"It's where I have to keep repeating myself to get things done" - the past week at work

Monday

Most of this morning I drafted the copy for the two new leaflets.  This included the weary job of liaising with Alec Nussbaum at our sister organisation (or "Head Office" as he likes to refer to it).  It has become open knowledge that Alec Nussbaum wants to be director of the Institute, and he is constantly digging for information about current director Vijay Singh.

Is the Institute the most political organisation I have worked for - everyone seems to be manoeuvring and campaigning to advance themselves.

In the afternoon I finally got the copy agreed and e-mailed it to graphic designer Joey to lay out.  Then I researched a possible database for distribution.  The print run is to be twenty thousand, and the change in outlook and opinion will be assessed by a telephone campaign three weeks after the mailing.

Tuesday

The leaflet designs were ready by the time I got to work this morning.  Alec Nussbaum hyper-critical and complaining down the 'phone about the front page.  I got Joey to ring him up directly rather than get involved in all the interminable alterations.

I think I still feel exhausted after all the exertions of last week.  The publication seems to have absorbed all my enthusiasm and left me numb.  Or perhaps I am just being lazy?

In the afternoon a meeting to discuss distribution of the publication.  It will be an immense undertaking.  Vijay Singh talked about introducing some kind of "recognition mark" for individuals who signed up to the programme.

News that Alec Nussbaum had intervened right at the last minute and removed my name and Vijay Singh's name from the publication (we had been listed as joint editors).

Wednesday

Just mundane tasks today.

I rang up Alec Nussbaum to discuss various projects.

"You sound hoarse" I said to him.

"It's where I have to keep repeating myself to get things done" he said testily.

Thursday

Meeting with telephone surveys manger Abi Reed to talk about a questionnaire for social services departments.

Friday

News that the printing of the publication had been delayed.  Vijay Singh did not take this at all well.  I was instructed to send an official complaint to the printers.

After work there was a "team bonding" event of pitch and putt but I managed to excuse myself.

Carole Malone and her (I hope unintentional) oblique suggestion

In all the justified furore over the nastiness of Carole Malone and her (I hope unintentional) oblique suggestion that welfare claimants should be burnt alive it should not be forgotten that she worked for ten years for the left-wing newspaper The Daily Mirror before she had so honed her skills in nastiness that she was able to graduate to the opportunistic News of the World (which as part of News International supported the New Labour government for fourteen years).

By all means let us condemn Carole Malone.

But it would be misleading to link her nastiness to the policies of the Coalition government.

The nastiness of Carole Malone is directly attributable to the culture of vilification towards the "under class" created by the Labour Party post-1993.  This was a cynical move based on the understanding that benefit-dependent social groups had nowhere else to go in voting terms (although some of them subsequently voted for extremists).  If we allow this fact to be forgotten we risk the chav-hate of 1997-2008 happening again if the Labour Party ever gets back into power.

Of course, all political parties rely on scapegoats to some extent.  It is a theme you can see in ALL administrations (and so far does not seem to have been analysed - perhaps I should write the book myself).  However although it might be acceptable to attack strong groups (bankers, lawyers, perhaps even miners since the NUM in their heyday were capable of defending themselves) it is despicable for a government to wage internal war against people who are weak and defenceless (as the Blair administration did against the "chavs" 1997 to 2008).

Question Time

From a press release:

“Brian May comes to Wales this week for Question Time

But apparently not.

So I have switched back to Newsnight.

A position of great responsibility

Writing in today's Guardian Patrick Wintour reported the appointment of Jon Cruddas as the co-ordinator of the Labour Party's policy review.

This is a position of great responsibility, assuming the review is not a cynical exercise and the manifesto junked immediately after they get into office (if they get into office - this is very far from certain).

Jon Cruddas's most notable quote is probably:  "Immigration has been used as a 21st century incomes policy".

Grossly offensive bald-headed Polish person filmed on Newsnight tonight saying "English people is lazy".

And in the studio discussion an overweight Polish woman called Magda Harvey made a series of sneering unpleasant remarks about English people.

Surely these people should be arrested for inciting hatred of people on the basis of national origin?

Or does the Equality Act 2010 not protect English people?

Stuck with a reputation

Above:  in yesterday's Guardian Hugh Muir apologised for inadvertently making an anti-semitic remark.  He used the phrase "Jewish political establishment" without realising that the proponents of the Jewish World Conspiracy argue that the political establishment is controlled by Jews.  It was gaffe, he told us, and should not be taken seriously.

Above:  in the same newspaper "comedic" Charlie Brooker continued his "joke" that David Cameron is a shape-shifting giant lizard.  Presumably he would tells us he is unaware that the wacky theory "the world is controlled by  shape shifting giant lizards" is a euphemism for "Jewish world conspiracy".  In any case, he would no doubt inform us, it is his job to "push the envelope" and say outrageous things and challenge orthodoxies etc.

Above:  and it was not long ago that Mehdi Hassan wrote in the Guardian that David Cameron's great-great-grandfather was a Jewish financier.  What possible relevance does someones great-great-grandfather have?  I know I have written about this comment before, but it still sticks in my mind.

I am not Jewish.

My great-great-grandfather was not Jewish.

However I do work loosely in "PR" (with all that the inverted commas imply) and I know that this is not good in PR terms.

I do not know who advises the Guardian on PR (or perhaps they are one of those foolish companies who think they are above PR).

But let me give the Guardian some free PR advice:  many more of these comments and you are going to get stuck with a reputation.    

Currently watching Newsnight.

The report on Greece said that wealthy Greeks are moving their money to safe havens such as Knightsbridge or Surrey - do they mean property?

Jacob Rees-Mogg on Sky News talking about education

Have just seen Jacob Rees-Mogg on Sky News talking about education.

On the whole I agree with him that you do not make the state schools better by abolishing the private schools (although the existence of the private schools must be very galling for the lobby that pretends the comprehensive system is the best of all possible worlds).

The reason the pro-comprehensive lobby wants the private schools abolished is because they cannot tolerate the comparisons that are being made.

I went to a comprehensive school and left at 16 with very inadequate qualifications.  Was this because I was stupid?  Or was it because ALMOST EVERY TEACHER IN THAT SCHOOL was lazy or incompetent or lazy and incompetent.

There was no attempt to teach to exams (and when I sat the exams the questions had no relation to coursework I had done).  Often in "Social Economics" (a non-subject if ever there was one) we just had to copy sections of textbooks while the teacher got on with some work of his own.  In History, a subject I love, the teaching was mind-numbingly awful and the teacher just droned on about the "turnpike age" - and when asked if we could study something more interesting told us he had been teaching that course for twenty years without complaint.

I came from a family that didn't understand how the education system worked.  No-one at that pathetically awful school explained how the education system worked.  When I was at school I had no idea that it would be possible to go on to university.

Leaving school at 16 I went into a dull clerical-administration job and studied in the evenings to improve my qualifications.  It was an auditor at work who explained that if I got three A-levels I could apply to university.  I was 21 before I managed this, and eventually got into London University.

Looking back it is ridiculous how ignorant and naive I was about how the system worked and how nearly I fell into a limbo of mediocre lifetime achievement (and I need to put on record that many of the people I was at school with absolutely fell into an abyss).

It was not the private sector that was responsible for this.

The politicians who trashed the state education system were to blame; plus the local education authority who failed to supervise schools properly; but above all it was the lazy and incompetent teachers that must bear the burden of responsibility.

That is why I would be in favour of an education voucher system where parents can spend their share of the education budget at the school of their choice.  If the "bog-standard comps" are so good they have nothing to fear from the exercise of free choice.  In reality I think we all know there would be a stampede away from the comprehensives.

On the front page of today's Observer there is a big article by Daniel Boffey (with a special report on pages 8 and 9, and an editorial on page 38) saying that 230,000 teachers are considering leaving the state education sector because of the "stress" of being professionally appraised.  My reaction was to laugh out loud (as the Prime Minister might say).  Who on earth would employ these rubbishy useless people, and even if by some fluke a few did manage to get into the private sector how long do they expect to last in the real world with their offering of supercilious incompetence?

I could get on with the rest of my life - the past week at work

Monday

Bank holiday.

In the afternoon I went to a country fair held in the grounds of a hall.

Parking in a field we walked across a stone bridge and up a slope lined with various stalls (stopping in one of the tents to have a cup of tea).  The Hall itself consisted of long low plain grey stone facades, mullioned windows, battlements.  Magnificent magnolia grandiflora (not in flower).  Display of classic cars.  Children on the main lawn performing folk dances.  The local Hunt appeared, astonishingly smart, the hounds eager and friendly.

All the afternoon the rain held off.

Tuesday

Final proofs of the publication were on my desk when I arrived in the office this morning.  All I had to do was check that the amendments had been made correctly.  The 12 noon final deadline had to be extended to 2pm because of delays caused by Development Manager Tim Watts.

News that Deputy Director Lois Cooper has cancer and is now on sick leave.

Then when the publication had finally been finished, it seemed slightly bewildering how relaxed the day had become.

There was a general sense of congratulation throughout the building that the publication had been finished.

Graphic designer Joey R rang up, and talked about the publication - "It's such a great weight lifted, feels like I'm now on holiday, all I have to do now is repair my marriage..."

Wednesday

Why do I feel so tired?  I think it is because of the stress of producing the publication over the past few weeks.  A lot of my credibility at work is invested in the publication and I am glad it has been produced to a high standard in such a short space of time.

A meeting with Director Vijay Singh over the marketing budget for the rest of the financial year.

Thursday

The publication having been finished I felt that I could get on with the rest of my life.

Alec Nussbaum (from our sister organisation) rang to talk about two joint leaflets he wants to produce.  After the publication these should have been simple and straightforward, but actually they proved to be quite intractable (given the hostility between Vijay Singh and Alec Nussbaum).  Also the deadlines are impossible.

Most of the upstairs staff gathered to talk about Lois Cooper who is very seriously ill - praise for her positive outlook, her interests, her helpfulness, her humanity, her sense of the absurd, her awareness of mortality.

Friday

For some reason I found it difficult to sleep which meant that I started the day feeling extremely tired.  I had reserved the morning for copywriting the Alec Nussbaum leaflets but there were so many interruptions I made little progress.  I became resigned to taking the work home to finish over the weekend, a practice I usually avoid.

In the absence of Lois Cooper her work is being done by Accounts Superviser Marcia Walsh (aged 45, short, grossly overweight, sharp voice that at times almost shrieks, false teeth that slip when she is talking, frequent references to her disabled husband who is a wheelchair-user).  Marcia Walsh is very ambitious, and it is difficult to avoid the suspicion that she is using this opportunity to bolster her own position and extend her control over other departments.  Unfortunately she is the kind of person who advances herself by denigrating everyone around her, so we may be about to enter a period of aggressive office politics.

I had the afternoon off and drove about twenty miles to a commuter village just north of the M25.  Rambling 17th century yeoman farmhouse painted bright pink and turned into a frou frou restaurant (pink satin curtains, pink Louis VI sofas, pink menus etc).  In the bar I met my financial services client and we had lunch.

This freelance work is very useful - I am paid more for about ten hours a month than I am paid for my regular job. 

Vicheyssoise followed by poached salmon followed by lemon brulee; wine by the glass (we were both driving).

Our conversation was somewhat one-sided.  After the usual preliminaries my client (who has also become a sort of friend over the years) launched into an monologue that became an impassioned confessional of his recent business dealings.  He admitted he was bursting to tell someone of his coup - how by astute dealings he had outwitted a major chain of estate agents and had bought for a knock-down price assets that would deliver a massive increase in his income.

His mood veered during this conversation from bellicose pride in his negotiating power to an almost superstitious fear that he may have over-reached himself.  He was wearing a grey-checked shirt (Gucci label on the pocket) that was tight over his belly so that the buttons were straining and I visualised him physically as well as verbally bursting with the effect of his business triumph.  At the end of the meal he lowered his voice and said "Under no circumstances must you reveal this to anyone, but..."

He was so proud of his new acquisitions that he insisted on taking me on a tour, and we drove to a nearby town in his new blue Mercedes convertible (he owns three Mercedes).  A great show was made of taking the car roof down and despite my protests we charged along the duel carriageways at 105mph, the force of the wind almost unbearable.  Only when I threatened to throw his papers out of the car did he begin to slow down.

We arrived in the town and went to the newly acquired estate agents which was in an impressive red-brick Victorian building (I will have to see if it is mentioned in Pevsner).  Inside were a variety of staff who all seemed wary of their new boss (he was darting about asking questions).  At the back, lounging in an expensive-looking leather office chair, was his business partner Raymond M - smug, oily and odious, the sort of person I most dislike.

Ignoring my presence Raymond M took my client on one side and began making complaints about the branch manager Robert T, who he referred to as Rob.  I jokingly said that "Rob" was an appropriate name for an estate agent.  They both looked at me with blank, poker-faced stares that made me feel momentarily uncomfortable.

Very interesting Dateline London earlier today, focussed on Africa. 

I was not aware that the Americans may intervene in southern Sudan. 

It would make sense for the United Kingdom to build trading links with African countries rather than continue to lock our economy in with the rest of Europe.  The forty-year obsession with Europe has been a political project, and makes little economic sense.  The EU countries are all mature economies and are not going to provide the sort of growth oppotunities we need for the future.

Trust on the economy will be given to the party with a simple and convincing argument

On Question Time last night the economy was discussed.  A member of the audience likened the government's management of the economy with the management of a household budget (the "live within your means" policy of Margaret Thatcher).  This idea was endorsed by government minister Caroline Spelman on the panel and was applauded by a large section of the audience.

On one level it is not possible to compare a western industrialised economy with a Micowber-run household budget.  A national economy is too complex to be run on simplified lines.  There are too many paradoxes and subtleties.

However the "live within your means" argument is one of the great political communications of the modern era.  From a PR point of view it reduces economic policy to a concept that can be understood by ordinary people (and it has the added bonus of being not entirely untrue).  Such is the power of this message that it cannot be refuted, it can only be replaced by a more effective message.

Labour countered the household budget argument with simplifications of their own.  They were spectacularly successful with "No more boom and bust".  This delivered the trust of the people for the eleven years of the boom, and the argument only really came to grief when the bust arrived in 2008.

So I think we must conclude that the next election will be won by the party most trusted on the economy, and trust on the economy will be given to the party with a simple and convincing argument that is familiar and logical (being logical does not mean it has to be right).

To attempt to argue the merits of the Keynesian theory or the Austrian school will simply bamboozle most of the electorate.  What is really being said with complex arguments is "trust me I am an expert" or "trust me I am a politician" or worst of all "trust me I am an expert politician".  A party going into the 2015 election talking about endogenous growth theory is asking to be punished.

The Coalition is winning the argument on the economy because they have the best interpretations of the economic situation ("Labour maxed out the national credit card" or "We are clearing up the mess Labour left" or "There is no money left - they told us this in a letter from Liam Byrne").

On that basis I think the "live within your means" argument of running the national economy has a lot of life left in it.  "If you are in debt you need to stop spending" is deceptively alluring.  I don't see Labour coming up with anything (so far) that is even close to challenging it. 

I think it is a mistake to look at the elections in France and Greece and conclude that there is a pan-European rejection of "austerity".

The United Kingdom is not France or Greece.  What happened there is not likely to happen here.  For instance, during the 1920s and 1930s fascism was seen throughout Europe as a solution to the economic depression, but fascism did not happen here and could not happen here (the political "constitution" precludes it).

Not for the first time "keep calm and carry on" is the most likely course for the United Kingdom.

Universal care for the elderly free at the point of delivery

I listened to reports of the Queen's Speech on PM (Radio 4) then watched analysis on Channel 4 News, and will watch more analysis on Newsnight.

I do not understand why the Coalition government does not bring forward a Social Care bill - universal care for the elderly free at the point of delivery.

It would be a policy the Coalition could unite around, would outmanoeuvre the Opposition (since they can hardly oppose it) and would be an absolutely certain vote winner in 2015.

It would also re-establish the Conservative Party's "caring" credentials - an area where they are currently losing ground.

There is the small matter of how it is to be paid for, but given the way in which the issue affects almost every family in the country I think a rise in taxation would be accepted - an hypothecated tax would be best as mistrust of general taxation is so widespread.

Lack of affordable homes in rural areas

Article by John Bingham on the Daily Telegraph website about the lack of affordable homes in rural areas:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/countryside/9246005/Britains-prettiest-villages-becoming-rich-peoples-ghettoes.html

I think the answer is to allow the planning laws to be set aside for all dwellings that are:  single story; constructed of completely recyclable or removable elements; only leased for a maximum of twenty years; only leased to people with a strong local connection (perhaps born within five miles); leases sold for only cost price of agricultural land and cost of construction plus ten per cent; landscaped with native trees and upon expiry of the lease the land to be transferred to a body such as the Woodland Trust to extend the amount of woodland in the United Kingdom.

And the design of the dwellings to be in the local tradition.

Article in today's Guardian by Gary Younge

Big article in today's Guardian by Gary Younge.  Probably he wrote it in a rush as it is full of inaccuracies and half-truths and misleading statements.  The Guardian needs to pay more attention to editing articles like this if they wish to keep their reputation (if I wanted my intelligence insulted I would have bought the Daily Mirror).

For instance, he mentions the accusations against Rebekah Brooks of phone hacking and corruption, but brackets them with David Cameron.  The alledged criminal behaviour of course occured during the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.  Perhaps Gary Younge thinks Guardian readers are so stupid that they will not notice this?

Central to Gary Younge's argument is the idea that a small group of people is running the United Kingdom.  This is undoubtedly true but he does not understand how that group sustains itself in power and co-opts new recruits.  To say that this group is just Old Etonians is stupid beyond belief (and you can see he accuses George Osborne of being an Etonian when in fact he went to St Pauls).

He says that almost 40% of current MPs went to a private school.  Is this because the networking of private schools is so good?  Or is it because the state schools are so bad? (I write as someone educated in the state system).

I could go on, but there is little point in giving a paragraph by paragraph critique of such lazy journalism.

What is depressing is that the Leveson Inquiry is a chance to get things right for the future - and idiots like Gary Younge are risking it all by trying to play party politics.

The Crown was an authentic pub

Friday evening I had dinner with friends at a pub deep in the countryside (only ten miles from the A1, but we could have been in another world).

Thatched cottages, blackthorn blossom in the hedgerows, cowslips on the grass verges.

I was early so I wandered about the village, taking the above photo of the pub from the church opposite (Norman tower, Perpendicular nave, Victorian arts and crafts chancel).  The air was cool and the light had a translucent quality.  The seemingly continual rain had stopped for an hour or so, and everywhere was fresh and wet.

The Crown was an authentic pub with a big open fire, hefty long tables, settle benches.

At the end of the long bar was a little restaurant with about six tables.

Off the restaurant was an "annex" conservatory just big enough for our table (we had asked for somewhere quiet).

Poached asparagus wrapped in bacon with soft eggs; sirloin steak with a big mushroom and kidney pudding covered in a red wine sauce (I also had some fat chips with this, but could not eat them all); rhubarb and ginger steamed pudding with rhubarb ice cream (possibly not sweet enough).

We talked about media, politics and economics.

We talked about money.

We talked, in an unflattering way, about various people we knew.

Francois Hollande has won the French presidential election.

If he reverses the French austerity programme and goes for growth, what impact will that have on the British economy?

Probably it will have a beneficial effect, as stimulating demand just across the Channel (only twenty two miles away) will create additional markets for British exports.

Amendments and corrections - the past week at work

Monday

Still the rain continues.

The office was quiet today, many people having taken the week off.  I looked at my list of things to do wondering how many I can ignore.  Apart from the publication I am tending to put things on one side.

Graphic designer Joey rang, in a panic because there was too much copy for the design.  I deleted paragraphs from each chapter until the amount of text fitted.  It will be such a relief when the publication is finished.

Lois Cooper, Deputy Director of the Institute, failed to come in.  This meant that the afternoon meeting had to be cancelled.  No message from her, so that everyone wondered what might have happened.

Joey e-mailed over pdfs for the first few chapters of the publication and I began to proof-read them.  I e-mailed him the next tranche of copy.  He rang me up and complained at the speed we were working ("It doesn't leave much time to ponder the design").

I stayed in the office until 7pm.

Tuesday

Less than six hours sleep, and I was at my desk by 7.30am.  This publication has proved to be an enormous burden, but I am pleased that I have been equal to the challenge.  There have been no problems that I have not been able to solve.

Main task of the day was proof-reading and amending the publication.  This is really a pre-proof-read, getting it ready for others to proof-read.  I felt as if real progress was being made.

In the afternoon Graphic designer Joey arrived at the office in person, having driven up from South London (the publication project is worth a lot of money to him).  As usual he was dressed in black, wearing a Paul Smith shirt.  "You've worked a miracle" I told him (excessive praise is always wise when dealing with graphic designers).  We went over the major changes to the publication including the new chapter to go in, sections that have to come out, various bits that need to be moved around.  It was a cold day but he was perspiring excessively, rubbing and scratching himself.  We worked until 5pm, and when he left the girls in Admin wanted to know "Who was THAT!"

I stayed until 10.45 pm working on the publication.  I was the only person in the building, so it was alarming to hear the front door downstairs being opened and someone coming up the staircase.  I went over to the door to the stairs and threw it open as loudly as I could and stamped out onto the landing to try to demonstrate I was unafraid.

Campaign Manager Keith Chandler half-way up the stairs and so shocked by my appearance that he stumbled and fell forward (he had not expected anyone to be in the office).

The scene must have resembled the GW Joy painting General Gordon's Last Stand.

Wednesday

Only five hours sleep, but I was determined to get to work on time.  Despite my resolution I stopped on the way to work to buy a Mars Bar to have with my first cup of coffee.  At my desk I reviewed progress on the publication - I am in control but only after great personal effort.

During the morning Abi Reed, who had received an advance copy of the proofs, came up to me and asked to change the order of the chapters.  I suppressed the temptation to tell her no.  It took us over an hour to work it all out. 

In the afternoon I wrote the concluding chapter and rewrote Director Vijay Singh's Introduction.  I agreed with him that my name should go down as co-Editor.  Amendments and corrections are starting to come back to me.

Pat B (Admin) told me I was looking stressed.

I stayed until 6.30 pm, waiting for Joey to arrive with the latest sets of proofs including a bound mock-up.  These proofs were in book form, and give a better idea of the final look than pdfs.  Joey is self-absorbed and self-obsessed, but not in an egocentric way - more intense introspection and anxiety.

Thursday

Every day this week it has rained.

Today had been designated Big Proofing Day and everyone at the Institute asked to read through the publication.  I distributed the proofs to people, and began proof-reading a copy myself (although it is so familiar to me that I can hardly see it properly).  Even Gary in the Library asked for a set of proofs to read.

Alec Nussbaum (from our "sister organisation") had insisted on sending up someone from Head Office to proof read the publication formally and "sign off".  This person was Phillipa from the publications department.  I designated Phillipa's set of proofs the master copy and got her to include everyone else's amendments and corrections as they came back.

As a reward for Joey I had arranged for him to come into the office to meet Phillipa over a working lunch, as she would be an important new client for him.  He arrived in an expensive-looking Armani deep blue suit, light blue shirt and gold silk tie.  Phillipa (bespectacled, dressed in grey cotton trousers and Matalan striped top) seemed overwhelmed.

The three of us worked until 8.45 pm when the publication was finally finished.  Joey still perspiring - clammy handshake as he left.  I gave Phillipa a lift to the station and then went home.

Friday

I stayed up until 3am in the morning watching the election results (the Conservatives winning London, Labour winning Glasgow, both results satisfying).

Staying up so late didn't matter as I was ostensibly working at home on Friday and could get up at 10 am.  In reality I hardly worked at all, and just loafed around the house trying to rest.  I had intended to have one last thorough proof-read of the publication, but the sight of it on the dining room table so nauseated me that I could not go near it.

The end does not justify the means

I think Owen Jones, in his piece for the Independent today, is being unfair by accusing Louise Mensh MP of being a Murdoch apologist.  I saw the Newsnight interview he is referring to, and my impression was that Louise Mensh complained about Labour members of the committee misusing the committee report by including at the last moment a condemnation on the "fit and proper" status of Rupert Murdoch.  This does not mean that Louise Mensh is defending Rupert Murdoch, it means she is defending the integrity of the parliamentary committee process.

There is little point in seeking to remove Murdoch corruption of British politics by corrupting the process of a parliamentary committee.

The end does not justify the means.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-the-battle-that-men-who-arent-sexist-must-fight-7712188.html?origin=internalSearch

Vote 2012

I am currently watching Vote 2012 on BBC 1, analysing today's election results as they come in.

Emily Maitlis almost gushing with enthusiasm.

Nick Robinson in a very conventional tie (mauroon with white spots).

The charts and graphics rushed through so that it is difficult to see them properly (and a floor map that is incomprehensible because the camera keeps moving).

Not sure how late I will stay up.

On the whole I want the Conservatives to do well.

London Mayor election

Tomorrow is the election day for London Mayor.

If you have a vote in that election use it to elect Boris Johnson.

Genetically-modified wheat

Listening to the Today programme this morning am I the only person who is disgusted by the idea that genetically-modified wheat will contain cow genes?  Is the resulting wheat a plant or an animal?  And why is taxpayers' money being spent on this project when public opinion is so completely opposed to the idea of GM food?

Also I am not convinced by the assurances of safety by government experts.  These are the same experts who gave us absolute assurances that meat from animals infected with mad cow disease was completely safe.  Look how many people died from that frankenstein episode.

The faux-socialist dislocated holiday of May Day

The Occupy movement has never really caught on in Europe in the same way that it has in America.

Possibly because Europe suffered a real occupation within living memory, including the Channel Islands.  As a brand name (for that is what it is, whether acknowledged or not) "Occupy" raises images of the totalitarian imposition of a fanatical ideology.  L'occupation (of France, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Poland etc) for most people in Europe means a dark period of horror.

Just my thoughts for the faux-socialist dislocated holiday of May Day.

When the Speaker of the House of Commons starts to interfere in party politics and indulge in partisan stunts we know that the democratic working of parliament is imperilled.

The annual cleevers harvest

The recent rain has made this year's crop of Galium aparine lush and plentiful.  Galium aparine is also known as Cleevers or "sticky weed".  It grows everywhere - you probably have some in your garden.

I use the word "crop" as right up until the Second World War local villagers would collect the weed and dry it.  It was then used as sort of primitive beauty aid - young girls would make a daily hot drink by steeping cleevers in boiling water for about five minutes.  The drink was supposed to improve their complexion.

The annual cleevers harvest has long gone.  Hardly anyone remembers it.  Galium aparine is just a weed to most people.

The free-fall in wages

Above:  Perceptive article by Deborah Orr in yesterday's Guardian.  It looks crumpled because I have read it several times.  Essentially she is discussing the labour market and why some workers are paid more than others.

I think she overlooks the issue of "barriers to entry".  With highly specialist workers (surgeons for instance) the barriers to entry are high, and so supply is restricted, and therefore the workers are able to demand higher rewards.  With less skilled workers (care workers or cleaners or production line operatives) the barriers to entry are low and so if the supply of labour is unlimited the rewards will fall to the minimum wage and below.

The working class can only sell labour.  This labour is sold, on an individual basis, to the highest bidder.  Therefore if you want to raise the value of unskilled and semi-skilled labour you must restrict the supply.

Until the 1970s the inward movement of low-cost labour was relatively restricted.  During this time employers had to compete for employees and not only were wages and salaries adequate there were also other benefits such as final salary pensions.  This was paid for by relatively higher prices for goods and services and higher taxes for state provision.

Above:  Article by Zoe Williams in the Guardian some weeks ago basically admitting economic illiteracy among the "Left".

Above:  In the Zoe Williams article I was interested in the line "Real wages in this country have been falling since 1968".  The late sixties was the period when the immigration of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, which began as a trickle after the Second World War, began to have a substantial effect.  If the free-fall in wages is to be halted inward migration must stop.

Obviously I realise that immigration is a taboo subject and must not be discussed.  Even writing these few lines on an obscure blog could lead to me being called a "bigot" or a "hatemongerer".  You would have to be very brave to publicly challenge the inward flow of migrants, even though it is a policy that has never been democratically endorsed.

An example is provided by the experience of Barry Sheerman MP.  A few days ago he made an appeal for restaurants to employ more British workers (rather than the ubiquitous eastern Europeans).  Immediately he came under sustained abuse of the most offensive and bullying kind.

This is not a "fascist" or a "xenophobe" or a "hatemongerer".  This is a respected Labour MP who has sat in the House of Commons since 1979.  If Barry Sheerman is bullied into silence what hope is there for a rational discussion of the most fundamental social change of modern times?

Above:  a screenprint of part of Owen Jones's Twitter page (you might need to click on the image to read it properly).  Here you can see that soon after Barry Sheerman MP's comments were reported in the media Owen Jones accused him of doing something shameful (shameful even to discuss immigration) but he also chose to retweet a comment by someone called Hali accusing Barry Sheerman of "hatemongering".  Owen Jones did not actually make the hatemongering slur himself, but by retweeting it he was presumably endorsing the abuse (Owen Jones is someone who appears on news programmes and politics programmes and writes for various newspapers so he is not a nobody like myself).

So you see how this works.

As soon as anyone speaks there is an immediate move to shut down debate and silence people.

Owen Jones claims to be a supporter of the working class.

I don't think so.

Currently watching Newsnight.

The reason the United Kingdom has tipped back into recession (possibly) is that we have tied our economy to the European Union.  It's a crazy economic policy.  All of western Europe is trying to produce and export the same things.

Decanted

I was interviewing someone yesterday and he revealed he used to work for Newham Council in the 1980s and 1990s.

I couldn't resist asking him about the current attempts to "decant" benefits claimants from Newham to Stoke (and elsewhere).

He said that many of the benefits claimants originally came from Westminster when that borough was being cleansed of socio-economic group E. 

The then Newham council encouraged this (against the advice of their housing department) as they felt they were getting thousands of additional Labour voters.

Now that Newham wants to "gentrify" and also reduce financial pressures many of these people are being decanted again - presumably to areas like Stoke where Labour voting fodder will be welcome (though perhaps not by Tristram Hunt MP - as an Old Etonian "parachuted" into Stoke against the wishes of the local party he is not going to be keen on thousands of destitute people with housing problems cluttering up his weekly surgery, especially as these "Old Labour" voters would probably prefer someone a bit more like themselves as MP).

I can't see how Jeremy Hunt can survive.

Certainly he needs to stop smirking when reporters are asking him deadly serious questions.

Very interested to read in the Guardian that Major offered Blair a pact to deal with Murdoch.

It must be very tempting for the government to just order MI5 to get rid of that "organised criminal gang".

Perhaps bundle them into an RAF jet and allow them to disappear into the rendition gulag.

My fear vis-a-vis Leveson is that the politicians are going to be stupid enough to allow the Murdochs to play them off one against another.

Will it be possible for the political parties to unite for once and destroy the evil Murdoch hydra?

Or will they put short-term point-scoring before the long-term national interest?

A covert New Labour policy

The main item on the Today programme this morning on BBC Radio 4, just after the 8 o'clock news, was concerned with the "social cleansing" of benefits-dependant people from the London borough of Newham (the Labour council is hoping to relocate them to Stoke on Trent where the Old Etonian Labour MP Tristram Hunt has said they are not wanted).

Why are there 32,000 homeless people in Newham (on the council waiting list)?  Who are these people in terms of age, sex, socio-economic class etc?  How has this problem arisen?

"Decanting" problem families from failed estates was a covert New Labour policy (an example is the Woodberry Down estate in Hackney).  The theory was that socially mixed environments would benefit all the residents.  Instead it seems to have created resentment on all sides.

Also depressing is the on-going gentrification of the East End.  You can't move in the area for media-types, creative-types, and poseurs of all kinds thinking that an East End address gives them the cachet of being working-class horny-handed sons of soil and toil.  Bethnal Green Town Hall is now a luxury hotel and gourmet restaurant, the old docks are lined with hideous yuppie flats and Shoreditch has become one vast open-air new-media boutique.

My grandparents and their seven children lived in a privately rented two-up two-down house in Tomlins Terrace.  No-one helped them or gave them benefits (and they would have scorned any suggestion of charity).  If any council official had tried to "decant" them they would have shoved him head-first down a manhole (traditional East End way of dealing with troublesome outsiders).

In an article in today's Guardian arguing that the metropolitan elite were out of touch with the ordinary people John Harris used the word poujadistes.

I had to look it up on Google.

Dolce & Gabbana advertisement

Fabulous Dolce & Gabbana advertisement in yesterday's Guardian. 

Everything about this ad works - the position (inside front cover), the size (half-page), the use of full colour.

Above all, the creative impact is superb - brave and confident use of a wonderful photograph combined with the Dolce & Gabbana logotype (nothing else!). 

There are so many ways in which this photograph works, but I am particularly impressed by the figure of the woman.  I have no idea who the photographer is, but I would guess he is an Italian fully cognisant of Renaissance iconography.  This is a classic "madonna", and the gaze of her sunglass-shielded eyes is one of rapture (note the tiny starburst in one of the lenses, as if she is exhibiting the Stella Maris).

Above:  detail from Guido Reni's painting Disputa "the spotless Virgin in glory adoring the name of God".

All desire (sexual desire, material desire, desire for power etc) is supposed to be sublimated desire for the presence of God (did EH Gombrich say that? I can't remember).

Above:  recently I read Richard E Spear's book on Guido Reni and his work.  For all his prurient speculations about Guido Reni's sex life it is a very dull book and towards the end I was just skim-reading.  I bought the book ages ago and it became lost under heaps of other books so that I have only just worked my way down to it (published in the mid-1990s it was in pristine condition and still shrink wrapped).

What will happen to the Liberal Democrats

Above:  quote from Andrew Rawnsley in today's Observer.  He is a very experienced political commentator.  But in this instance I think it is possible he may be wrong.

On Sunday Politics this afternoon Andrew Neil interviewed Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

Everyone is waiting to see what will happen to the Liberal Democrats in the council elections on 3rd May, and to draw conclusions for the general election in 2015.

My own view is that the demise of the Liberal Democrats can only benefit the Conservatives.

Since the mid-1990s there had been an unofficial, barely acknowledged, "get the Tories out" agreement between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.  In Conservative seats where Labour was second Liberal Democrats would vote Labour.  In Conservative seats where a Liberal Democrat was second Labour supporters would vote Liberal Democrat.

The 1997 landslide and subsequent Labour victories only make sense if you factor in Liberal Democrat votes.

The Coalition pact of 2010 broke that unofficial understanding between Labour and the Liberal Democrats (in that respect David Cameron proved himself to be a master of strategy).

Therefore as Liberal Democrat support evaporates their vote will atomise in a mercurial fashion, but the chief beneficiaries in the 2015 election can only be the Conservatives.

The May council elections need to be analysed with caution.  The pattern to look for is what happens in council seats where Conservatives are second to Labour or second to Liberal Democrats.  That might indicate what will happen in 2015.

Always I have the feeling I am trailing behind deadlines - the past week at work

Monday

My PC crashed this morning so that I had to ask IT officer John Johnson to fix it.  He chatted amiably while he worked ("I used to be an assistant professional golfer... didn't get paid much, just fifty-five pounds a week for long hours... used to work in a Ford showroom...").  His conversational manner switches oddly between great confidence and hesitant nervousness.  His fingernails bitten down to the quick.  Wearing a polo shirt and chinos (because he crawls around fixing things he is excused from wearing a formal shirt and tie).  Faint scent.

Although I had allocated most of the day to write the copy for a new publication, most of my time was taken up organising photography for the illustrations.

I also had to liaise with Deputy Director Lois Cooper and Development Manager Tim Watts.  As usual, it took a great deal of effort to ensure they did things properly.  Lois Cooper complaining of stomach pains.

I stayed until 8pm writing and redrafting copy.

Tuesday

Another day spent writing copy.  I am dependent on Tim Watts supplying me with the research properly interpreted, and this he is very slow in doing.  I found myself getting irritated at his failure to deliver things on time.

Again I worked until 8pm, Lois Cooper also working late.  She said that Accounts Manager Marcia Walsh had once complained to Director Vijay Singh about Campaign Manager Keith Chandler's involvement with the freemasons.  Vijay Singh had told her off (implying he was also a mason).

 

Wednesday

"Have you prepared" Vijay Singh asked me just before the planning meeting began.  Actually I had done no preparation and had to hurriedly gather papers together.  As well as Keith Chandler and Vijay Singh, Alec Nussbaum attended representing our "sister organisation" and Peter Whitgift was there from the tiny Birmingham office.  The meeting went well.  It was my turn to be in the chair, and I worked through the agenda.  Alec Nussbaum talked the most.

Lunch was brought in - rolls and pastries and orange juice.

After lunch a long discussion about the new database to be set up and the literature that needs to be prepared.

The meeting lasted five hours.  Afterwards I returned to my desk where the new publication still had to be worked on.  Gradually it is getting done, but always I have the feeling I am trailing behind deadlines.

Once again I worked until 8pm, Vijay Singh and Lois Cooper also staying late and helping with the publication.

Thursday

Today I reached the point with the new publication when I knew it would all be done on time.

And at last the photography has been done to everyone's satisfaction.

Vijay Singh complimented me on chairing the meeting yesterday:  "We did well, we achieved all our objectives."  This mystified me, as I had not been aware that we had been following any covert agenda.  I suppose anything that keeps Alec Nussbaum happy must be considered an achievement.

Office Manager Bridget O'Farrell, who has been away on maternity leave, brought her four-day-old baby into the office.  "His name is Niall" she told us.  "After the River Nile?" quipped Vijay Singh.

I worked until 8.30 pm, helped by Lois Cooper.

Friday

I had intended to make progress with the publication today, but a long three-hour meeting intervened, combined with demands for case studies from our "sister organisation".

Compared to Saint Thomas a Becket?

Canon Giles Fraser started a weekly column in the Guardian today.  It was advertised in the right-hand corner at the foot of the front page of the newspaper.  Is Giles Fraser happy to allow himself to be compared to Saint Thomas a Becket?

Steve Evans talking about Germany's asparagus harvest

Normally I enjoy From Our Own Correspondent on BBC Radio 4, but the programme earlier today was marred by Steve Evans talking about Germany's asparagus harvest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17753372

He shouted his piece as if he was standing about five feet away from the microphone, which added a hectoring tone to the broadcast.

He also talked very slightingly about British seasonal food, saying that the tradition of seasonal food had been "lost" in the United Kingdom.  Possibly for urban media luvvies inhabiting a city-based bubble of ignorance and social dislocation this may be true.  But for the majority of people who live outside the city sprawl seasonal food is celebrated just as much as it is in Germany.

Stephen Evans also repeated the urban myth "We know that chicken tikka massala is the British national dish".

How do we know this?

I cannot find any evidence to support this other than a throw-away remark in a speech by Robin Cook.

If there is no evidence about chicken tikka massala being the British national dish perhaps the BBC could stop repeating it.

Or does the BBC no longer care about accuracy?

The Land of Veiled Women by John Foster Fraser

I am currently reading The Land of Veiled Women by John Foster Fraser.

It is an account of the author's "wanderings" in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.  It's dated 1908, but that adds to the charm.  Also it's nice to read about the Muslim world without all the current tensions and assumptions intruding.

I am trying to learn more about Africa.

I have at least one reader in Gabon - I country I know nothing about.

Hale

Warm sunshine in the morning turning to heavy rain.

Then hale began to fall, so remarkable I went outside to take a closer look.

The ferocity of the halestorm was such that the tiny new buds on the trees were dashed to the ground.

Despite being really busy at work today I managed to watch Daily Politics at lunchtime.

Agnes Poirier said she would move back to France if Sakozy loses the French presidential election.

Shelter earlier today

Press release issued by Shelter earlier today suggesting pressure on rents (http://blog.shelter.org.uk/2012/04/when-you-are-told-your-rent-increase-is-not-a-rent-increase-that/?appeal=1051300 ).

But there is no mention of the impact of inward migration on the availability of private rental properties.

If you even hint at such a link you will be called a bigot (or worse).

And yet it is impossible for one million Polish people (to take one migratory group as an example) to move to the United Kingdom and not outbid existing tenants for rental properties, especially as they are willing to tolerate occupation levels that most people would regard as outrageous (one three-bed semi occupied by ten or twelve people is not unusual).

The migrants have to live somewhere.

You might blame the landlords (and their agents) for profiteering in this way, but it would be illegal to discriminate against Polish people (or Irish people or non-Eu migrants etc) and only rent to local people.

You might say the landlords should say no to the offers of higher rents, but this is expecting too much of human nature (I would guess that most buy-to-let landlords fear interest rates going up and want to maximise rents in case this happens).

You might say that the government should impose rent controls, but when this was tried in the past all that happened was that the supply of private rental properties dried up - rent controls can only be considered in tandem with an expansion of Council Housing (which can only happen if taxes go up to pay for the investment, unless the government borrowed the money and there is zero chance of that).

Buy-to-let landlords are a demonised section of society, but most of them are not fat cats.  Most seem to be elderly people putting their lifetime savings into property (often combined with a mortgage paid for by the rents) because pensions and annuities have performed so badly over the last ten years.  It is no accident that the buy-to-let sector in the United Kingdom took off in the years 2000 / 2001 following Gordon Brown's tax raid on private sector pensions.

The most straight-forward solution is to reduce inward migration, but you will be called a bigot if you even try to raise that suggestion.

Is the "opt out" trade union political levy any different to the PPI mis-selling scandal?

Above:  the main editorial in today's Guardian addressed the issue of party political funding.

The more I think about the trade union political levy the more convinced I am that it cannot stand up to scrutiny.

Is the "opt out" trade union political levy any different to the PPI mis-selling scandal?  Big companies and corporations try this "pre-ticked" scam every so often, and almost always have to abandon it in the face of legal review or consumer watchdog condemnation.  How can the trade unions get away with this?

Presumably the levy is intended to "buy" for each member political representation from the Labour Party?  If the levy is not voluntary but has been "pre-ticked" by the trade union then surely it is illegal and the Office of Fair Trading needs to intervene?  Surely the Labour Party realises that money gained through such a technique is not worth having?

Instead of going down the "pre-ticked" route why don't they simply sign up Labour Party members at the same time as they enrol people into the trade unions?  They will have access to the trade union membership lists.  Selling Labour Party memberships is no different from any other subscription sales campaign - all they have to do is demonstrate the features and benefits of Labour Party membership in a way that convinces people to buy.

I also want to see the Tory Party convert itself into a mass-membership organisation.

Political institutions are too important to be funded by vested interests.

There is no place for big money in politics - it corrupts everyone and corrupts everything.

Currently watching Press Preview on Sky News - so far it has been very acrimonious.

The trade union political levies

Political funding of political parties has been in the news today, including the trade union political levies.

It is not all that easy to opt out of paying the political levy if you are in a trade union.

There are many examples of local shop stewards who have a cosy relationship with local managers - the union official and his/her mates get looked after in return for not causing trouble (and the rest of the workers are just drones to be exploited).

If you want to opt out of the political levy you have to have the courage to challenge the shop steward and get a form out of him/her and hope there will be no repercussions in the future (last in the queue for overtime, no protection from a bullying supervisor, first on the list for job displacements etc).

But you only have to look at the general election voting figures to realise trade unionists do not automatically vote Labour.

"Opt out" subscriptions are a form of inertia marketing and are highly unethical.

Would we tolerate insurance add-ons that were opt-out?

What did I do today? - the past week at work

Monday

Bank holiday.

Tuesday

More complaints from a printer about not getting enough of our work (they had been the main supplier until I carried out a review).  "I felt gutted over the weekend" the print company's MD told me when he called into the office this morning.  I talked to him politely but I do not trust him an inch and I suspect he will go over my head in an attempt to get the contract back.

Answering e-mails took up an unreasonable amount of time.

In the afternoon liaison with Deputy Director Lois Cooper about innovation and development - she is so disorganised that nothing concrete came out of the meeting. 

Wednesday

A review meeting with the Institute's Director Vijay Singh.  Despite his reputation for being unreasonable, I seem to get on with him quite well.  He praised the work I have done so far.

In the afternoon a meeting with Vijay Singh, Lois Cooper, Development Manager Tim Watts and Telephone Surveys Manager Abi Reed.  The meeting lasted over two hours and focused on innovation and development.  Once again the work of Lois Cooper and Tim Watts was criticised.

 

Thursday

What did I do today?  I was in the office all the day but cannot think of anything significant that I did.  A long conversation with Lois Cooper about networking (something Vijay Singh is very keen on).

Friday

 At last the publications list for the next six months is decided.

Now that the projects have been pencilled in I can begin to draft the research into a coherent set of arguments.

The "misconstrued" Livingstone remarks about wealthy Jews

Ken Livingstone, candidate for London Mayor, has been repeatedly associated with anti-semiticism. 

You might think that this is an easy enough slur to throw at someone.  Also something difficult to refute, since most anti-semites are likely to say their best friends are Jewish.  And is it likely that Ken Livingstone would be stupid enough to put his re-election at risk by promulgating a racial theory that most people would regard as mad?

So as routinely as these accusations against Ken Livingstone arise, one tends to just put them to one side as a misunderstanding, a complex argument misinterpreted, a phase simply taken out of context.

But always little niggles of doubt remain.

For instance, in an article about Ken Livingstone in today's Independent (on pages 14 and 15 alongside the main Opinion column) the writer Owen Jones explains away the "misconstrued" Livingstone remarks about wealthy Jews.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-the-1-per-cent-have-an-interest-in-demonising-ken-livingstone-7640660.html

Nothing wrong with this you might think.  In an important election one would expect the Labour claque to rally round their candidate (although the last paragraph of the article does tend to damn Ken Livingstone with faint praise - "an imperfect Labour candidate").  Even Jonathan Freedland's public withdrawal of support for Ken Livingstone is not likely to derail his campaign.

Therefore eminent columnist Mehdi Hassan (who writes for the New Statesman and the Guardian) is to be expected to produce an article endorsing the Livingstone cause:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/11/dont-want-boris-vote-ken

Again, nothing wrong with this you might think.

Except...

...only a couple of months ago Mehdi Hassan himself used the phrase "Jewish financier" in an entirely gratuitous reference to David Cameron's ancestry

 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/12/steve-jobs-david-cameron-immigration).

"Wealthy Jews", "Jewish financier", "Gnomes of Zurich" - only a short step away from actually saying "Elders of Zion" is it not?

So you can see why I hesitate.

Ken Livingstone makes a slighting reference about the Jewish community.  Shortly afterwards a leading and highly respected Asian-heritage journalist endorses the Livingstone campaign.  Am I "misconstruing" all this, or are these people talking to each other in code?

One of the (admittedly trivial) aspects of the opening-up of Burma is the possibility of Jonathan Meades giving a televisual tour of Naypyidaw (perhaps with Pyong Yang and the palaces of Saddam in an analysis of how architecture can be used to intimidate and over-awe).

Stella Creasy MP

The G2 section of the Guardian today had a big four-page article on Stella Creasy MP. 

Stella Creasy is Labour MP for Walthamstow.

Yet another "rising star" in the political elite who has an Oxbridge background.  The article mentions her father was an opera singer.  Her Wikipedia entry mentions she has aristocratic relations.

And yet the article includes a full page full colour photograph of her sitting in a pie and mash shop (with what suspiciously looks like a cafe latte ). 

This member of parliament is entitled to have a comfortable middle class background, a la-di-da Oxbridge degree and to slurp cafe lattes while being interviewed by the high-brow press.

What she is not entitled to do is pose in a pie and mash shop as if she was working class.

Pie and mash shops are part of MY culture not hers.  My father wasn't an opera singer he was a welder.  My grandfather didn't have aristocratic relations he was a refrigerator engineer (and before that a porter for a coal company).

I mention this because people like Stella Creasy, by posing as working-class, are appropriating a culture they have no right to.

There was nothing romantic about working class poverty, and thank goodness my grandparents and parents managed to get out of the East End, but that doesn't mean their past can be colonised by cultural tourists such as Stella Creasy.

And on the subject of Oxbridge, how is it that these two institutions have such a stranglehold on the "glittering prizes" (to quote Adam Raphael)?

Oxbridge graduates are not noticeably more intelligent than other graduates. 

And yet this finishing school for the elite grabs every position of power and influence that's going.

It matters little that half the entry every year comes from "bog standard" comprehensives - the Oxbridge experience will co-opt these people into the elite.

I'm not complaining about this.  I know that life is not fair.  But I do object to Oxbridge graduates sitting in pie and mash shops, or queueing up at Greggs, or drinking from enamel mugs as if they were mere hoi polloi like the rest of us.

It's the hypocrisy that is so objectionable.

Easter Sunday

Today is Easter Sunday.

At the morning service, in altostratus clouds of incense, we sang:

Light's glittering morn bedecks the sky
Heaven thunders forth its victor cry.

Unusual newspaper review on Sky News last night with Henry Bonsu (Oxbridge graduate) indulging in a sort of sexist jeering of Carla Bruni Sarkozy.

There are many valid reasons to oppose Sarkozy, but dissing his wife as some kind of bimbo is not one of them.

I suppose Henry Bonsu was just a tokan invitation to the news review - no-one really expected him to behave responsibly.

Michael Gove's education reforms

Surprising editorial in today's Independent endorsing Michael Gove's education reforms (surprising because the Independent, despite it's title, is a left-wing publication).

In the same newspaper Owen Jones attacks the government for betraying young people and giving them an astonishingly bleak future "colder, hungrier, lonelier, duller, less secure, more indebted and, overall, poorer."  He blames cuts in government grants and benefits for this projected outcome.  It is an alarming article.

However it is not state grants that will provide a better future for young people but good education.  It is the education professions (especially the teachers) that have most betrayed young people with indolence, incompetence and modish social experiments.  In that respect Michael Gove's reforms are essential.

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday.

Easter is a festival of light, with the moon and the sun at an optimum state (this has been explained to me several times, but I still don't entirely understand it).

Earlier today Bach's St John Passion was broadcast in its entirety on BBC Radio 3.

Ritual food on Good Friday includes hot cross buns.  According to Professor Hutton bread baked on Good Friday had miraculous and curative properties - possibly there was a placebo effect from eating this holy bread.  Hot cross buns, marked with a dough cross, are still widely consumed on Good Friday throughout the United Kingdom.

Debate on Newsnight yesterday featuring the candidates for London Mayor.

Although I agree with Ken Livingstone that reducing tube fares would have a regenerative effect on the local economy, he would be the wrong choice for Mayor.

He looked old and tired, and did not radiate enthusiasm in the way that Boris Johnson did.

Ultimately political success is a transfer of enthusiasm from the politician to the voter.

The other two candidates were nothing-people.  They had no real contribution to make.  Pointless having them there.

Newsnight yesterday discussed the Bradford West shock by-election result and its implications for politics more generally.

Jeremy Paxman crushed George Galloway, which was worth seeing.

Jeremy Paxman was in turn trampled upon by Lord Bell, which again was worth seeing.

Anything rather than go out and meet the ordinary people

On yesterday's Sunday Politics Michael Dugher made the dubious statement about the Bradford West by-election:  "I think this was the first by-election in history fought and even won on social media".  This claim was requoted by Juliette Jowit in an article in today's Guardian.  But is it true?

If you go to George Galloway's Facebook page you find that there are 83,000 "Likes".  This is not the same as 83,000 supporters (as Juliette Jowit maintains in her article).  A "Like" is an ephemeral momentary jab of an index finger by anyone anywhere around the world - to interpret these eighty-three thousand finger jabs as committed support from people within the Bradford West constituency is stretching credulity.

If you go to George Galloway's Twitter site you can see he has 67,000 followers.  You can look at who these followers are (and if you were a thorough journalist, actually do a survey on them).  They are a disparate group, even including Guardian journalists, but from my brief overview they do not strike me as being Bradford West residents.

In any case Bradford West is a very poor constituency - is it likely that the disadvantaged and dispossessed who voted for George Galloway are the sort who can afford laptops and the kind of indulgent lifestyles where social media is a significant factor?

It seems to me that Michael Dugher MP is trying to find excuses for what must be reckoned a lamentable performance by Labour.  He is trying to imply that forces outside of Labour's control were responsible for the defeat of the Labour candidate.  In reality, Labour probably lost because their team was lazy and complacent.

If Labour had carried out a full canvass of the constituency so that everyone on the electoral roll was marked, then had tellers at all the polling stations, and then "got the vote out" on the night it would have been impossible for them to be taken by surprise.

But politicians (all parties) are too lazy to do this with any degree of consistency.

They would much prefer to issue Tweets and update their Facebook pages.

Anything rather than go out and meet the ordinary people (which is what George Galloway seems to have done).


https://twitter.com/#!/georgegalloway


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/apr/01/labour-muslim-women-bradford-west

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dzbg7