Facebook has apparently just overtaken Google as the most popular website in the US.
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/15/hitwise-says-facebook-most-popular-u-s-site/
The world returns to normal.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Modern male manners
When my wife was (recently) pregnant she was very aware of how rarely people offered her their seat on the Tube - even in the somewhat obvious final stages. Those who did tended to be women aged 25 and over.
We always assumed that this was largely because they could imagine being or had been in the same situation themselves. And men always had the slight excuse that some women might take it as a comment on their weight.
Cobblers.
I am now hobbling around on a crutch with a ripped calf muscle (tedious). I am clearly not going to take insult about insinuations about my weight (at least in this context!).
But it is exactly the same women who offer their seats to me (usually I refuse with profuse and slightly apologetic thanks). The few men who have offered me their seats were (with one exception) clearly foreign.
British men - we used to take pride in our manners, now its in our ability to grab and keep "what's ours".
PS Before I am asked the obvious question I do offer my seat to women - pregnant or otherwise - but maybe not often enough. A lesson. Relearnt.
We always assumed that this was largely because they could imagine being or had been in the same situation themselves. And men always had the slight excuse that some women might take it as a comment on their weight.
Cobblers.
I am now hobbling around on a crutch with a ripped calf muscle (tedious). I am clearly not going to take insult about insinuations about my weight (at least in this context!).
But it is exactly the same women who offer their seats to me (usually I refuse with profuse and slightly apologetic thanks). The few men who have offered me their seats were (with one exception) clearly foreign.
British men - we used to take pride in our manners, now its in our ability to grab and keep "what's ours".
PS Before I am asked the obvious question I do offer my seat to women - pregnant or otherwise - but maybe not often enough. A lesson. Relearnt.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Out of the Woods
Struck by the new ads from Accenture, the consulting to outsourcing monster firm, which have replaced their "Be a Tiger" campaign.
The posters show an elephant dancing delicately and the strapline is "You're never too big to be nimble".
May I translate: "We're so big that we could afford to sponsor Tiger Woods [the billion-dollar sportsman] but nimble enough to drop him the moment he became embarassing".
The posters show an elephant dancing delicately and the strapline is "You're never too big to be nimble".
May I translate: "We're so big that we could afford to sponsor Tiger Woods [the billion-dollar sportsman] but nimble enough to drop him the moment he became embarassing".
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Its too quiet out there
The BBC has just run an article on its Magazine pages commenting on how moderate we have all been in the face of the recession. It argues that counter to the early press speculation of widespread strikes and social break down we have all been remarkably calm and well-tempered in the face of earnings declines and the falling economy. We are apparently the "heroes" of this recession.
But the point about this recession is that for many people they have not yet really felt it. I exclude obviously the communities that have lost major employers, and the swathe of people who find themselves out of work. For some individuals it has already been a bitter experience. But - on average - employment has so far held up better in this recession than expected and for those still in paid work the world looks far less bleak.
Why?
Interest rates.
Given that housing cost is typically the largest single item in the household budget the era of extraordinarily low interest rates means that many people on a tracker mortgage have far more money in their pockets than a couple of years earlier. And those who have lost their jobs can survive in their homes for longer despite the loss of income. Hence a housing market that continues to defy gravity.
All well and good - but unless the global economy speeds up and the low pound means that we can take advantage of this (tough given the state of our manufacturing economy but it will help the business services sector) then it makes the reckoning next year potentially fearsome.
I fear that an incoming Tory Government will want to get the pain of spending cuts and tax increases out of the way as early as possible in the electoral cycle (when it can still be blamed on Labour and giving them the chance of some years of growth prior to the next Election). At the same time Quantitative Easing will have to come to an end (free money cannot last forever). And suddenly all the various tax rises already planned will kick in (the return to the old level of VAT, the new 50p income tax band) and the property market will tank. Cue panic.
I am painting a dark scenario but the point is that its far too early for the BBC to be smugly congratulating us all on our good behaviour.
But the point about this recession is that for many people they have not yet really felt it. I exclude obviously the communities that have lost major employers, and the swathe of people who find themselves out of work. For some individuals it has already been a bitter experience. But - on average - employment has so far held up better in this recession than expected and for those still in paid work the world looks far less bleak.
Why?
Interest rates.
Given that housing cost is typically the largest single item in the household budget the era of extraordinarily low interest rates means that many people on a tracker mortgage have far more money in their pockets than a couple of years earlier. And those who have lost their jobs can survive in their homes for longer despite the loss of income. Hence a housing market that continues to defy gravity.
All well and good - but unless the global economy speeds up and the low pound means that we can take advantage of this (tough given the state of our manufacturing economy but it will help the business services sector) then it makes the reckoning next year potentially fearsome.
I fear that an incoming Tory Government will want to get the pain of spending cuts and tax increases out of the way as early as possible in the electoral cycle (when it can still be blamed on Labour and giving them the chance of some years of growth prior to the next Election). At the same time Quantitative Easing will have to come to an end (free money cannot last forever). And suddenly all the various tax rises already planned will kick in (the return to the old level of VAT, the new 50p income tax band) and the property market will tank. Cue panic.
I am painting a dark scenario but the point is that its far too early for the BBC to be smugly congratulating us all on our good behaviour.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Gordon gets Majored
Have to say that Gordon Brown doesn't emerge that badly from the saga of the mis-spelled commiseration letter. He has terrible eyesight, and yet still struggles to handwrite a letter to the family of every serviceman who falls in the line of duty. Ok - so he probably mispelled a name, and should be more open to admitting to having made a mistake. He might even have got some sympathy.
But he is now where Major was shortly before the end. Whatever he did turned to dust - remember the underpants outside the trousers story? Probably never happened but an unforgiving media, and sharp Labour spin-doctoring, meant that he never lived it down.
Brown is now in the same place - and it cannot be a nice place to be. I have less sympathy though than for the failing eyesight. Or for the family that has lost a son.
But he is now where Major was shortly before the end. Whatever he did turned to dust - remember the underpants outside the trousers story? Probably never happened but an unforgiving media, and sharp Labour spin-doctoring, meant that he never lived it down.
Brown is now in the same place - and it cannot be a nice place to be. I have less sympathy though than for the failing eyesight. Or for the family that has lost a son.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Keep quiet Dave
I find myself in the somewhat uncomfortable position of hoping that Dave Cameron can hold the line with his own party.
If he is forced to say anything new on a Lisbon referendum before the Election then it will only be to the bad. Both Tory troop rallying, media pleasing and - to be fair - rousing the core Tory vote will cry out for him to take a tougher line on "Europe".
However, he is smart enough, and presumably well advised enough, to realise that this will create a complete mess at a time when there will be plenty of other challenges for a new Government. He is - I hope - a pragmatist before he is a Little Englander (for all Little Englanderdom is a pragmatic approach to take if you want to run the Tories).
And it will create a complete mess for this country if we spend the next decade squabbling with our European partners. So Dave - much as a return to Tory Euro-splits would make for amusing Sunday newspaper stories - hold that line!
If he is forced to say anything new on a Lisbon referendum before the Election then it will only be to the bad. Both Tory troop rallying, media pleasing and - to be fair - rousing the core Tory vote will cry out for him to take a tougher line on "Europe".
However, he is smart enough, and presumably well advised enough, to realise that this will create a complete mess at a time when there will be plenty of other challenges for a new Government. He is - I hope - a pragmatist before he is a Little Englander (for all Little Englanderdom is a pragmatic approach to take if you want to run the Tories).
And it will create a complete mess for this country if we spend the next decade squabbling with our European partners. So Dave - much as a return to Tory Euro-splits would make for amusing Sunday newspaper stories - hold that line!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Good choice
The lady at the Borders check-out counter smiled: "Thats a good choice."
I was buying a copy of the latest Neal Stephenson novel: Anathem. His previous novels include Cryptonomicon, a tying together of the code-crackers of WW2 with the rise of the Internet, and The Baroque Cycle, so mighty a trilogy that it has reportedly been republished as 8 books. This thunders through his unique take on the history of the late 17th / early 18th century, thrashing together the science and banking of Isaac Newton, thoughts on the rise of the modern world (and its financial, scientific, political and social institutions) with a thumping good adventure story. A writer who educates you on great science, makes you think - and creates worlds you can drown in. Brilliant.
"Yes - he's great isn't he!" So good that I'd even bought the hardback - something I usually only do when the book is a present. And delighted to have found a fellow fan.
"Er no - I meant that". She pointed at the second item I'd added (My excuse being that it was stacked enticingly next to the till).
A Cadbury's Creme Egg.
I was buying a copy of the latest Neal Stephenson novel: Anathem. His previous novels include Cryptonomicon, a tying together of the code-crackers of WW2 with the rise of the Internet, and The Baroque Cycle, so mighty a trilogy that it has reportedly been republished as 8 books. This thunders through his unique take on the history of the late 17th / early 18th century, thrashing together the science and banking of Isaac Newton, thoughts on the rise of the modern world (and its financial, scientific, political and social institutions) with a thumping good adventure story. A writer who educates you on great science, makes you think - and creates worlds you can drown in. Brilliant.
"Yes - he's great isn't he!" So good that I'd even bought the hardback - something I usually only do when the book is a present. And delighted to have found a fellow fan.
"Er no - I meant that". She pointed at the second item I'd added (My excuse being that it was stacked enticingly next to the till).
A Cadbury's Creme Egg.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
What next?
As the world grumbles about bankers and swears "never again" the question we must answer is what next?
James Callaghan apparently said: "There are times, perhaps once every thirty years, when there is a sea-change in politics". He was referring to the coming Thatcher revolution that transformed the nature of the relationship between capitalism and the state. New Labour added a human face to the Thatcherite economic concensus.
Now, 30 years later, the events of the past few months are very clearly showing that (at least) aspects of this are not sustainable. What is not so clear is what comes next - and the current debate is not showing much in the way of breakthrough thinking.
The state running the commanding heights of the economy is not going to happen - especially as this currently simply seems to mean spending as-yet uncounted sums of taxpayer money. Under a communist system the central planning team may have been suboptimal - but at least they did not consume the 10% of GDP that UK financial services has done. The role of the two is arguably similar - deciding where to deploy resources in the economy to maximise investment returns (albeit with slightly different end ambitions).
But the UK has to answer some critical questions:
James Callaghan apparently said: "There are times, perhaps once every thirty years, when there is a sea-change in politics". He was referring to the coming Thatcher revolution that transformed the nature of the relationship between capitalism and the state. New Labour added a human face to the Thatcherite economic concensus.
Now, 30 years later, the events of the past few months are very clearly showing that (at least) aspects of this are not sustainable. What is not so clear is what comes next - and the current debate is not showing much in the way of breakthrough thinking.
The state running the commanding heights of the economy is not going to happen - especially as this currently simply seems to mean spending as-yet uncounted sums of taxpayer money. Under a communist system the central planning team may have been suboptimal - but at least they did not consume the 10% of GDP that UK financial services has done. The role of the two is arguably similar - deciding where to deploy resources in the economy to maximise investment returns (albeit with slightly different end ambitions).
But the UK has to answer some critical questions:
- Should the UK attempt to reduce its dependence on financial services? Inevitably this will happen (already the City is well on the way to 30% + reduction in staffing) but what alternative economic sector does the UK really have to replace it? And does the coming wave of US regulation offer a real opportunity to strengthen London's position in the global financial system - if that system survives...
- What alternative economic sectors can we build out? How do we grow a significant green industry (at the same time as everyone else decides to go down the same road)?
- How we do face the coming pension and demographic crisis?
- How will the UK's business and social fabric survive what are going to be many long years of working through paying back our debt (rather than spending on anything else).
The answers to these questions (and there are others) will define the political meme of the next thirty years. That no one yet has the answers is one of the reasons why no one yet has the next election in the bag.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Plus ca change
Its been a while since I last blogged.
And not much has changed.
"Milliband should run - but won't" from April 2007.... now looks like he's ducked his chance for a second time in a row. Begins to look like a habit.
Meanwhile, the Evening Standard picked up on my comments on Party Treasurers "Unsung soldiers of democracy" and asked me to write this up for them. Letters page of the Evening Standard - its not yet Guido Fawkes on Newsnight but...
Politics is getting interesting again. The US election has been a shot of pure political adrenalin; the fall and return of McCain, the textbook Obama insurgency. The Republicans are now digging out their 2000/04 Election "kulturkampf" playsheet to counter the heroic Obama verbal onslaught. Its been a roller-coaster ride and its not over yet.
By contrast, the end of the Labour Government feels like its a simply a question of a few more dead-on-arrival relaunches. But things will get more interesting with a Prime Minister Cameron: he is no Blair, no Thatcher.
Time to be back.
And not much has changed.
"Milliband should run - but won't" from April 2007.... now looks like he's ducked his chance for a second time in a row. Begins to look like a habit.
Meanwhile, the Evening Standard picked up on my comments on Party Treasurers "Unsung soldiers of democracy" and asked me to write this up for them. Letters page of the Evening Standard - its not yet Guido Fawkes on Newsnight but...
Politics is getting interesting again. The US election has been a shot of pure political adrenalin; the fall and return of McCain, the textbook Obama insurgency. The Republicans are now digging out their 2000/04 Election "kulturkampf" playsheet to counter the heroic Obama verbal onslaught. Its been a roller-coaster ride and its not over yet.
By contrast, the end of the Labour Government feels like its a simply a question of a few more dead-on-arrival relaunches. But things will get more interesting with a Prime Minister Cameron: he is no Blair, no Thatcher.
Time to be back.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Blair's heir finds his Campbell
So Andy Coulson, the former Editor of the News of the World is to be the new Director of Communications for the Conservative Party.
He is obviously supposed to be the Alastair Campbell to David Cameron's Tony Blair. He may well offer an approach that is every bit as brutally effective at savaging a tired NuLab administration as were Campbell's attacks on John Major (remember the "Y-fronts outside his trousers" image).
But one of the most powerful moments of the whole "end of Blair" saga was Michael Howard looking Campbell in the eye on Newsnight and telling him how much he had lowered the quality of British public life. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-QxBTR9_HU)
So in making this choice (doubtless a smart operational one) Cameron cements his positions as a true heir to Blair.
He is obviously supposed to be the Alastair Campbell to David Cameron's Tony Blair. He may well offer an approach that is every bit as brutally effective at savaging a tired NuLab administration as were Campbell's attacks on John Major (remember the "Y-fronts outside his trousers" image).
But one of the most powerful moments of the whole "end of Blair" saga was Michael Howard looking Campbell in the eye on Newsnight and telling him how much he had lowered the quality of British public life. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-QxBTR9_HU)
So in making this choice (doubtless a smart operational one) Cameron cements his positions as a true heir to Blair.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Brown vs ?
At least Gordon's coronation avoids the ridiculous situation where the unions end up with a critical choice in who will be the next Prime Minister.
Now that Brown has no competition for the leadership a nation (OK, a tiny proportion) will turn its eyes to the Deputy leadership selection race. This looks like it might shape up to be the proxy for the national debate on Labour's future that the leadership race should have been.
And the debate might - if it somehow catches fire, and Cruddas is surely best placed to deliver that - become more interesting than all but the most eye-catching of Brown's pronouncements. Why? Because whizzy announcements from the top have become rather too much part of the Blairite background. Something genuinely exciting from the Deputy Leadership debate may wake things up - with 6 candidates playing it safe will not wash.
And who knows - we might even end up with a Deputy Leader with a far stronger mandate from the Party than Gordon Brown.
Now that Brown has no competition for the leadership a nation (OK, a tiny proportion) will turn its eyes to the Deputy leadership selection race. This looks like it might shape up to be the proxy for the national debate on Labour's future that the leadership race should have been.
And the debate might - if it somehow catches fire, and Cruddas is surely best placed to deliver that - become more interesting than all but the most eye-catching of Brown's pronouncements. Why? Because whizzy announcements from the top have become rather too much part of the Blairite background. Something genuinely exciting from the Deputy Leadership debate may wake things up - with 6 candidates playing it safe will not wash.
And who knows - we might even end up with a Deputy Leader with a far stronger mandate from the Party than Gordon Brown.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Milliband should run - but won't
All the recent speculation about whether or not Milliband will run rather miss the point. He should.
I start with the assumption that he wants to be Prime Minister. My evidence? He is a politician. The Pope is Catholic.
Given this - why should he not take the gamble and go for it? The scenario under which not running make sense is that Labour will lose the next election, then David Cameron loses the next Election - and we'll get Prime Minister Milliband.
This assumes several things:
I start with the assumption that he wants to be Prime Minister. My evidence? He is a politician. The Pope is Catholic.
Given this - why should he not take the gamble and go for it? The scenario under which not running make sense is that Labour will lose the next election, then David Cameron loses the next Election - and we'll get Prime Minister Milliband.
This assumes several things:
- That Labour will lose the next election. Given current opinion poll trends this would appear worth a bet.
- That David Cameron will prove a shallow and unsuccesful PM and lose the following election. Possible.
- That the Labour Party in opposition will maintain its discipline and hold together - meaning that the next Labour leader could bounce back to power after a brief interim in Opposition. Hmm.
All this would mean that David Milliband could pull off what William Hague could not. Step in to the leadership of a party that will have been exhausted by over a decade in power, and with some unfinished squabbles to settle. And go on to win.
I'm not sure what Milliband can lose by running. The various threats to his career are aggressively unsubtle - whether from Beckett or un-named Brownite sources. But if Brown wants to win a General Election he has to prove himself able to manage a big tent, and therefore casting out one of the few remaining talents in the Labour front ranks from spite would be seen as yet more proof of Stalinist tendencies.
Running a smart campaign would raise Milliband's profile, especially outside the Labour Party. He would be guaranteed good media coverage as the press are desperate for a battle; a new story after the years of Blair / Brown duopoly. He would go from a smart egghead to a real contender-in-waiting. Look how improved Chris Huhne's status was by his daring bid for the LibDem leadership.
And it would be good for the Labour Party. An open debate might actually help refresh the Labour Party - vital given the current intellectual exhuastion on display. It might even be good for Gordon Brown - he would be seen to have beaten a serious challenger. He would be forced to have a debate - and show that he can actually win an electoral contest.
For Milliband there is also the simple problem of timing: it is rare that you get a second opportunity. The alternative is to blink and not go for the race. When, with courage, he might have won. In short, Michael Portillo.
Portillo or Hague? Great choice. David Milliband - run!
PS If he did run, its likely that he would lose the internal party vote, but he might just win the popular outlook outside the Party. But of course he won't run. His articles and general comments suggest that he would so love to run. But can't quite bring himself to do so. Shame.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Blair's last grasp
Every time I speak to anyone working in Whitehall I hear the same thing: if a policy proposal or No. 10 diktat comes through then the civil servants receiving it ask themselves if Gordon Brown would like it, or want it to happen. If yes, it happens. If not, well there's always the slow tray...
We're in a pre-dawn world where Blair clings on to the last shadows of his rein, desperate to safeguard his destiny, still personally persuasive to the last (and Labour will soon realise how much they'll miss him). But he's frantically pulling on levers of power that no longer really connect to the front line of the civil service. All around him the No. 10 team are polishing their CVs and working out the colour of their parachutes.
Menawhile, Gordon Brown practices his smile in the mirror, as all the polls suggest mounting leads for David Cameron. And Government waits for the new dawn.
Rather than bemoan this lack of movement perhaps we should be grateful. The busier Blair's lot have been the more half-baked and incompetent legislation they have pushed through. A spell of quiet would do everyone a dose of good. Its only political hacks (and bloggers) who crave constant movement.
We're in a pre-dawn world where Blair clings on to the last shadows of his rein, desperate to safeguard his destiny, still personally persuasive to the last (and Labour will soon realise how much they'll miss him). But he's frantically pulling on levers of power that no longer really connect to the front line of the civil service. All around him the No. 10 team are polishing their CVs and working out the colour of their parachutes.
Menawhile, Gordon Brown practices his smile in the mirror, as all the polls suggest mounting leads for David Cameron. And Government waits for the new dawn.
Rather than bemoan this lack of movement perhaps we should be grateful. The busier Blair's lot have been the more half-baked and incompetent legislation they have pushed through. A spell of quiet would do everyone a dose of good. Its only political hacks (and bloggers) who crave constant movement.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Market leadership
When Mirror journalists ramped shares they'd recently bought, and then sold them after they rose in response they ended up in jail. The 'City Slickers' affair nearly destroyed Piers Morgan's career many years before his Iraq pictures.
How handy then that the rise of new markets offer less risky ways for commentators to make money from their words. Guido Fawkes - widely read and closely followed by the political elite - recommended a bet on the Labour leadership market, then piled out shortly thereafter which you can do with spread betting. As he put it: "Even easier than investing in private equity..."
http://5thnovember.blogspot.com/2007/03/profit-from-politics.html
And an even better tax regime than private equity.
How handy then that the rise of new markets offer less risky ways for commentators to make money from their words. Guido Fawkes - widely read and closely followed by the political elite - recommended a bet on the Labour leadership market, then piled out shortly thereafter which you can do with spread betting. As he put it: "Even easier than investing in private equity..."
http://5thnovember.blogspot.com/2007/03/profit-from-politics.html
And an even better tax regime than private equity.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Triple-counting signatures
Much has been made of the 1.3m (and counting) signatures on the N.10 E-petition website against road charging. I'm not a techie, but one reason for this might just be that when you sign up for a petition (once) you get 3 replies from the website that you need to click to confirm - possibly triggering 3 signatures?
I was signing up to a petition against ID cards
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/IDcards/
I was signing up to a petition against ID cards
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/IDcards/
Monday, February 05, 2007
Judging Number 10
Its not an obvious thought - and its one that I find hard to bring myself to say, but I will.
I hope, I really hope, that Tony Blair is not charged, let alone found guilty, of any wrong doing in the ongoing cash for honours scandal.
Let me explain.
Firstly, the last thing British politics needs is corruption at the highest level - so I am living in hope that he will not need to be hauled in front of the courts. This would be destructive for both the country but also our whole system of politics.
The hardest conversation I find on doorsteps when canvassing is persuading disinterested, often young, people to vote - not when I encounter someone with a strong set of views counter to my own. This would only get harder. On an international level it will make it harder for any British Givernment to wield any moral clout when criticising countries like Zimbabwe as they engage in truly corrupt mis-Government.
I also think that Tony Blair has done far more shocking things - like invading Iraq - and that is what he should have been punished for. But at the ballot box, not at the hands of the police.
Meanwhile, what sort of Government will we have if it is constantly in fear of judicial enquiry? Trust is the key to running any sort of organisation, and especially so in Government. Constant worries about deleting Emails and individuals coveribg themselves will not help Government work effectively.
Meanwhile, Governments of all colours have given honours to raise cash for politics. The answer is reform - of the Lords, of our political processes and of the role of money in our elections. Blaming it all on Blair will be to miss the structural issues at the expense of the crudely personal.
Don't get me wrong - if he has broken the law then he should be prosecuted. But I so hope that he hasn't.
I hope, I really hope, that Tony Blair is not charged, let alone found guilty, of any wrong doing in the ongoing cash for honours scandal.
Let me explain.
Firstly, the last thing British politics needs is corruption at the highest level - so I am living in hope that he will not need to be hauled in front of the courts. This would be destructive for both the country but also our whole system of politics.
The hardest conversation I find on doorsteps when canvassing is persuading disinterested, often young, people to vote - not when I encounter someone with a strong set of views counter to my own. This would only get harder. On an international level it will make it harder for any British Givernment to wield any moral clout when criticising countries like Zimbabwe as they engage in truly corrupt mis-Government.
I also think that Tony Blair has done far more shocking things - like invading Iraq - and that is what he should have been punished for. But at the ballot box, not at the hands of the police.
Meanwhile, what sort of Government will we have if it is constantly in fear of judicial enquiry? Trust is the key to running any sort of organisation, and especially so in Government. Constant worries about deleting Emails and individuals coveribg themselves will not help Government work effectively.
Meanwhile, Governments of all colours have given honours to raise cash for politics. The answer is reform - of the Lords, of our political processes and of the role of money in our elections. Blaming it all on Blair will be to miss the structural issues at the expense of the crudely personal.
Don't get me wrong - if he has broken the law then he should be prosecuted. But I so hope that he hasn't.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Reid with embarassment
Another day, another wave of embarassment for John Reid.
He is not a man who is very easy to warm to but its hard not to feel a little bit sorry for him as yet another mine explodes under his feet. He has not yet been in the job so long that he could have turned the Home Office round. The problem is that he has not helped himself - by singing from the Daily Mail song book he can hardly complain as the tune gets nastier and nastier.
However, the woes of the Home Office go to the very heart of the failed Blair project.
Whilst "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" is now often seen as simply a piece of spin it remains one of the most powerful slogans of the New Labour avalanche. David Cameron was groping towards the same position with his "hug a hoodie" speech.
But, rising to power, New Labour was obsessed with the media. Alistair Campbell and Peter Mandelson decreed a media planning cycle that required quick Government responses to newspaper headlines, thus creating a blizzard of initiatives. Given the nature of tabloid journalism this affected the Home Office more than any other department (with Health following close behind).
'Tough on crime' was far easier to show than 'tough on the causes of crime' - projects which would inevitably take far longer to mature. Ironically, a decade in is when some of those latter types of projects might be beginning to make a real impact. But instead we have had a decade that added a criminal offence for almost every day that New Labour has been in power.
And because there was so much going on there was no time for doing the simple, boring things like getting processes and systems lined up and teams talking to each other. No time for management.
And so we have a sky-rocketing prison population, a disaffected judiciary delighted to have the opportunity to put the boot in as they very publicly release child abusers and a Home Office in crisis.
Not to worry though, Reid has the perfect answer: capture the headlines with a plan to split the Home Office in two. Problem solved! Until the next revelation...
He is not a man who is very easy to warm to but its hard not to feel a little bit sorry for him as yet another mine explodes under his feet. He has not yet been in the job so long that he could have turned the Home Office round. The problem is that he has not helped himself - by singing from the Daily Mail song book he can hardly complain as the tune gets nastier and nastier.
However, the woes of the Home Office go to the very heart of the failed Blair project.
Whilst "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" is now often seen as simply a piece of spin it remains one of the most powerful slogans of the New Labour avalanche. David Cameron was groping towards the same position with his "hug a hoodie" speech.
But, rising to power, New Labour was obsessed with the media. Alistair Campbell and Peter Mandelson decreed a media planning cycle that required quick Government responses to newspaper headlines, thus creating a blizzard of initiatives. Given the nature of tabloid journalism this affected the Home Office more than any other department (with Health following close behind).
'Tough on crime' was far easier to show than 'tough on the causes of crime' - projects which would inevitably take far longer to mature. Ironically, a decade in is when some of those latter types of projects might be beginning to make a real impact. But instead we have had a decade that added a criminal offence for almost every day that New Labour has been in power.
And because there was so much going on there was no time for doing the simple, boring things like getting processes and systems lined up and teams talking to each other. No time for management.
And so we have a sky-rocketing prison population, a disaffected judiciary delighted to have the opportunity to put the boot in as they very publicly release child abusers and a Home Office in crisis.
Not to worry though, Reid has the perfect answer: capture the headlines with a plan to split the Home Office in two. Problem solved! Until the next revelation...
Friday, January 12, 2007
Freedom of Information
Why is it that this Government seems intent on destroying even the good things they've done?
They are now set on limiting the Freedom of Information Act which has been used to such effect by campaigning MPs like Norman Baker and journalists in the serious press (especially the Guardian). The aim apparently is to limit the "serial requestors" - in other words the dogged investigators who keep digging for information.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/01/join_the_campaign_to_prevent_f.html
But it will hopefully save the Government £10m... Hurrah - that's enough to begin saving for another war.
They are now set on limiting the Freedom of Information Act which has been used to such effect by campaigning MPs like Norman Baker and journalists in the serious press (especially the Guardian). The aim apparently is to limit the "serial requestors" - in other words the dogged investigators who keep digging for information.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/01/join_the_campaign_to_prevent_f.html
But it will hopefully save the Government £10m... Hurrah - that's enough to begin saving for another war.
New Year blues
There is a lot of speculation about the supposed imminent collapse of the most successful multi-cultural and multi-ethnic state in modern history. No, not Iraq. The UK.
Strong polls for the SNP, and carefully-fanned English resentment of the higher levels of public spending in Scotland mean that political commentators are talking seriously about Scottish independence. Or as seriously as political commentators who have a regular deadline to fill with the latest breathless crisis can do.
But this is hugely irresponsible. For 300 years the Anglo-Scottish Union has created an immensely successful dynamic that has benefited both nations. This may not always have been put to the very best possible use - witness the race for Imperial domination. But it has created the modern world of liberal democracy, the importance of the rule of law, the Industrial Revolution and the global financial system. Now – at least partly because the Tory party wants to destabilise Gordon Brown and the press are happy to have a story – all this is being cast in to doubt.
There may be a coherent intellectual argument to make for splitting the Union – but it has to involve the belief that it will be through broader integration with the European Union that England and Scotland can regain the influence and scale that would be lost through partition. To be fair that is part of the SNP argument. But the very right-wing English commentators calling for a split are the same ones who turn puce at the very mention of the EU.
As you may be able to guess from my name I feel especially torn. My family roots are Scottish but I grew up in London. One grandfather slogged through the trenches of World War one with the London Scottish. I personally feel British before I feel either Scottish or English.
The current system is not perfect. It not fair or sustainable that our current Home Secretary can bring in laws that do not affect his constituents. But to jump from this to breaking up the Union shows a short-sightedness that can only be driven by the need to sell more newspapers tomorrow. Or rattle the Chancellor.
Strong polls for the SNP, and carefully-fanned English resentment of the higher levels of public spending in Scotland mean that political commentators are talking seriously about Scottish independence. Or as seriously as political commentators who have a regular deadline to fill with the latest breathless crisis can do.
But this is hugely irresponsible. For 300 years the Anglo-Scottish Union has created an immensely successful dynamic that has benefited both nations. This may not always have been put to the very best possible use - witness the race for Imperial domination. But it has created the modern world of liberal democracy, the importance of the rule of law, the Industrial Revolution and the global financial system. Now – at least partly because the Tory party wants to destabilise Gordon Brown and the press are happy to have a story – all this is being cast in to doubt.
There may be a coherent intellectual argument to make for splitting the Union – but it has to involve the belief that it will be through broader integration with the European Union that England and Scotland can regain the influence and scale that would be lost through partition. To be fair that is part of the SNP argument. But the very right-wing English commentators calling for a split are the same ones who turn puce at the very mention of the EU.
As you may be able to guess from my name I feel especially torn. My family roots are Scottish but I grew up in London. One grandfather slogged through the trenches of World War one with the London Scottish. I personally feel British before I feel either Scottish or English.
The current system is not perfect. It not fair or sustainable that our current Home Secretary can bring in laws that do not affect his constituents. But to jump from this to breaking up the Union shows a short-sightedness that can only be driven by the need to sell more newspapers tomorrow. Or rattle the Chancellor.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Happy New Year
I saw in the New Year in a wind-blown house somewhere near Glasgow. The storm knocked out the electricity, meaning that we ended up eating (and drinking) in a room full of candles, listening to the rattling moan of the tempest outside. A nearby shed was shaking itself to bits in the wind and it was dangerous to venture outside as the night was full of flying tiles. It had all the makings of an Agatha Christie novel and I was waiting for the sudden news that our host had been found dead in the kitchen / sitting room / bedroom, slain by a kitchen knife / tile / rolled up newspaper. The coppers would have to be round in the morning to work out who'd done what.
A useful insight in to what it must be like in Downing Street as 2007 starts.
A useful insight in to what it must be like in Downing Street as 2007 starts.
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