Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Olympics opening ceremony
Leave a commentI am going to be one of the moaners. This was a most ghastly show. Contrived, silly, over-engineered and incoherent. Or was it? Despite the Queen sitting in the arena, John Lydon could be heard singing God Save the Queen and then cut off before “she ain’t no human being…fascist regime” – but Boyle got it in. We were treated to a little bit more of the Sex Pistols when Pretty Vacant was segued like one of those 80s chart topping medley hits, ‘Stars on 45’. Then there was a big kissing scene – some of which might not have gone down too well in some countries taking part. It was deliberate, was it not?
Those were the high points. What is to be made of the NHS scene with children being looked after by larger-than-life dancing nurses in 1930s uniforms and read stories by JK Rowling? In front of David Cameron, was that a warning to back off? The NHS is now immortalised in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Now untouchable. Or was it folly and plain stupid?
Rowan Atkinson as unfunny Mr Bean distracting Simon Rattle from conducting the London Symphony Orchestra; Kenneth Branagh as Isambard Kingdom Brunel spouting Shakespeare; a forlorn Tim Berners-Lee and a desktop computer; Mike Oldfield, good grief; Mary Poppins; David Beckham as James Bond, etc. No sign of Richard Branson, Tony Blair. Very strange.
£27m
It is now Saturday and this ceremony still bothers me. I’ve had to find an antidote. I’m listening to the Manic Street Preachers and it is working.
I reflect on what Boyle was trying to do last night. The newspapers are full of glowing reports. It is clear with so many plaudits he has achieved only to vindicate further the organisers for the event. Boyle has effectively lanced the boil that is this event in the eyes of its critics. It turns out to have been a master stroke by Seb Coe and company to appoint Boyle as artistc director. He delivered the critics to their table.
And then there is the question the depiction of ‘our’ history and our acquiescence in the changes that lead inexorably to the innanities of love by losing a mobile phone! Rest assured, the linearity of Boyles depiction of us is not real. There is a lot of struggle in us.
I reflect that Cameron is not embarrassed over the NHS scene. He does not believe that he is dismantling the NHS.
It was sickening to see such a large role played by the armed forces, many of whom have been involved in conflicts that have killed and maimed the compartriots of athletes representing their country at the ceremony. Maybe that was British irony. It seemed to me at the very least insensitive.
It has been an awful summer of cod and ignorant patriotism.
G4S – Nick Buckles on the BBC’s Bottom Line
It was a weekend of undertaking a few dull jobs. On these occasions, I usually catch up with a backlog of BBC podcasts. I can recommend In Our Time discussing Camus. But I had not realised that Nick Buckles of G4S notoriety was a bit of a radio personality. On 7 June he appeared not for the first time on The Bottom Line with Evan Davis to discuss the theme of employment. And what a treat – untarnished by the recent Olympics failure with respect to the failure to recruit – here he is talking about the Olympic contract and the contracts of employees. Buckles_1_TBL_17Jun2012; Buckles_2_TBL_17Jun2012
G4S song
The spectacle of G4S gets worse by the day. Nick Buckles, G4S’s embattled CEO, was mauled yesterday before the Home Affairs Select Committee. He committed his company to considerable additional expenditure putting up the army and police in hotels and paying them bonuses on a par with London Bus drivers. All this to make up for the company’s failure to provide the necessary security staff for the forthcoming Olympics. Even though Mr Buckles has made himself rich by expanding this firm, one wonders whether the company’s success is because of him or despite him.
Adding insult to injury is the discovery of the G4S song that just makes one wonder and marvel at this firm even more. Whilst the tune has been unexpectedly removed from youtube, the song is out there! The BBC played it this morning, and I, courtesy of the New Statesman courtesy of someone on Soundcloud keeps the tune accessible to us all. I provide a link at the bottom of this page; however, here are the lyrics:
You love your job and the people too; Making a difference is what you do; But consider all you have at stake; The time is now don’t make a mistake; Because the enemy prowls, wanting to attack; But we’re on the wall, we’ve got your back; So get out front and take the lead; And be the winner you were born to be. G4S! protecting the world; G4S! so dreams can unfurl; 24/7 every night and day; A warrior stands ready so don’t be afraid; G4S! secure in your world G4S! let your dreams unfurl; We’re guarding you with all our might; Keeping watch throughout the night.
A Eurovision song contest winner, for sure.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/g4s-has-theme-song-it-awful-you-would-expect
Protecting the Olympics (2)
Source: Holger.Ellgaard, Wikipedia
The Olympic debacle continues. Not only are there missiles ready to shoot down unauthorised aeroplanes over East London housing estates, but now army personnel are checking bags as people enter the Olympic village. G4S – a company to which the state has outsourced a lot of public sector work over the years – cannot meet its contractual obligations to supply 10,000 ‘guards’; though waits until 2 weeks before the event to tell anyone.
Its chief executive, Nick Buckles, went on the Today programme yesterday to answer some benign and straightforward questions from Justin Webb. Clearly, over the preceding 24 hours he had had some media training. The advice was – “tell your story and stick to it. Repeat it and then repeat it again; go for the sympathy thing, the company will take a big hit, maybe £50m.”
We wait to see if Keith Vaz, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee – can get any more out of him next week when he appears before them.
The interview can be heard here.
Protecting the Olympics
Swiss Rapier Missiles. Source Wikepedia: Nirazul
The Guardian newspaper today reports “Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said the residents of the Fred Wigg tower had expressed “shock, anxiety and worry” over the prospect of missiles being stationed on top of their building, but they had been under “something of a misapprehension” about the nature of the equipment to be deployed and the risks deployment would bring.
“Yesterday David Forsdick, representing Philip Hammond, said the defence secretary was under no statutory duty to consult the residents, although an impact assessment had been carried out and the tenants’ human rights taken into consideration. Residents had no legitimate expectation that they would be consulted on issues involving the defence of the realm and national security.”
So, can we see the impact assessment? What kind of misapprehension about missiles on the roof might the residents have? To what extent is protecting the IoC and the Olympic event a defence of the realm?
The best of British design and the Olympics
It is starting to get a little bit tedious, the constant references to the past in terms of design: Pillar boxes, buses, etc. These posters, moreover, are embarassing. Does Richard Branson really equate with being Great?
It is also unfortunately very true now that what makes cities distinctive now is their past. The present and maybe future in terms of artefacts – buildings, products – are generic and global. The same artefacts appear in many of great cities across the globe. BBC Radio 4 seems obsessed about this point, and are discussing it at length. This is the debate’s latest instalment.
Why politics matters
Golden Dawn logo
It has been quite a couple of weeks. Francois Hollande is elected President of France on a less Austerity ticket. The Greeks don’t elect anyone to run the country but open the door to some of Europe’s most agressive fascists. And the fickle English electorate finally shows that it realises that the Conservatives rule in their own interests. It may be too late on that one, however, if healh service ‘reforms’ and educational ‘reforms’ go unchecked.
This all challenges the ‘fix’ agreed by the previous generation of European leaders regarding the Euro and sovereign debt. Yesterday morning we learned that Spanish government bailed out the country’s fouth largest bank, Bankia. Today they are shoring up the rest of the banking sector against the backdrop of no growth, high unemployment and investor withdrawal of funds.
It is clear, however, that electors are unlikely to be swayed by policies that continue to support those who have brought on the misery by their own greed, self-belief and inability to manage their own financial instrument creations. (This morning we find JP Morgen Chase have reported an embarrassing $2bn loss generated by a trader in derivatives that were designed to hedge against risks elsewhere in the bank.)
I’m hopeful about the French. The Greeks, however, have resorted to a fascist response. I suspect a contagion is not likely across Europe, the Greeks will need to manage them robustly. They are not democrats.
Flag courtesy of Stlemur
Privatising schools
I have written many times about Michael Gove; but whilst most have been preocuppied by NHS reforms, Gove has continued his assuault on comprehensive education. The march of the Academies has carried on relentless with over half of the country’s high schools converted on the promise of higher budgets, albeit independent of the local education authority that often brings economies of scale to works and procurement.
The motivation is, of course, selection – a return to grammar schools. Elitism. But there is a light in all of this. Local education authorities may be a thing of the past, but schools may still need to organise themselves co-operatively, as there are genuine benefits to be achieved by collective provision. Let us see how it develops.
Privatising roads
Not content with the National Health Service, now the Conservatives want to privatise the roads on the grounds that we do not have enough money to build or repair the network. Some thoughts.
First, governments, even indebted ones, can raise money for infrastructure cheaper than the the private sector (as the Private Finance Initiative demonstrates only too well). Second, tapping into sovereign wealth funds means ceding infrastructure to the Gulf States? Third, we know it is not about raising money, rather it is about paying big business well to run services that we can manage better – cheaper – inside. The railways are a case in point, nomatter how the Transport Secretary thinks she can reorganise the railways, the private sector has milked and will continue to milk the public coffers because they can. Because we let them. And every time the Government offers more assets, not surprisingly they accept them and get fatter.
Privatisation of the NHS
Why do the Conservatives hate public provision of services so much? The Guardian reported this week the privatisation of
NHS Devon and Devon county council’s frontline services for children including some child protection services, treatment for mentally ill children and adolescents, therapy and respite care for those with disabilities, health visiting, and palliative nursing for dying children.
Who are the two front runners in this £130m contract? Serco and Virgin. Seemingly fallen by the wayside is a joint bid between Devon Partnership NHS trust, bidding along with Barnardo’s and other local charities.
I’m no fan of poor NHS management and care. But it does matter who runs the NHS. It does matter that those running it are not subject to shareholder pressure. Money is tight enough as it is, adding another shareholder dimension is unhelpful or even unethical. Virgin branded healthcare is in bad taste.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/15/devon-nhs-childrens-services-privatisation?INTCMP=SRCH
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