private medical sector as well. The real problem lies with the countries of origin for these workers. They come, in the main, from the developing world, from the Philippines, India, South Africa to name but the top 3. Ministers drew up a list of countries from whom recruitment should be banned, and the NHS is abiding by this. The private sector however, is not. There were 27,000 medical staff recuited by private agencies last year, and of the top 25 countries providing recruits, 15 were on the banned list.

So not only might the NHS collapse without overseas staff, but the private medical sector is going as far as to strip poorer countries of highly critical trained medical staff. Worse still, the wages these people earn are substantially lower, and whilst that would in theory bring a cost saving to the medical sector, it also leads to UK workers leaving the profession. As a result the demand for cheap labour goes, more workers come in, etc, etc - a vicious circle.
And once they're here, the exploitation doesn't cease as this article from Scotland's Sunday Mail shows. And it isn't only private enterprise that treats them badly.

So next time you hear people slagging off immigrant workers, spare a thought for the thousands keeping the NHS from the brink. And their families at home who, as a consequence of our short-sightedness and greed, are deprived the access to skilled medical practitioners. This is exploitation, pure and simple, and is completely unacceptable. As a developed nation, we should be exporting our expertise and skills to support the developing nations, rather than the reverse. And the governments proposed £4million scheme to boost recruitment at home is but a drop in the ocean, and with no short-term impact.

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Posted by Clive at 1:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I feel better already

Well, that's alright then. Nick Raynsford is threatening to cap council tax increases to ensure that rises don't exceed 6%. While that is half the percentage increase of last year, it is still nearly 3 times the rate of inflation. --------

Posted by Clive at 8:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 1, 2004

About time too

Looks like the Conservatives have come to their collective senses, and decided to pull out of the Butler whitewash. Taken them a while, but they finally seemed to have cottoned on to what the rest of us realised weeks ago; that the Butler Inquiry will achieve nothing with regards to revealing the truth.

Meanwhile the government is doggedly hanging in there, still refusing to reveal the Attorney General's legal advice. In many ways Tony Blair now reminds me of HAL9000 from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Faced with trying to maintain a high-level deception, the poor thing became psychotic, much like HAL9000. However I do think it unlikely that Tony will resort to murder to maintain the lie, at least not directly.

However, this may give an insight into how the legal position was identified. After Foriegn Office experts decided that war would be illegal, the US suggested that Tony find himself some new lawyers. So Lord Goldsmith wanders over to Professor Christopher Greenwood of the LSE, the most hawkish lawyer he could find, and based his advice to the Government on Greenwood's opinion.

John Major, himself no fun-loving fan of human rights, waded in on Breakfast with Frost yesterday, pointing out the obvious that country will remain divided as long as Lord Goldsmith's double side of A4 remains for the eyes of the Cabinet only. And although Tony Blair keeps falling back on the defence that the Attorney General's advice is covered by constitutional convention, there are exceptions to the rules defined in the parliamentary rule book, with disclosure occuring as recently as 1971. Besides which, Blair can't have it both ways. On previous occasions (most recently with the leaking of Dr Kelly's name to the press) he has shown himself to be no stickler for constitutional niceties.

Either Butler's remit must be extended, or the inquiry scrapped and a new one set up in its place, with broader terms and members appointed by all parties. Until this happens, there can and will be no progress on other areas, not in health, education, welfare, transport, etc, etc. Instead this government will remain hog-tied and ineffectual, while the cancer of doubt gnaws at its heart.

And Tony has the temerity to be disappointed with Clare Short. Maybe he should take a look around him at just how disappointed we are with his performance.

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Posted by Clive at 3:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Faintly disturbing

As someone who has grown up hearing about the Troubles on the news as a child, being caught in bomb scares in London, etc, there always seemed to be a perception of the IRA and Sinn Fein as the bad guys. Even though I am older and more enlightened, there are times when the words of reason uttered by Sinn Fein still catch me out. And to be honest, I do sympathise with the Republican Movement in the latest squabble around restoration of powers. Even the DUP don't seem to be screaming and shouting as much as David Trimble's UUP. And from a purely demographic perspective, the various Unionists ought by now to becoming to terms with the fact that their historical dominance cannot last much longer. --------

Posted by Clive at 1:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Green

Obviously the only thing green about the UK Armed Forces is some of the camouflage, especially if their objection to wind farms is anything to go by. Apparently any wind farm within 45 miles of a radar station interfers with signals, but only in the UK. In Germany it is only a problem if the wind farm is within 5 miles, and elsewhere it just isn't a problem. I can only assume that the MoD is still using WW2 vintage radar in an effort to make savings, as it is hard to believe that a modern radar system can distinguish between aircraft and missiles and ranges of 100s of miles, but gets confused by a windmill half a county away. --------

Posted by Clive at 1:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Audit?

Westminster City Council and the Met have brought a new meaning the word Audit. According to them, auditing beggars in Westminster involves arresting, finger-printing, taking DNA samples and then bailing them. As if criminalising them is going to solve the problem. And it gets better. Apparently charities that run soup kitchens could be prosecuted for parking or environmental health violations. I kid you not! --------

Posted by Clive at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Yeah right, we all believe that.

So Tony once roughed it on a London park bench, having travelled there to try and become a rock star. Or at least that is what Cherie would have us believe. Once again, Tony is potrayed as a man of the people, who can empathise with the suffering in society.

What a load of bollocks. After all, we've been here before.

Anyone remember Blair's claim to have sat at the Gallowgate End, watching his teenage hero Jackie Milburn play football for Newcastle? The only problem being that when Milburn retired, our Tone was only four, and the Gallowgate End had no seats at the time.

Or the time when a 14 year old Blair attempted to stow away on a flight from Newcastle to the Bahamas? Which would have been tricky given that there were no flights from Newcastle to the Caribbean at the time.

And then there's his favourite dish. Is it fresh fettucini with sundried tomatoes, or fish and chips from his local chippie in Sedgefield? Depends on whether you read the NSPCC Islington Cook Book or his local Labour Party newsheet in Sedgefield.

Not bad for a pretty straight kind of guy. If he can't be honest about his own past, how in hell are we expected to believe him when he talks about the major issues.

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Posted by Clive at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Happy happy joy joy

Good old Clare Short. Not only does she recieve a threatening letter from Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull, warning her not to give interviews regarding the bugging of Kofi Annan, but she went on ITV's Jonathon Dimbleby programme to publicised the fact.

And now it seems that the Ministry of Defence is facing legal action of the deaths of 13 Iraqi civilians. It seems that Public Interest Lawyers (bit of an oxymoron there methinks) are preparing to sue the MoD for compensation on behalf of the victims' families. So the lawyers will get richer (at our expense), the victims' families will get a modicum of compensation (at our expense), but meanwhile the families of servicemen killed in Iraq will still get bugger all in real terms. And all this for participating in a war of dubious legality.

Meanwhile, I wonder if Tony has any regrets about signing the Treaty of Rome which set up the International Criminal Court? With all the debate around the legality of the war, it would be ironic were Tony Blair and Geoff Hoon to be hauled up in front of the ICC for waging illegal war in Iraq. After all, if the justification was the location and destruction of WMDs then any military action that did not relate to such activities (e.g. use of cluster bombs, hitting restaurants in Baghdad, etc) could be deemed illegal under the terms of the ICC. Funnier still, that the US didn't ratify the Treaty and thus is not bound by its terms.

Part of the problem stems from Tony's desire to be liked by, and have the support of the majority of people. Fully aware that there was no consensus of support for regime change, yet convinced of the moral rightness of his cause to remove Saddam, Tony had to find an issue upon which he could build his support. He settled - in a decision which will stay with him forever - on alleged WMDs. From that point onwards, the die was cast and so the case for war was built from lie upon lie, mis-direction upon mis-direction, until even tony himself was most likely no longer aware of what was truth and what was falsehood. For a pretty straight sort of guy, he now appears incapable of talking in anything but lawyer-speak, full of evasions and meaningless phrases.

Until the Attorney General, along with Blair and co, comes clean on, this issue is going to drag on and on. What is needed is not another whitewash - this time headed by Butler - but rather a comprehensive public inquiry into the whole case for war. Until that point, it is the duty of all people to challenge and question the Prime Minister on his actions, and to hold him to account.

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Posted by Clive at 10:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack