Cultural Addiction

The news today that children are presenting to A and E departments drunk should surprise nobody. As alcohol continues to pervade our society, a new generation is now growing up in a world in which alcohol has been normalised. It is not acceptable now to be seen to be condoning smoking, especially in the aftermath of the smoking ban. Most people now seem to hold few reservations about marijuana and all the while, alcohol is seemingly omnipresent in our lives. Go to any Supermarket and you will see a skyscraper of booze the moment you walk through the front door being sold at a ludicrously cheap price. You will also see mountains of products dripping in sugar also being sold cheaply and still it remains unquestioned. The all powerful supermarket sector is catering to our every addiction and all the while, the cash strapped NHS is expected to pick up the tab. How does that work? Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this story of youngsters getting drunk is that their parents aren't even mentioned. I was led to believe that parents have a responsibility for the welfare and safety of their children until they've grown up (for clarity, I'm referring to the children). Of course, one of the problems is that alcohol has now crossed its final frontier in the last twenty odd years. It is now firmly ensconced in our homes and that is a big problem. There is now no peer group to witness how much you quietly put away as there once was down in the local pub. The volumes being drunk have risen dramatically although, interestingly, the amount admitted to being drunk and the amount which we know is sold don't marry up. This is no surprise of course since nobody drinking too much ever likes to admit it. Such is the nature of addiction. With the Welsh Government adopting a system of presumed consent for organ donation, the other home counties might have to follow suit sooner rather than later to cope with the escalating levels of liver failure in an increasingly younger age group. With no come back to the children involved or, more pertinently, their parents, this trend sadly looks set to stay as do the social problems it brings with it. The time is surely right to do the right thing and bring in minimum pricing on alcohol. For the majority who are in control of their drinking, this will be no problem but it might just provide a barrier to those most in need. There is now surely a moral argument to do this before the NHS starts to collapse under the strain. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Our current approach is now bordering on the insane and we badly need to take action.

Giving it all away

In the early 1970s, several major rock acts went through a brief hiatus while members of their personnel pursued solo projects. It was the beginning of a trend which has endured to the present day. Some of these projects were little more than vanity toys to satisfy the whims of the star in question. Some were made because the act was so big, money had long since ceased to be an issue. Following the Quadrophenia double album of 1973, the various members of the Who dispersed to pursue their own ambitions and would not convene again for a group album until 1975 to release the lamentable "Who by Numbers" which sounded tired. In truth, it was only released to fulfill their contractual obligation. That same year, their larger than life drummer Keith Moon released what must go vie as the most bizarre album of the decade. Musically it was lacking but it did sound as though a splendid time was had by all which was to be expected if Moon was involved. Roger Daltrey was also seeking to carve his own furrow and one song in particular suggested potential for the future. Written by Leo Sayer, "Giving it all away" was a reflective song. It tells the wistful story of a man looking back at his early struggles as a musician. In many ways, Daltrey was the ideal man to sing it since the lyrics were largely autobiographical. As the party conference season draws to its close, the contrast between last week's message from Labour and this week's from the Tories is more stark than I'd have imagined possible. "I was just a boy, giving it all away" might have been written for Milliband. Like the song lyric, his speech last week was full of youthful naivety. That first verse of the song begins with "I paid all my dues". In a sense, this sums up George Osborne. It's been a miserable job to have to clear up after the failed years of Labour but now that he has done the hard work, he can justifiably look back and say "I know better now". I listened with great interest to the Tory donor Lord Ashcroft being interviewed this morning. He now runs a political polling company and was asked who he thought would win the next General Election. His answer was illuminating: "It is Labour's to lose". His reasoning was as follows. When the Liberals entered in to coalition, they immediately dropped their share of the vote from about 22% to about 12% due to disgruntled Liberal voters not wanting a coalition arrangement. For every 4 voters who abandoned Clegg, one went over to Cameron but three went over to Milliband. This effect is accentuated by the small number of marginals which Labour need to secure to regain power. Lord Ashcroft was adamant that Labour held the whip hand - until that speech by Milliband last week. Put simply, there are just too many voters who remember all too painfully the last time we had socialism. Broadly speaking, Milliband is asking the turkeys to vote for Christmas. When asked if the Tories needed to seek deals with UKIP, Lord Ashcroft was equally forthright. No need at all because UKIP are essentially a one issue party just as the Referendum Party of James Goldsmith was in the early 1990s. On that occasion the Tories made the mistake of entering in to pacts. They will not do so again. Unless Milliband can neutralise the caustic content of his socialist ambitions, he might have just blown his chances of power. In the likely event of this happening, it will only be a matter of time before the Labour Party starts to realise it plumped for the wrong brother. Rather than giving it all away, the Tories are reverting to type and seeking to build up a budget surplus. Where Milliband sought to woo the voters with an 18 month freeze on home fuel bills, Osborne seeks to freeze fuel duty on petrol and diesel until 2018. He knows that unless he can keep people on the road, our carbon reliant economy will be dead in the water. Keeping them warm at home is one thing, but keeping them on the road and earning is another. Both approaches are ultimately flawed but the predictable tendencies of the British electorate will see them choose red or blue as is their wont. Faced with employment prospects or a temporary reduction in fuel bills, its not hard to see who has won Round 1 in the build up to 2015.

Women Drivers!

A new opinion has emerged on the subject of women drivers. This social group which for so many years kept British comedians in clover has once more made the headlines. The source of this latest opinion comes from Saudi Arabia. A Saudi cleric by the name of Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, insists that women who drive at at greater risk of damaging their ovaries. This allegedly results in them producing children with clinical problems. These comments come at a time when activists are trying hard to overtrun the current ban on women drivers and allow them to drive. If this latest pronouncement is the sign of more theories to come, I can hardly wait. Although I applaud wholeheartedly the notion of getting anybody to use their car less, this story comes under the heading of "It could only happen in....". Nobody doubts the discomfort which women drivers would cause men in Saudi Arabia. To see them undertaking activities outside the safe confines of their kitchens will obviously cause significant distress. If seeing them drive is going to induce such feelings of anxiety, I can only guess how the men might react if they see a woman applying a bit of lippy at the traffic lights. I assume the connotations of a cabriolet will also be contentious. I'm not well versed on their current law but do have a number of questions. If driving a car increases the chance of a woman damaging her ovaries, the risk is surely present wherever she sits. Clearly, it would be contraversial to permit a woman to sit in the front seat but I'm guessing that the back seats could exert an equally devastating effect on her ovaries. There must be a sensible solution here. I wonder if they've considered a side-car outfit in which the occupant travels in a standing position to protect her fertility and the future clinical outcomes of her progeny? Of course, to remove all risk the obvious solution is to just ban the concept of a woman travelling in a car. This would be more straightforward and would serve to remove the frankly silly notion that she might one day be able to drive the car just because she has watched it being driven by an expert man. It would also significantly reduce the number of women involved in road traffic accidents. If a woman driver was to be involved in a road traffic accident and the other driver was a man (which would represent a significantly high chance), how could she even think about making an insurance claim. She'd be the laughing stock of the insurance claims department. Jasper Carrot's insurance claims comedy routine would assume a whole new dimension. "I had to swerve a number of times before I hit her". "She didn't know whcih way to run, so I ran over her". The possibilities would be endless. I think this cleric should come over here because frankly, there are far too many cars on the road and its just high time that something was done about it. I wonder if he has views on men who shave? That would be worth a punt. Ban all men without beards from driving and spot fines for any man found to be wearing a false one to try and cheat. For that matter, ban all men from kitchens. The problem is that some people are just never satisfied. Women drivers indeed! The next thing we know, they'll be wanting women politicians. where will it all end?

Life on Mars

Events this weekend have reminded me of the capacity of history to repeat itself. The sacking of Nigel Clough as manager of Derby County came nigh on 40 years to the day after his late father Brian suffered the same fate at the same club. Brian was a one off. He never received the recognition he fully deserved mainly due to his unparalleled ability to speak his mind irrespective of what his audience thought or felt. After losing a European Cup semi final against Juventus, he declined to give an interview to the waiting Italian reporters in a manner which only he could have achieved. "No cheating bastards do I talk to". He went on to question the courage of the Italians in the Second World War. We certainly have some characters in modern day football management but not a patch on the dear departed Brian. That season, Manchester United achieved the impossible and had their first taste of relegation in 28 years. Their side had aged and players such as George Best were a mere shadow of their former selves. Then as now, a long serving Scottish manager had been replaced by a new Scottish manager with disappointing results. The fan base and financial income could not save them and their time in the wilderness would last until the 1990s. As the saying goes, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall". It was 30 years ago that the "dream ticket" of Neil Kinnock and Roy Hattersley was elected to revive the fortunes of the Labour party. Another false dawn ensued in which the elections of 1987 and 1992 were taken by the Tories. For all his oratorial bluster, Kinnock failed where it mattered. He never connected with the electorate and never quite achieved the political change needed to take the Labour party forwards. That job fell to Blair and he will best be remembered as the man who took us in to Iraq under false pretences. We have just spent a lovely day in weather which would not have disgraced any of our summer months. This has been one of the most memorable summers and it leaves me wondering how long it will be before we get another to match it? The climate debate persuades me that it shouldn't be too long but that a cost will have to be paid. Interesting times but the winter will be no less cold and so the coal bunker and wood shed are at the ready for when reality chooses to revisit out days of summer. Even the bad times are good...

No sex please - we're Welsh!

I read today with great mirth the story of the Aberystwyth sex shop which has been forced to close due to lack of custom. This is bucking the trend on an Olympian level by modern standards. Why Aberystwyth residents should be any more prudish than others is not clear but it does remind me of a famous occasion in its not too distant past. It was in the Aberystwyth area that Led Zepellin produced their lesser known third album which was unfairly panned by the critics. Panned because it was a brief foray from their staple hard rock in to the softer folk music then coming out of California. Jimmy Page cited the growing influence of acts such as Crosby, Stills and Nash as well as the Incredible String Band and the stellar folk guitar of Bert Jansch. The presence of Led Zepellin in Mid Wales culminated in a live show at the King's Hall in Aberystwyth in January 1973. The singer Robert Plant described the atmosphere as being unlike anything else he had ever seen. The 800 audience remained seated throughout and clapped respectfully after each song - not exactly the Filmore East! Perhaps there remains something restrained in the psyche of the Mid-Wales residents. The third Led Zepellin album was recorded and written at Robert Plant's cottage, Bron Yr Aur, just outside Aberdovey. That part of the world is hauntigly beautiful and has inspired a thousand legends. Perhaps Aberystwyth has managed to hang on to the sensibilities which have elsewhere been lost in the advent of the "me generation". Maybe it is a product of the Chapel-going Welsh culture. Either way, its good to know that places like this still exist and remain true to their ideals. That is admirable in a town renowned for a large student population. None of that smut round here if you please! For the record, the sex shop was part of a chain with 14 branches elsewhere in the UK. Long live the independent spirit..

Wine, Women and Song

"Who does not love wine, women and song/ Remains a fool his whole life long". These words were attributed to Johann Heinrich Voss the German classicist known for his translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey during the latter part of the 18th century. Wine, women and song was also the name of a later waltz by Johann Strauss II. The expression is used to promote the benefits of the hedonistic lifestyle which has now become more the norm than the exception in our modern world. Contemporary versions of this famous quotation have included "sex and drugs and rock and roll". Most world languages have their own version of it and the German National Anthem contains the variant "German women, German wine, German song". Today is the occasion of the annual Denbigh Beer Festival in which a great many people come together to drink copious amounts of beer until they can no longer do so. It has become quite a social event in the Denbigh calendar which is surprising because much of the conversations after the first hour or so is largely unintelligible. Our love of beer goes back over many centuries not least because it was always one of the few ways of avoiding water-borne bacteria, viruses and parasites before the days of water treatment. Denbigh itself was the site of a famous cholera outbreak which was dealt with by the local physician Dr. Evan Pierce. His statue now surveys the part of town where I live. It is a very tall column upon which the statue stands in judgement of the current denizens of this old town. I wonder if things were radically different in his day or is this new love of beer peculiar to our own generation. Either way, it is a good excuse for people to get together and the atmosphere is almost always cordial and respectful with no shortage of good natured banter. Although other parts of the country boast superior beers to our local brews, the festival is what we all make of it. It is the people who make it what it is and yes, a live band is usually in attendance too. We therefore have our own Denbigh version of wine, women and song as we seek our own form of hedonism. The equivalent Greek God was Dionysus who the Romans referred to as Bacchus. According to legend, it was Dionysus who granted King Midas a wish. Midas, as we all know, wished that everything he touched turned to gold and much misery it brought him.

A local town for local people?

The decision by the French socialist government to expel Roma from a makeshift camp near the town of Roubaix near the Belgian border does not reflect on a Europe purporting to espouse integration. The French have been pilloried by everybody from Human Rights groups to the European Commission. The objection to certain ethnic groups which precipitated the second world war is apparently alive and kicking. The only surprise is that a socialist government is behind it. As George Orwell famously wrote in Animal Farm, "All animals are equal except some are more equal than others". The Roma, like you and I, are human beings. Like us, they need food and somewhere to live. Whatever others think of their lifestyle, they remain humans. If we claim also to be humans, it is the obligation of us all to do the right thing. Moving them on is pathetic. What do the French think will happen? Do they think the Roma will just evaporate in to thin air? At best this is Nimbyism but at worst it is something far more sinister. At worst, it is xenophobia pure and simple. If this is the new Europe, we might have been better off with the original version. The last socialist leader of France was Francois Mitterand. He died due to prostate cancer in the new year of 1996. Knowing he was nearing the end of his life, the President elected to indulge himself in a gourmand's last meal. Each to his own but the contents of that meal and the location perhaps tell us a little more about the man himself rather than the politics he pertained to espouse. His meal was taken in the remote hamlet of Latche in Bordeaux. The meal was arranged by Henri Emmanuelli - the very politician who today speaks out in defence of one of the most cruel practices to take place in France. Mitterand began his last meal with 30 Marennes oysters, foie gras and capons washed down with Sauternes and local red wine. I needn't remind you of the natural history of foie gras. He then moved on to the piece de resistance. He then moved on to the ortolans. It is not illegal to eat one but it is illegal to catch or trap one. Each ortolan (bunting) weighs less than an ounce (28g). When caught it is locked in a darkened room (memories of veal) and fed with millet until fit to burst (memories of geese). The stuffed bird is then drowned in armagnac and roasted for 8 minutes. It is then often eaten whole. It would be very difficult to concoct a more barbaric preparation of any food anywhere in the world. In accordance with French custom, Mitterand hid his head under his napkin after eating each bird. I assume the head is hidden in shame but the French tradition claims that the head is hidden to hide their greed from God. I would like to think that God is a little less fickle than that. So as the present socialist incumbent seeks to remove aspects of society which are not to his taste, I would point him to the final actions of his more illustrious predecessor and question whether they, the French socialists, or the Roma hold the moral high ground? I resist the temptation to label the French as cruel in spite of so much evidence to the contrary.

Global Warming: Our part in its growth

There can be few issues more contentious than global warming in the modern age. To a man, the scientists are now convinced that global warming is occurring as a result of man and his reliance on fossil fuels. Outside of the scientific community, sceptics abound with the former Chancellor Lord Lawson prominent among them. The latest report published today claims the evidence in favour is now unequivocal. One new piece of information has emerged. It seems as though the warming effect is being absorbed by the ocean. Putting aside the fact that bathing in the sea will, in theory, become a rather less bracing experience, this obviously has serious implications for marine life. Thus far, there have been more summits on this subject than there are summits in the Himalayas and yet concensus seems as elusive as ever. Just last week, I listened with great interest to Sir David Attenborough. This man has dedicated his life to wildlife and over the last 70 years or so has seen changes which are undeniable. Do we listen to him or just shrug him off as a starry eyed old man looking back through rose tinted spectacles? I would urge caution with the latter. When the current leader of our Opposition this week pledged to freeze prices for gas and electric should he form a majority government, he really displayed much of what is wrong with our current political class. As ever, power remains the be all and end all for people of his ilk. Instead though, they should divert their gaze to the demand for power which is actually fueling global warming. Freezing prices will have absolutely no effect on consumption of fossil fuels. Developing fracking will have no effect on the use of fossil fuels. Until such time as our political leaders begin to face facts, our plight will become increasingly desperate. Seeking renewable power is not optional. It is imperative and the sooner we face the music the better. There is so much we could be doing which we are not. We could be harnessing the power of the waves at the Bristol Channel and the Menai Straits to name but two. We should by now have rolled out solar panels to the entire domestic market to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. We should already have implemented these changes but lack the political will to do so. Instead, we propose to build a high speed rail link which will do nothing to reduce our current problem. The £50 billion cost of that project should be applied in the areas to which I have alluded. Lord Lawson is entitled to his view but he will be long gone by the time the rest of us are faced with the true enormity of this growing problem. As long as the industrial behemoths continue to plunge their heads in to the sand, this is the one problem which will ultimately cost us very dear. There comes a time when even hard core capitalists have to wake up and smell the coffee - that is if there is still electric with which to boil the kettle....

The Slippery Slope?

It was exactly sixty years ago today that sugar rationing came to an end. That was fully eight years after the war had ended. For my parents generation, the years of being deprived soon gave way to the years of gluttony. If you limit the diet of any animal, you will directly exert an effect on its health. My father has often spoken with fondness of the availabilty of sweets after rationing ended. Like many, he was a sweet toothed person and, once the flood gates were opened, he made up for the years of going without. Because our knowledge of diabetes is so much better now, it would be difficult to compare the rates of today with those in 1953. I do think though that the war years must have advantaged the health of that generation even if some sought to make up for lost time when rationing was finally lifted. During the war, their diet was one which today would be held up as a shining example of healthy eating. The minute choice returned to the dinner table, human nature resumed and the price has arguably been paid ever since. There is a certain irony that the NHS was formed in 1947 because the dietary restrictions of most would have a seriously beneficial effect on waiting lists. Also, up until that point, people used to have to pay to go and see the doctor so were usually very ill before they did so. Yes, those early years of the NHS must have been very interesting. Granted, people smoked more then and I don't doubt that mental illness must have been rife following the horrors of the war. For all that though, I can't help but feel that their lives were more fulfilling than ours today. There is no doubt they had a better sense of community and kept an eye out more for each other. That generation understandably sought to escape the memories of war and cam of age in the 1960s. Their music alone was testament to their desire to effect change. One such member of that extraordinary group turned 70 today. During the 60s, he was the epitomy of cool and was oft imitated by the waves of new talent all searching for the next hit. Born Clive Powell, Georgie Fame was born in Lancashire and went on to lead the fusion of jazz with rhythm and blues which transformed the London music scene. He has worked with just about everybody of stature from that illustrious decade and continues to perform as he enters his eighth decade. In particular, his song "Getaway" seemed somehow to sum up the cool mid 60s sound. His later collaborations with Alan Price were also memorable although the urban myth that they were brothers was just that. Fame was so cool that he reached number one with each of his three top ten singles at a time when the competition was fierce. With the start in life they had, it is little wonder that the war years gave us so many wonderful musicians of whom Georgie was just one of so many. Can you imagine sugar rationing today? I think there would be a riot and anarchy would set in. It is said that Gordon Brown considered deploying troops on our streets when the scale of the banking collapse began to emerge. With sugar rationing, I don't think he'd have had a choice!

Situational Judgement

If you find yourself in your local hospital early next August, consider if you will the route which that junior doctor has taken to get there. Yesterday, my colleagues and I were furnished with the details of the process we have to go through to get there. I have been on an educational odyssey since 2004 and make my application for a foundation post. It is sobering to reflect that my degree in Medical Biochemistry combined with my medical degree (should it ever end) will be worth 50% of my application. You may be relieved though to learn that the other 50% is now dependent upon how I fare in the much feted "Situational Judgment Test". Brought in to combat bias and favouritism when allocating junior posts, the SJT as it is now universally known among the acronym crazed medical fraternity, is essentially an exam in common sense. That, of course, is one of the last areas which can't actually be taught. As such, it means that even if the knowledge base of your junior doctor isn't exactly top of the class, they will at least have a modicum of common sense with which to deal with their first few weeks. That being the case, I wonder if this could be done a little differently. We are due to sit our SJT in early December and we are reassured it is the one exam for which we can't very well revise or practice. If it is something you can't revise, what difference does it make when you sit it? Wouldn't it be radical if it was sat prior to gaining entry to medical school and then again half way through and one final go at the end of the final year? That way, we would presumably gain the same mark at the start, middle and end of our course. If it improved for some students, the obvious question would be: Why? If we don't explore this, we won't find out but I suspect scores would improve throughout the course perhaps more for some than others. As the profession seeks to smarten itself up post-Francis Report, it will be interesting to see if changes occur. The principle of the SJT is great but I feel it could be utilised more effectively throughout the degree course. God knows, the next thing we know, they'll be getting us to sit an exam in empathy - no doubt a new mini industry will spring up with companies offering to improve our marks. Interesting times though and good to see the GMC looking at different methods and areas of assessment.

Vive la difference!

After at least 20 years of political inertia, the wait for a straight choice is finally over. When the conference speech of Red Miliband came to a close this week, it is perhaps symbolic that one of those cheering the loudest was none other than the last Labour socialist leader, Neil (Lord) Kinnock. Like Miliband, he was also expected to win the next election with a socialist agenda but he failed spectactularly. The battle for the middle ground of British Politics first orchestrated by Blair and Mandelson has been one of the most tedious periods in British political history. Now at least, the electorate can look forward to straight choice between socialism and capitalism. Only the kingmaker Nick Clegg stands in the way of one or the other. The promise to freeze fuel bills for 18 months was the sign of a party leader feeling the pressure. The flaws are endless. To begin with, everyone is on a completely different tariff with a completely different company. Some are fixed anyway. Some are dual fuel (not everyone has access to this). Some are based on internet transactions (not everyone has access or knows how to use it). I could go on of course but the main point here is that Miliband has once again chosen the wrong target. His targets ought to have been two-fold. If the energy regulator was genuinely independent with real teeth, the worst excesses of the energy industry would be curtailed. The second point is the more important though. He fails to address the real problem which is our increasing reliance on fossil fuels. He ought to have been pointing to renewable energy projects to gain any credit. Same old same old. This promise is a short term nonsense cynically designed to garner a few votes in the marginal constituencies which will ultimately decide the outcome of the next election. In the meantime, be prepared for the "big six" fuel suppliers cranking up their prices in case the worst happens and socialism returns. Warnings of blackouts are far more realistic than people seem to imagine. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing if a new generation had a flavour of what it would be like to have no telly, no internet, no lights, no oven, no boiler etc. Children of my generation grew up with the three day week in the early 70s when the unions grabbed the country by the short and curlies and held it to ransom. I write this a day after the fire union staged a one day strike because they felt it unreasonable for a fireman to still be working at 60 instead of 55. Given that life expectancy is now in the mid 80s, its hard to see the injustice here. For the record, theirs is one of the most lucrative pension deals in the entire Public Sector - and that's saying something! Miliband also promised to deliver more power to the councils for compulsory purchase orders (CPO) to sequester land under private ownership not being used for housing. It might just be me but I was rather under the impression that the councils already have far too much power. Should this promise come to fruition, prepare for life in a new gulag where your local council has enough power to seriously affect your capacity to sleep at night. For the record, councils are not obliged to part with a penny until 6 years after a CPO has been granted. Beware if you are unlucky enough to own any private property because anything will be fair game. I've seen this going on locally in the last couple of years without the extra power so God help us if Miliband gives them even more. His assertion that Labour needs to rescue the NHS is somewhat misguided given that his party governed from 1997 until 2010 and presided over hospitals such as Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. We all know the NHS is struggling but only long term thinking will effect any positive change. It would be far more prudent to seek the causes of increased demand on the NHS rather than just seeking to build more hospitals to cope with demand. There will come a point where there are more people leaning on the NHS than people working in it. That is a serious reality unless somebody starts to seriously address the causes of diabetes, liver failure, mental health etc. This morning, the former Labour minister Margaret Hodge was being interviewed on the Today programme. Asked what the difference was between the market domination of Tesco and the market domination of the "Big Six" energy suppliers, she explained that people could go and buy their bread and potatoes from wherever they liked. Putting aside the gross naivety of this answer, she surely must see the extent to which her government gave Carte Blanche for Tesco et al to serially destroy our high streets? If not, then I'm afraid politicians are just even more arrogant than I gave them credit for. Yes folks, socialism is back. Miliband wants to re-nationalise the railways too. There will be many who won't remember British Rail but there are a great many who do. Its funny, but no mention was made of freezing prices on rail tickets but then that probably wouldn't attract as many votes because everybody uses gas and electric. Once again, watch this space. If you think the railways are bad now, you are in for a taste of reality. For all that, I'm glad that we're to be given a proper ideological choice. Vive la difference but be careful what you wish for because sometimes better the devil you know...

The problem with sign posts...

As a resident of North Wales, it is normal to see all signs with both the English and Welsh words on them. Assuming you happen to be one of the 10% who speaks both languages fluently, there is no problem understanding them. The problems only arise if everything is translated and some people don't fully understand the translation. This is a great source of mirth as has come to my attention this week. South Wales is not known for its Welsh speakers compared to the North and the West. The little village of Varteg in the Valleys has been bracing itself for a translated road sign for a while now. A petition from local residents has thus far attracted 150 signatures against the current English "Varteg" being translated in to Welsh "Y Farteg". You can see their point. The local MP and local councillors have all voiced their strong opposition to this move. They foresee years of ridicule as travellers stop to have their photos taken next to the "Y Farteg" sign before posting it on social media. The Welsh Language Commisioner supports the incorporation of "Y Farteg". Well he has to really with a job title like that doesn't he? Also, you can't very well pick and choose the signs upon which you enforce translation based on being open to ridicule. The Welsh sign for "weak bridge" always has a translation "pont wan" and the vast majority have had a letter added by people unable to resist the temptation. Its all very juvenile I know, but I can't help but raise a smile. A few years ago, I was travelling through Switzerland with my wife and happened upon a road sign which made me want to stop and have my photo taken next to it. I was forbidden. But if I ever happen to be passing through a certain municipality in the district of Albula in the Canton of Graubunden again, I might just be tempted. I shan't name it but leave it to you to google or not as the fancy takes you. To the local Swiss, it is probably not even remotely amusing. To anybody from the English speaking world though, it is an absolute belter.

Denial

I look at the goings on in Westminster this week and thank God I'm not involved in British politics. Their behaviour never ceases to surprise me. When I was younger we used to have a terrier who thought the rest of us were stupid (she might have got that one right of course). If given a bone, she would seek to hide it but did so in a rather surprising way. There used to be a thick mat at the front door and she would drag the mat out of the way and place the bone down. She would then drag the mat back over the bone safe in the knowledge that nobody knew it was there. I was reminded of our dear departed West Highland terrier yesterday morning as I listened to Ed Balls being interviewed on the Today programme. Asked if he knew of any of the smears being exacted by Damian McBride, Balls denied any such knowledge. Given his then position as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and his known allegiance to Gordon Brown, it stretches belief to the point of Never Never Land to try and believe him. Only when our politicians begin to treat us with a modicum of respect will the sentiment be reciprocated. Today, Labour makes a raft of promises as they seek to divert attention away from the revelations that Damian McBride openly admitted to engaging in smear campaigns against opponents of Gordon Brown. Would it be unreasonable to expect that Gordon Brown and his advisors were aware of this? I think not. The HS2 rail project is the latest target of New/Old/Same Old Labour. For the record, I agree with them but do so for rather more straightforward reasons to which I have alluded in previous posts. Labour know that in the unlikely event of them hoodwinking their way back to power two years hence, they will have to find their money from other sources. But find money they will because every labour government since the dawn of time have been big spenders. That is alright provided you first have the money to do so. Each time, the ensuing deficit is left to government which succeeds them as we have all just witnessed. Their rejection of HS2 will be to finance a house building project which will result in 200,000 new homes per year being built by 2020. Ergo, the house building creates jobs and the economy returns to its pre 2008 steroid-induced self. Have no doubts they will also seek to restore the Public Sector to the enormity of the Brown years. The current Labour leader also asserts that he intends to cut taxes to small businesses. This is the only policy which I agree with - but with reservations. Where exactly is the money going to come from to finance this? Put simply, there will be a 50p tax rate before you can blink if they are re-elected. They will therefore tax more, spend more and guess what? Borrow more. Given that their borrowing got us in to the mess we are now in, I find it hard to believe that anybody could consider letting them. They don't even spend it wisely when they do borrow! The arrogance though is unbelievable. Just today, Gordon Brown refuses to condemn the actions of Damian McBride. The man who lost the last election in the aftermath of slating a lifelong Labour supporter as "that bigoted woman" seems to have learned nothing in the mean time. Brown is now out of front line politics but Ed Balls would soon be Chancellor if we let him. Balls today says that there is no need for Gordon Brown to come clean. If there is no need for Gordon Brown to come clean about his Stalinist past, what need would there be for a future Chancellor to come clean with the people whose money he intends to spend? The message is clear. On a final note, I understand that several bookmakers are offering odds of 4-1 on a Tory victory in 2015 with Labour the clear favourites. Not that I vote Tory, but could somebody please explain that to me? Another coalition is our only hope for even a semblance of common sense. Whatever his faults, Clegg will at least provide an obstacle to the worst intentions of Labour and the Tories. If either of them gets let loose, we are all in for a rough ride...

Butchery and Civilisation

As the world looks on in horror at recent events in Nairobi, the fundamentalist group Al-Shabab is being afforded the publicity which is so vital to the cause of any terrorist group. The West must resist the temptation to identify such groups with the vast majority of muslims elsewhere. My limited understanding of Islam informs me that it is not a faith of violence. Not for one second would I condone the despicable murders which have been committed since Saturday. What do we know about this latest group to come to prominence? For one thing, they have their roots in Somalia. When he was covering the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1930 for the Daily Mail, Evelyn Waugh reported with great insight about the political situation in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Somaliland (Somalia). His books Black Mischief, Waugh in Abyssinia and Remote People are all well worth a read if only to gain an understanding of the history of that part of the world. In 1936, Haile Sellasie complained to the United Nations about the use of chemical weapons by the invading Italians. As we have seen recently in Syria, history always seems able to repeat itself despite our opportunities to learn from it. Now as then, Somalia was a very poor country with a track record of chaotic attempts at government. It is only recently that any form of tenuous government has returned following years of anarchy. As ever in such circumstances, the extremists have proliferated and the country has become synonymous with piracy and terrorism. It is all too easy to cast our judgement on Somalia but we do so at our peril. I was today lucky enough to talk at length with a leading campaigner against child mutilation. Not in Somalia though although it does indeed go on in that country too. The genital mutilation of young girls continues in the UK by proponents of a variety of faiths. In its worst form it falls little short of butchery. In any form it constitutes assault and contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. It was interesting to learn that while female genital mutilation has become a relatively well known subject, the male equivalent is rather less so. The circumcision of baby boys continues unabated. Even in the Westernised, civilised United Kingdom, baby boys still die as a result following extreme blood loss (a single nappy can absorb enough blood for the child to die without anyone noticing). Because of the clear illegality of these practices, the perpetrators often operate behind closed doors using unsterilised instruments with little or no thought for the consequences of their actions. The research in this area has identified one very interesting fact. Female genital mutilation only takes place in cultures where male circumcision is already the norm. The inference is clear. If it is deemed good enough for boys, the girls might as well go through the same. As I write, only two countries have chosen not to sign up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. One is Somalia and the other is the USA. It’s surprising how much they have in common when you stop to consider their apparently conflicting ideologies. As long as genital mutilation continues in the UK, we are no better than they are though. In the UK today, a parent can strike their child really hard and it is ok provided they don’t leave any marks which will evidence the fact. In a sense, this crazy legal loop-hole is symbolic of the hypocrisy which seems to transcend our culture. We love to take the moral high ground but all too often have little cause to do so. While the events in Nairobi have rightly been condemned, we remain a long way from perfection in this green and pleasant land. I leave you with a prescient quotation of Haile Sellasie. “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph”.

Great Expectations

When I worked in retail jewellery many years ago, customers would request things which didn't really exist. I give you an example. Many was the time I was asked if I had a water-proof watch to sell. I would then go through the rather laborious process that I had a number of watches many of which were water resistant to great depths. Resistant. The same mistake is replicated elsewhere as people seem to think they can surpass the laws of nature. There is now age-resistant face cream. This I expect to be about as effective as King Canute at the seaside. Perhaps we feel we have to put up this defence against the inevitabilities of life. I read a quote from Pete Townshend of The Who many years ago. When Jimi Hendrix exploded on to the London music scene in 1966, the top British guitarists of the day didn't quite know how to react to the reality. Clapton, Townshend, Beck, Page et al all knew only too well that they could never be as good as Hendrix. At an early Hendrix gig, Townshend said, "one day I'll play him off the stage". He later conceded that he almost had to say that or there would have been no point in him carrying on. He was seeking to save face and I'm sure he wasn't the first or the last to take that particular course of action. I observed last week the first rumblings of what could yet become the winter of our discontent. Firefighters have elected to take industrial action over their pension provision. This is because they are being asked to work until they are 60 rather than 55 in order to get full pension. We would all concede that their job is fraught with risk and I can only assume that they do too when they seek that career. That is not in debate. The government has said that they just can't afford to pay them full pension at age 55. What is not reasonable about that. A fireman taking full pension at age 55 might have contributed to his or her pension for 35 years or so. But their life expectancy is now going to give them a pension for about 30 years. Its hard to see how they can accumulate enough money to make this possible. The truth of course is that they can't. This and previous governments have guaranteed final salary pension schemes. If I took the current system to a bank as a new business idea, I would be laughed out of the door because it is completely unsustainable. I do have some sympathy for workers exercising their right to strike. The postal workers are a case in point. The Royal Mail is the latest asset to be stripped. With privatisation will come job cuts and Post Office closures. This is undeniable. In a sense then, what have the Postal Workers got to lose? Yes they are trying to turn back the tide but strike action is all they have left before inevitable redundancies. The firefighters have no such threats to their jobs. They are just being asked to work until the ripe old age of 60. The truth is that people don't like change. That's life. People, like animals, react if confronted and that is what is being enacted in the UK today. Like the age-resistant face cream though, you can apply as much as you like but you can't stop the second hand. Sometimes we play our lives like a sales transaction. We sometimes put an unreasonably high price on our worth knowing that we can be knocked down a little. If we start the transaction at too low a price, our bargaining power is lost. At the root of this is avarice and greed. Wanting that bit more than the next guy is at the heart of human nature. So, I want a watch which is impregnable to water, a face that still makes me look 18, a full pension at age 50 and a first class letter which has a better than average chance of arriving at its destination tomorrow. Sadly, the last one seems the most realistic for now and on recent evidence, even that is a trifle optimistic!

A Great British Institution

It was sad last week to learn of the sudden death of David Frost. There is no point in me adding to what many others have already written. He first came to our attention on TW3 (That was the week that was) in the early 1960s. The show was produced by the much missed Ned Sherrin and to say it was ahead of its time would be to do it a disservice. The stars who came to prominence on TW3 were impressive indeed. Roy Kinnear, Willie Rushton and Frankie Howerd all cut their teeth on TW3 with their performances. It was the scriptwriters though who made the more impressive list. John Betjeman, John Bird, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, Roald Dahl, Frank Muir, Dennis Norden, Bill Oddie and Richard Ingrams all contributed to the brillance of this iconic show. Yes, Ned Sherrin had a good eye for a performer and an even better one for a good writer. Not a bad set of lists, I think you'll agree. Just imagine, the embryo of Monty Python, the future editor of Private Eye and one half of Pete and Dud all being brought in by Ned Sherrin. Ned was a very versatile man and remains one of the finest wits I have ever witnessed. A few years ago, I was given the Oxford Book of Humorous Quotations which was compiled by Ned. It has to be one of the most read books in my library. Imagine if you will, my delight, when the Spectator previewed the latest edition this week with a selection of some of the new quotes which have since emerged. It would be churlish not to share some of them with you so here goes: "According to legend, Telford is so dull that the by-pass was built before the town" (Victor Lewis-Smith). "Good God! I have never drunk a vintage that started with the number two before!" (Nicholas Soames). "If voting changed anything, they'd abolish it" (Ken Livingstone). "My first rule of consumerism is never to buy anything you can't make your children carry" (Bill Bryson). "I always invest in companies an idiot could run because one day one will" (Warren Buffet). "Modest about our national pride - and inordinately proud of our national modesty" (Ian Hislop). "If I am doing nothing, I like to be doing nothing to some purpose. That is what leisure means" (Alan Bennett). I could go on but that will suffice. If the British are only good at one thing, then humour would be a decent contender. Faced with our politicians this is little wonder. Doubtless, our current crop of Cameron, Clegg and Milliband will add to that list between now and 2015.

Gulliver among the Lilliputians?

Occasionally, people come to the fore and demand our attention either by their words, or more commonly, by their deeds. There is never a shortage of the type who make all sorts of promises and deliver nothing. It is therefore all the more notable when we encounter people of true conviction. This week saw the passing of a remarkable lady who did much for the care of patients with advanced breast cancer. At a time when the whole subject of care is under the spotlight more than ever, Pat Pilkington ought to have been held up as a bright light. As co-founder of the Penny Brohn Cancer Centre in Bristol in 1975, she dared to take on the methods of medical profession. Never a body which can be accused of openness to change, the medical profession could scarcely conceal their contempt for this lady who dared to consider cancer treatment in a different way. The care of patients with secondary breast cancer is something I have experienced at first hand. Some good, some not so good. Until Pat Pilkington came along, the medics would chop it out, poison it with chemotherapy or give you even more poison if you could bear it. Pat recognised the futility of such an approach. She saw what I saw when I was caring for my first wife. The treatment of the whole person in terms of their mind, body and spirit had to run alongside any treatment. When I write this, it is patently obvious but back in the 1970s, cancer treatment was a far cry from the treatment of today. Her approach has not yet been universally taken up because I have experienced those who still resist the concept of treating the whole person. Evidence based medicine operates on the premise that any given treatment must have a proven evidence base in order to be accepted by mainstream medicine. How many people do you know who swear by the benefits of acupuncture, aromatherapy, reflexology and the like? I know loads of people with and without cancer whose lives are transformed by such approaches. Just because we can't explain the science behind these therapies doesn't mean we should be resistant to them. True to form, the medical profession sought to discredit Pat and the great work she was doing in Bristol. She dared to question the paternalistic attitude which told the patient to shut up and take the medicine because the doctor knows best. I still encounter this attitude as I progress through my career but thankfully not as often as I did a decade ago. In order to try and discredit Pat Pilkington, a study was published comparing health outcomes of patients in Bristol with patients from London. As often happens though, the establishment chose to compare apples to oranges in a desperate attempt to discredit the incorporation of complementary medicine. Pat Pilkington used an approach from which the establishment could learn a great deal. Her approach was based on good old fashioned common sense. She espoused a healthy diet, gentle exercise, massages, relaxation techniques, visualisation techniques and group therapy sessions. It is all very well for the establishment to rubbish this approach but they would be better placed to make such judgments if they first witnessed the effects for themselves. If they did, they would have seen the transforming effect on patients. We all owe this remarkable lady so much because it is always the hardest thing to effect change. She was a pioneer and a very brave one at that. Her contribution to care can not be underestimated. This week, another public figure continued his project of change against a background of resistance. Pope Francis has already surprised many within the Vatican since his election. It is hard not to admire a man who has the courage of his convictions. He acknowledges that his church has become wrapped up in small-minded rules. It would be difficult to imagine any other leader in world faith being so brutally honest. He also says it is useless to talk only of gay marriage, contraception and abortion. His approach is like a breath of fresh air and his church is lucky to have such a visionary leader. He rightly reminds his church that they must ditch their exclusive approach in favour of inclusiveness. Whether his church chooses to listen is a matter for them but they can't have been given clearer or better leadership. A shadow minister is today reported as claiming that people who earn £60,000 per year aren't rich. Clearly, such an assertion rather depends on your definition of rich. That said, in purely Maslowian terms I should have thought I could just about get by on a small fraction of that amount - for the past decade I have! More worryingly, it illustrates the disconnect which exists between our political elite and the people whom they pertain to represent. This is a huge worry because it will only serve to further disenfranchise an already weary electorate. Choose your next words carefully! I think the present Pope and the recently deceased Pat Pilkington have a much better grasp of what rich really means. The 1965 song "turn, turn, turn" by the Byrds was almost entirely transcribed from the book of Ecclesiastes. The song is often cited as a plea for world and inner peace. Aside from the peerless delivery by the legendary Byrds, the message is as strong today as it was nearly half a century ago. As the lyric goes, "I swear it's not too late"! It was said when Don Bradman toured England with the Australians in 1930 that he was "Gulliver among the Lilliputians" such was the gulf in ability between himself and all the other players. In the game of life, Pat Pilkington was another Gulliver whose legacy will only be realised with the passage of time.

Spam, spam, spam, spam.....

As a child growing up in the 1970s, spam came to represent the worst which life had to offer. It is now the sort of thing which occupies a tin in the darkest reaches of a long forgotten cupboard. Covered in dust, it is for me a grim reminder of the less desirable aspects of my childhood. It was the great Monty Python team who immortalised this tinned nightmare with their "spam" sketch in the Green Midget cafe in Bromley. Although steeped in mirth, the sketch also contained a frightening amount of truth because spam really did predominate our catering industry at that time. The list of possibilities was seemingly endless with the most popular version being the spam fritter. Here, the amount of fat used to fry the spam served to disguise its taste and texture to a level bordering on palatable. Of course, foods such as spam come in to their own during periods of conflict when rationing is often introduced. People of a certain age will have less than fond memories of its ubiquitous presence at the dinner table during those war years. One man's trash is another man's treasure though and it is with a mixture of disbelief and incredultiy that I read of the esteem with which spam is held by the South Koreans. It has apparently been revered since the dark days of the Korean War and occupies a rather more focal profile in their shops and supermarkets. But they don't just have one type of spam. No, their lust and obsession is such that varieties include classic, mild, bacon and garlic! As though classic didn't fill me with enough dread, they have embraced it as nobody else. One prominent advertisement in South Korea proclaims, "If you've got spam, you've got it all"! No offence to the advertisers but they're welcome. I would put spam just below corned beef in the annals of culinary excellence. Both claim to contain meat but we just don't know. It is faith alone which convinces us to keep eating it because logic would not permit us. I can safely say I haven't had the pleasure for many years and fully intend to keep it that way. But back to the spam sketch by the Pythons. To read the menu is to bring the hilarity flooding back. Although the first three options are without the dreaded S word, it is the last item on the menu which will finish you off though:- 1.Egg and Bacon 2.Egg, Sausage and Bacon 3.Egg and Spam 4.Egg, Bacon and Spam 5.Egg, Bacon, Sausage and Spam 6.Spam, Bacon, Sausage and Spam 7.Spam, Egg, Spam, Spam, Bacon and Spam 8.Spam, Spam, Spam, Egg and Spam 9.Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Baked Beans, Spam, Spam, Spam and Spam 10.Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, garnished with truffle pâté, brandy and a fried egg on top of Spam

Where a job is not enough

A report released by the Joseph Rowntree foundation today makes for grim reading. Wales has been identified as having increasing numbers of people experiencing "in-work poverty". In one sense this seems a bit of an oxymoron since we are always given to believe that employment is our passport to making a living. In the last three years, 285,000 adults in employment in Wales were found to be trapped in "in-work poverty". A further 275,000 adults with no employment unsurprisingly found themselves in the same boat. So why is Wales suffering from this apparent anomaly more than its UK neighbours? For one thing, the report points to the plight of those living in rural communites - of whom many in the Principality. That argument falls a bit flat though because England and Scotland both have their fair share of rural communities too. North Wales and West Wales are reported to have the highest rates of "in-work poverty". Because of the way in which the benefits system has been reined in recently, there is no longer the same option to just throw your hands in the air and go back on the dole. The reality is that hundreds of thousands of people are working daily to build up a growing debt. This has caused the Welsh Assembly to promise a "raft of measures" to address the problem. I can barely contain myself with excitement. Scotland and England both have countries connected up by viable bus and train networks. Wales has a good system provided you live in the very North or the very South and wish to travel either East or West. Woe betide you if you want to travel North or South though. Probably more than any other factor, this is the one which the Assembly must put right if those words are to carry any meaning. Otherwise Wales will continue to be three mutually exclusive entities bereft of any meaningful connection. Another great problem in Wales at the moment is the sheer size of the Public Sector. Any country whose Public Sector is that size is going to have problems. It is too top heavy. It is the Private Sector which will see people in jobs which allow them to keep abreast of the cost of living. The problem is that this sector has too few jobs and too many part time jobs. Until Wales is "open for business" this trend looks set to continue. High streets up and down the Principality are dying a slow painful death as local councils continue to do all they can to promote business elsewhere. This, more than anything, has been the most fundamental mistake made at national level in recent times. A report today has just announced poor returns for many people paying in to pension schemes. Rest assured though that this does not include Public Sector employees. With their financially unjustifiable final salary schemes, they are alright Jack. Now I move on to the real problem. Fuel. Because Wales is so spread out, we need to promote an economy in which more people are working locally because the rising cost of petrol and diesel is arguably the biggest contributory factor to the current problem of "in-work poverty". To put it a little less kindly, we have too many busy fools whose days are spent driving to and from their work at a cost they can't really afford. It is not their fault - they are just seeking to support their families. Allied to this is the prohibitive cost of domestic fuel as electric and gas become ever greater luxuries. What now then? I hope this doesn't generate yet another report telling us what we already know. Just for a change, it would be nice to see some action and nicer still to see it being facilitated by people who have an actual understanding of what is really happening out there. I can dream...

Stones and glass houses

The Chief Constable of Northamptonshire today brings to our attention the growing problem of alcohol-fuelled disorder. He asserts that the current system of dealing with the drunk and disorderly is unsustainable. In 1751, the English painter William Hogarth completed his work "Gin Lane". In it, he depicted the consequences of alcohol in the aptly named Beer Street and Gin Lane. Beer Street showed healthy, happy and prosperous people drinking the "good" beverage of English beer. By contrast, Gin Lane showed a problematic society in which hard liquor produced lazy, scrawny and careless people. With the support of his friend Henry Fielding, the painting was made available as prints in support of the Gin Act of 1751. Gin had been introduced form the Netherlands in the 1690s after the government had passed a law in 1689 which allowed anyone to distill spirits provided they paid the taxes on them. Two basic mistakes were made. The first was that gin was extremely cheap. The second was that it had now become widely available. The result might have been predicted. It is reckoned that by the 1730s, the average Londoner was drinking the equivalent of two pints of gin per week. That is 1.136 litres which equates to about 40 units of alcohol. That said, it is almost impossible to guess at the alcohol content of the gin since so many different people were distilling it. The main gin distillers were prohibited by the Gin Act from supplying unlicensed merchants. If you can believe this, the government of the day sought to encourage the import of tea as an invigorating non-alcoholic alternative. The point I make of course is that none of our alcohol problems today are new. Because they have been around for such a long time, it is considered a right of passage to drink yourself half way to the moon in this country when you are young. The Chief Constable cites the growing challenges of the various Freshers Weeks taking place as a new crop of school leavers venture forth to higher education with its lucrative Student Union alcohol promotions. In a sense, he makes a valid point. His solution does seem a trifle Dickensian though. He espouses the use of "drunk tanks" in which overly inebriated youngsters are dumped in to a room to cool off. They are then to billed for the costs involved. I'm not sure he's put much real thought in to this. Aside from the inevitable chaos of having so many drunk people in one confined space, I think he has perhaps chosen the wrong target. There is also the minor point of locking somebody up against their free will. Perhaps if he was to target the source of the alcohol, his plans might bear more fruit. No doubt cynics would point out that there already is a room where loads of drunks are put at the weekend. That is A and E though and this post does not seek to turn its attention to the NHS (however tempting). No, the obvious solution is to either keep bar prices high enough to deter or issue only a set number of tokens per student. Even these measures will fall flat though because one inescapable fact remains. If people intend to get drunk, there is very little you can do to stop them. For many, it is their first taste of being free of the apron strings. This is what people do. They test the boundaries and for most of them no damage is done. Young people seek to go beyond the boundary for the simple reason they don't have the responsibilities of children, mortgages and pensions. These are inescapable facts so while I have a degree of sympathy for the Chief Constable, I feel he will just have to get on with it and deal with the problem. I would though remind the Chief Constable of Andrew Mitchell. Remember him? He was the government Chief Whip who resigned on the back of allegations that he called duty policemen "plebs". The allegations have subsequently been discredited. Mr. Mitchell remains out of office with his career on hold pending a report of the incident. Both the Metropolitan Police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission are dragging their feet over this. I can't believe it can take this long to report on an incident which is said to have occurred over a period of about 30 seconds on September 19th last year. If the boot was on the other foot, the latter would be demanding a report with a full apology written in blood. The rules for the police remain as one sided as ever though. When they are in the right, the Police are world beaters at letting every man and his dog know all about it. They are seldom so forthcoming when they are in the wrong. One thing is certain - the longer they take, the greater the damage to the Police Service and the Met in particular. Perhaps the officers and their organisations should be deposited in to a "truth tank" until they can learn to tell it. You can't put a price on truth.

Wasted on the way.

I often reflect on the perversity of our laws. It is illegal to smoke in public places. It is illegal to purchase alcohol before the age of 18 in the UK. Once you are 18, you can go outside and pretty much drink and smoke yourself to death. Heroin is a Class A drug and as such banned from supply or consumption. Sugar is once more in the headlines today. A Dutch scientist has defied the odds and succeeded in bringing the danger of sugar to prominence. I say this because the strength of the retailers who cram sugar in to their wares is not to be underestimated. What all these things have in common is addiction. Its just that some are acceptable to society under our current laws and some aren't. Ergo, how do you define which addictions are ok and which aren't? The long term effect of sugar addiction on our health is beyond reasonable doubt judging by the sky rocketing rates of diabetes currently being seen. There have been calls for minimum pricing on all alcohol to try and curb our national problem with alcohol. The addictive properties of this drug are slowly being accepted even if many lives are being wasted on the way. Despite graphic warnings on the packets, the numbers of young people taking to cigarettes carries on regardless. At a time when our young have never had so ittle money, they still seem happy to spend it on this highly taxed killer. Sugar is more acceptable because it transcends our national life. It is rife in advertisements and our young are quickly introduced to its insidious effects. The Dutch scientist rightly argues that sugar addiction is every bit as difficult as tobacco or alcohol to overcome. So why is it deemed to be so acceptable? Probably because there are such huge numbers of people afected. The consequences of this social sanctioning is a nation of bulging waist lines whose long term health outcomes are being eroded by the amount of sugar in their diet. It is the devil's own job to convince a teenager of what thses things will do to them in twenty, thirty or forty years time. This being the case, it makes far more sense to try and protect them from this trio of addictions for their own good. It will be a brave man indeed who seeks to do this. I wonder if Jeremy Clarkson could be just the man for a crisis? This would at least try and make some sense of his desire to unseat Nick Clegg at the next election..He needn't tax petrol - just sugar, alcohol and tobacco. Good luck Mr. Clarkson because these are the real challenges which face our governments of tomorrow. Minimum pricing on a chocolate bar? Now that really would be radical!

Oil and Water

News emerges that Jeremy Clarkson intends to contest the seat for Sheffield Hallam at the next General Election. Where to start? The headline is that the incumbent MP is none other than Nick Clegg. Great news for the Fourth Estate but I'm not sure about the people of Sheffield Hallam. Clarkson has never hidden his views under a bushel and has made great capital out of them in various books. Clegg has a wafer thin majority so, in theory, is there for the taking. I understand that a facebook page exists for Jeremy Clarkson as Prime Minister. No hysteria there then. As far as I can recall, his views are the only ones I've seen which make Nigel Farrage seem moderate. In hard times, extremism usually comes to the fore and attracts voters and now is no different. The man who just wants to be left in peace to drive his cars fast while listening to Led Zeppelin would doubtless bring with him a raft of measures designed to make his life a little more bearable. The problem might lie with money as it often does. Thus far, he has pocketed over £14 million for his involvement in Top Gear. This appears to qualify him for a ministerial role since most of the current cabinet are millionaires in their own right. Just as it is for them, politics for Clarkson would be a nice little play thing with which to experiment with their rigid views. I foresee petrol at 10p per gallon with road tax free for all and a national road building scheme going in to over drive to satisfy his lust for speed. As amusing stories go, this one will take a lot of beating. For one thing, he intends to stand as an independent so isn't really in the running to effect any change at a national level anyway. The real question surely is this: What has Clegg done to annoy him in to such drastic action? Perhaps he's done nothing and Clarkson is taking this action by the same logic employed by a dog indulging in certain unpleasant habits - because he can. It's possible. Perhaps Clegg has come down hard on motorists during his time as a subservient understudy in the Coalition. Maybe the wafer majority gives Clarkson the best chance of making a quick splash. Whatever the reason, politics is in danger of being the next X factor as bored celebrities seek to inflict themselves on us in new ways. I pray not because the consequences would be disastrous. Just for once, I find myself looking at Nigel Farrage in a new light. Clarkson has achieved the impossible here. For the first time, he has made UKIP seem reasonable. I think that puts his candidacy in to perspective. Please go back to making TV programmes and smoking fags and leave politics to those best placed to protect their own interests. Sorry, I meant our interests of course..

Michaelmas in a Modern World

As faith continues its steady erosion in modern life, so too do many of its great traditions. We are fast approaching Michaelmas which is now eroding to such an extent that I feel the need to give it some attention. One of the great Quarter days, this was the time of year when accounts were made out to tenant farmers and bills settled as the proceeds of the harvest became apparent. Being so near to the equinox, it is also associated with a changing of the seasons as the warm days of summer give way to the cooler autumn with its imminent darkness. According to the bible, this marks the time when the Archangel Michael defeated Lucifer in the War in Heaven. Folklore has it that we shouldn't eat blackberries after this date because Satan fell from heaven into a blackberry bush and cursed its brambles as he fell in to them. There are regional variations to this story. In Yorkshire, they say Satan wept on them and in Cornwall they say Satan urinated on them! It is perhaps apt then that the government has chosen this time to offer shares in Lloyds to try and recoup some of the millions shelled out to save it a few years ago. It is hard to believe now but for a long time, Michaelmas was considered by many to be second only to Easter in importance. Of course the marketing men of the modern day have put paid to all that religious nonsense as they have relentlessly claimed Christmas as their own. Perhaps though it is refreshing that there are dates in the calendar which have not as yet been hijacked by the money men. In Powys, local councillors have just voted to make £145 million in cuts just to balance their books. A hard hit community looks set for more of the same in the months and years ahead. They will though come together all the more as humans do when the chips are down. On the 29th of September then, we are all supposed to settle our debts in readiness for the trying winter months ahead. In reality, the statistics show that a great many people have no hope of settling their debts any time soon as they try to negotiate their way through another Christmas three months hence. Maybe this year, they might not feel the same pressure to spend the money they don't have and we can aspire for a more level society. Anything is possible and the prospect of more nasty shocks on our statements in January is surely by now wearing a bit thin. In the mean time, get out there and enjoy the blackberries while you still can - its a great crop this year and absolutely free. True to the spirit of Michaelmas.

Looking for work?

The list of the ten fast growing jobs in the UK makes for interesting if a little depressing reading. During the last two years, the numbers of paramedics has more then doubled. I assume we must have had an even greater need for them. Given that they often take patients to A and E departments, this would go some way to explaining the current pressure on A and E which I have seen at first hand recently. Staying in healthcare, the number of psychologists has risen over 50% in two years as the effects of the cutbacks come to fruition and more and more people struggle to cope. That said, the profession in third place shows that there is always room for a fertile imagination. Graphic designers are seemingly in great demand with a 47% rise over the same period. A similar rise in the number of Company Secretaries is great news because it implies growth in the private sector. It is growth in this sector which will ultimately get the country back on its feet again. The next place on the list is a bit of a fudge. The numbers of police support officers has risen by 47% while the numbers of police officers has fallen by 11%. Having said that, we are told that crime is going down so it might be that this represents a better use of public money. Undertakers occupy the next spot to prove that some professions will always be in demand. Ambulance staff have halved as the numbers of paramedics increases. Plasterers and pipe fitters are in reduced demand which does not augur well for our future supply of tradesmen. It is refreshing to see that both the numbers of car parking attendants and debt collection bailiffs have both fallen. This suggests that debt is being managed better in the UK and maybe that people are using their cars less. It is sad to see no manufacturing jobs on the increase because this will ultimately drive the economy. While some healthcare jobs seem in great demand, it is only because of increased strain on a health service which is bulging at the edges. I think though that we will all be relieved to see that debt collectors and traffic wardens are on the wane - never exactly the most exalted members of society.

600

As the Liberals assemble for their annual conference, their role in our future becomes more and more likely. With majority governments now looking less and less likely, the Liberals look set to become Kingmaker for many years to come. 600 days hence, the UK will vote again for a new government and Nick Clegg will ultimately choose his preference. As he reflects on his role in the Coalition, it hasn't all been doom and gloom. He has embraced compromise even though it has meant alienating many within his own party. This is to his credit and the British electorate will ultimately thank him for it. He has to tread a difficult path between cosying up to the Tories and listening to offers from elsewhere. He would though do well to heed the advice of Vince Cable. Talk of our economic recovery is somewhat premature and Clegg needs to be cautious of the language he uses ion this respect. We are a long way from safety and he knows it. Provided he can resist the temptation to crow about the economy, he looks set to prop up another government in 2015. All that remains is for the electorate to decide on his partner. While many within his own party would prefer a partnership with Labour, the electorate at large appear to have different leanings. At a cost of nearly $600 million, the Costa Concordia was a massive project. When the cruise liner was sank last January, the problem of salvage came to the fore. As I write, plans are being carried out to re-float this ocean going behemoth. At a little over 114,000 tonnes, it dwarfs the Titanic. It goes to show that where there is a will, there is a way. Clearly the sums of money involved are dictating this project but the achievement will be no less spectacular should they succeed in this re-float. I was surprised to learn recently that estimates show that up to 600 million stray dogs roam the earth at any given time. That is an awful lot of dog mess. At the same time, it is revealed that Facebook has just achieved 600 million users. That is extraordinary given that it didn't even exist until February 2004. Its good to know that so many people have the chance to engage with each other - long may it reign. Moving away from 600 though, it was sad to see that the police remain as petulant as ever this morning. Christopher Jeffries was the man whose life they made a misery when they arrested him on suspicion of murder. The real culprit was subsequently found. Instead of a proper apology which would have done them a lot of good in the eyes of the public, they instead expressed their regret at the way he was treated. Sorry to come the pedant here, but sorry would have worked really well because this poor man was vilified for weeks afterwards - innocent until proven guilty? Apparently not in this country. Shame.

Anything Goes!

It is often said that the housing market can only be kick started when the first time buyers return to bolster the housing ladder. Too true. As ever in the UK, we seem unable to take the middle road as evidenced by the latest first time buyer figures. Year on year, the number of mortgage advances to first time buyers has increased by an eye watering 41%. Ouch. This is the sort of territory which culminated in the 2008 crash. To put the state of our recovery in to some kind of perspective, Spain has just announced record borrowing of 943 billion euros in June. Talk of recoveries is, if anything, stupid rather than premature. The way in which the first time buyer levels have been artificially stimulated beggars belief. There is only one ending for this story and we seen it so many times over the years. No more boom and bust? That'll be the day. As the Spanish and many of their Euro cousins teeter on the brink, the Euro and our relationship with it remains more fragile than the Dead Sea Scrolls. The announcement that Twitter is to pursue a stock market flotation is therefore rather odd. They have just witnessed the disastrous Facebook flotation which has taken a year just to reach parity. They occupy the same sector so should expect a similar outcome. Should one of the Eurozone countries go cap in hand to Brussels (Germany), the effect on world markets will be huge. It isn't so much if this event happens as when. Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal et al all remain in a perilous position. The problem with putting a flag in the sand as Mark Carney has is that you tend to look a bit stupid if you subsequently move it. His 7.0% unemployment target for raising interest rates could be a real problem. If he is too proud to raise the rates before this magic figure is achieved, it may well be too late. All the emerging statistics are screaming out for a rate rise. He's going to miss the boat at this rate. One major achievement of recent weeks is the decision not to seek military intervention in Syria. Had Cameron waited for the UN reports, the outcome would have been rather different so his ineptitude on this occasion saved the UK a small fortune. The domino effect Stateside suggests a shift in US foreign policy. Maybe the penny is starting to drop? You never know. As the economies of both China and India revise down their respective growth forecasts, it seems as though an outbreak of normality is making its way through the rest of the world economy. Let's hope the UK wakes up sooner rather than later and takes note. Pardoxically, the numbers of immigrants to the UK is rising at a similar rate to the number of landslides on our coasts. This suggests that there are now more people living in an increasingly smaller space. I don't know if this augurs well for the future but logic would say not. As they will all need feeding and the amount of land diminishes, we are said to become even more dependent on our imports than currently - and that is frightening. In management circles, the mantra says, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it". The truth is we don't know how many immigrants are coming to the UK. Ergo, how can we deal with the problem if we don't know the size of it? Whoever finds themselves in no.10 come 2015 will have a heck of a job on their hands. Meanwhile, the great God money which dictates modern life continues to attract people to the National Lottery and its promise of riches (misery). This week, the lottery fund turned down funding to remember the millions who gave up their lives for the liberty which we enjoy today. A grant of £92,000 was turned down to create a memorial to remember those who perished in the Great War. It is by remembering those men that we remind ourselves of the futility of conflicts such as the one in Syria. We can't afford not to learn this lesson. On a final note, hurray for the internet. The decision to commence privatisation of the Post Office will mean an ugly end to great institution. Strikes a plenty will follow and the new service will be a shadow of the current one. If I had to post items like this one, you may not get them at all. But perhaps that wouldn't be too bad a thing either! On a serious note, I wonder what else the government can flog to make a fast buck? Suggestions please because as the Cole Porter musical says, "Anything goes"!

A different take

The death penalty is always a divisive subject and I expect it always will be. The news today that India intends to execute those responsible for the gang rape and murder of a female student will doubtless send shock waves throughout the rest of the world. The extent of their crime can never be overstated of course. In Norway, Anders Brevik is reported to be enrolling for modules in political science. The man who single handedly killed 77 people is being afforded the right to study the very subject which first spawned his extremist views. So who has got it right? India or Norway? In both countries, the public reaction to the outrage was vociferous. It could be argued that the 77 lives taken by Brevik far outweigh the one like taken by the four Indian men. That though would be to avoid the point. Whether one or a thousand deaths, another human life has been taken. The execution of the four Indian men will never undo the wrong they committed or restore life to the murdered student. A lifetime jail sentence would deprive them of the liberty and freedom which they took from the female student. It is not exactly "an eye for an eye" but it does the bare minimum. Like Brevik in Norway, they forfeit the right to take their place in society. In many ways, it is hard not to admire the approach of the Norwegians. To take the steps they have with Brevik has required a huge amount of dignity, tolerance and grace. Not easy. Not easy I'm sure for the many families whose lives were ripped apart by the actions of this solitary fanatic. Again though, execution would have brought nobody back. One aspect of British life which does make me proud is that we have not executed anyone since Ruth Ellis in 1955. For all the monstrous deeds which have been committed by various individuals since then, I'm still certain we have made the right decision. I don't know if the Indian judges have been swayed by the strength of public opinion but sincerely hope not. Theirs is a different culture to ours and we must always respect difference. That said, I hope the day comes when they begin to consider the alternatives to dealing with such outrages.

A millenium of the bourgeoisie

Since the 11th century, the bourgeoisie have been described. They first came to dominate commerce in Western and Central Europe. By the 17th and 18th centuries, they were represented by the financial forces which deposed the old feudal system. Its power was enough to initiate the English Civil War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. Favouring a more liberal approach, they espoused property ownership and the accrual of personal wealth. Even today, la petite bourgeoisie aspire to ascend to the heights of the upper classes which their predecessors sought to destroy. These nouveax riches now predominate the higher eschelons of public life in this country. On recent evidence they are certainly remaining true to the aspirations of their more illustrious forebears. This week it is revealed that the BBC has paid £25 million in severance pay to 150 executives between 2009 and 2012. You can rest assured that this figure is only in the public domain becuase Parliament demands it. Speaking of which, our democratically elected MPs are themselves reported to have claimed £23 million pounds in the year to April. It only seems like yesterday that the Daily Telegraph was drip feeding us with revelations of MP expense scandals which we were assured - all together now - would never happen again. "Root and branch inquiry" and other such tired expressions were dutifully trotted out to try and placate a semi irate Britich public. Of course the big difference between the BBC and the MPs is that the BBC executives are unelected by the public - we just do them the service of paying the TV license and by inference, their salaries and pay-offs. The MPs are elected and so you could be forgiven for thinking that they would have a modicum of accountability to their electorate. Not on this evidence. The current Chairman of the BBC Trust is Chris Patten. Sorry, Lord Patten. Having previously been Tory party Chairman and Governor of Hong Kong, this man is the Civil Servant extraordinaire. If ever a shining example of the bourgeoisie was needed, this man would tick all the boxes. His sherpa-like social climbing has been breathtaking. Few others could have lost their seat as an MP only to be given the role of Governor of Hong Kong and then proceed to lead the BBC. If there was any sense of decency or shame in British public life, I'm afraid it is long gone as money continues to dominate morals. There are those who say, "You'd do the same in their shoes wouldn't you?". Speaking for myself, no. The basic salaries of these people are beyond the imagination of everyone else so the paying of severance and claiming of expenses is frankly obscene. If la petite bourgeoisie are on the rise, la grande bourgeoisie are defending their territory too. Over two thirds of the present cabinet went to Oxford or Cambridge and many of those also went to the top public schools. It was therefore with great mirth that I listened to the current health secretary earlier this week. As previous head boy of Charterhouse, Jeremy Hunt claimed that he would "want to go and see his GP instead of having to go to the local A and E department". Sounds good but somewhat unlikely. I rather fancy his physician might reside in Harley Street. It svery difficult to achieve change in our institutions if we continue to have people incharge who have so little experience of the real life faced by the millions every day. One thing is certain. After a thousand years of the bourgeoisie in its various incarnations, little has changed and the need to climb the social ladder seems as compelling as ever. The English Civil War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolution have all borne the very people they sought to eliminate. Which only goes to illustrate the futility of war and the weakness of human nature.

Dear Mr. Fantasy

While the US seeks to maintain its pressure on Syria, not all countries are seeking another military involvement. In fact, some countries seldom bother with wars having learned long ago of the cost, both human and financial. Norway is a case in point. When Gordon Brown reigned supreme as Chancellor, his watchword from the word go was prudence. Had he cast his eyes North to Norway, he might have had a better inkling of what prudence means. While he was busy spending our last few reserves of gold and bailing out the unaccountable banking sector, our Norwegian friends must have wondered what on earth was going on. The location of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund is not to be found in the Gulf or in China. To the surprise of many, Norway has a sovereign wealth fund which the experts expect to top 1 trillion dollars by 2020. How? Like Venezuala, Norway is blessed with rich reserves of oil and natural gas. Unlike Venezuala, it has remained prudent in the way it invests the proceeds. In contrast with most of the European mainland, Norway isn't seeking to cut spending. Instead, they are trying to limit spending in the face of a burgeoning wealth surplus. It is a country from which we could learn a great deal. To their credit, they have adopted a long term strategy - something of which the UK could never knowingly be accused. Their aim is to accumulate as much wealth as possible before the golden goose stops laying. As I write, they own about 2% of all UK companies. This has been made possible by a concept which would be unthinkable over here. Successive governments have chosen to continue the same practice of investing their profits prudently with risks kept to a minimum. That is really just a sensible middle way. Here, we have a few years of socialism which takes us near bankruptcy followed by the years where the Tory pantomime villains make cuts to evrything. As is often the case in the UK, we don't seem very well disposed to taking the middle way. Two party politics does little to alleviate this trend. The cost of living is high in Norway but the people are reportedly among the happiest in the world. This is to be expected in a country where social welfare enjoys a high priority. Their health service puts ours to shame as does their emphasis on child care and care of the elderly. Although they are continuing to come to terms with the appalling crimes of Anders Brevik, they conducted the investigation in a characteristically open manner with the proceedings on display for all and sundry. Again, we have much to learn. Even when things go wrong in Norway, they still come out of it shining. Above all else, they have a far clearer set of priorities than the UK. Their new government may well be Conservative in name, but comparisons with our own Conservative party end there. Of course, the only home nation capable of emulating the Norwegian model would be Scotland. In the event of independence, Scotland will always have its North Sea oil and gas. It just might be that such an outcome is not just fantasy. Alex Salmond has often spoken of his admiration for his Scandinavian neighbours so it would come as no surprise if Norway emerged as the role model upon which his new Scotland would be based. That said, a succession of subsequent Scottish leaders would need to stick to such a model like glue if they are to come near to the affluence of Norway. What Norway have done is to keep everything simple. Salmond must seek to do likewise both before and after the referendum. Unlike his fellow Scot Gordon Brown, he must also practice what he preaches and deliver his promises. So goes the mantra in marketing circles, "Under promise and over deliver". That way, disappointment will be kept to a minimum.

Business as usual..

When I worked in the retail sector many years ago, I learned several key lessons. One was that you can't play at running a shop. Either you are open for business or you are not. The extent of your success then comes down to how well organised you are when a customer comes in.

Recent doom and gloom emanating from our high streets are very sad but not entirely surprising. I have seen many people come to try their hand at retail in my home town over the last decade. I've lost count of how many times I've seen the dreaded "back in five minutes" or "gone to lunch" sign on the door. I fully appreciate that some people go in to business with existing commitments but therein lies their mistake. The front door to you pub, cafe, shop or whatever it happens to be must be open to the public.

I point this out because Wales is currently the high street graveyard of the UK and I see it as being entirely avoidable. If people on long term unemployment benefit were utilised more, fewer of these shops would have gone by the wayside. Being long term unemployed doesn't equate to being useless. In many instances, long term unemployed just need a small confidence boost to get them going. Often, they have just endured months of rejection letter after rejection letter and could do with a helping hand. Everyone has something unique to offer and even if their stay in retail was only a short one until they found something they preferred, this would still be a more viable option than just letting premises close. You can paint as many murals and pretty pictures on the shop fronts as you like, but they are either open or closed. Continuity breeds familiarity and trust.

I have just read the views of the so called experts charged with deciding what to do about our high streets and it makes for depressing reading. Mary Portas has been criticised left, right and centre for daring to suggest solutions. What makes her so different from the so called experts is that she has actually run successful high street businesses so knows exactly what works and what doesn't. Of course, one of the problems is that many of these properties are now owned by money men prepared to sit on a vacant property for as long as it takes to make a few quid on their investment. That is sad because these businesses were never really designed to make millionaires. The people who ran them well in the past made a good living but didn't make a killing. They were a cog in a big community wheel and this is where we need to get back to. It will have to be done in spite of the doom  and gloom of local government which has no understanding or experience of private enterprise. They can lose money hand over fist and remain unaccountable to nobody. Private enterprise doesn't operate like that.

It is again revealed that the Scandinavian countries enjoy a more happy existence than we do in spite of them having considerably less sunshine to look forward to. It is all about attitude and we have much to learn. That said, we are apparently now more happy than our German, French and Italian neighbours so perhaps the sunshine argument is a red herring anyway. I prefer to think that our relative distance from the EU and its financial problems has something to do with it as does the decision of most Scandinavian countries to steer clear. Whatever the reason, we have much to learn and should seek to integrate our resources rather than alienate them. If we could just open our doors for business, I think we'd all be a bit happier.

Bad news in disguise?

The announcement of 24,000 new jobs in the last quarter seems to be welcome news on the face of it. Such claims though, can only be assessed when we look a little deeper beneath the headline figures.

For one thing, Alex Salmond will be rubbing his hands together in glee as Scotland came off worse. While the rest of the UK shared in the net jobs gain, the Scots lost a net 10,000 jobs in the same period. For a country seeking to go its own way away from the Union, such figures are political dynamite. Another set like these will put the SNP in a very strong position come the Independence vote twelve months hence.

Another worrying aspect of these employment figures is confirmation of the growing dicide between the North and the South. Notably, the North West of England came off very badly. Here, the number of people unemployed grew by 13,000. While this may add fuel to the argument for HS2, a faster train service between Manchester and the capital isn't going to have any effect on this figure.

Unsurprisingly, it was the South East which saw the greatest benefit with 29,000 fewer people unemployed. So why this apparent divide? For one thing, the new scheme to encourage people on to the housing ladder is an accident waiting to happen. Estate agents in growth areas like the South East are recruiting new staff as never before as the latest housing bubble emerges. This is a huge worry. This has the potential to put us even further back than we were in 2008 after the last big crash. This policy was always ill conceived and the fruits are now being seen.

The other aspect of these figures is that most of the new jobs are part time. This is not going to address the real problem. This is like a bucket riddled with holes. Fixing them one at a time isn't going to make any difference. Replacing the bottom of the bucket might but only full time jobs will achieve this.

Last but not least are the twin problems of youth unemployment and long term unemployment. Both figures remain unchanged. In other words, the government hasn't yet hit the jackpot. It is these two sectors which will be the key markers of progress. If youth unemployment carries on for much longer, we will all be working until we're 80. If the numbers of long term unemployed remain the same, we might find ourselves working until we're 85 in order to finance them.

The number of empty high street shops remains fixed at 1 in 7. When this is addressed, inroads in to youth unemployment and long term unemployment can be made.

The new rate of 7.7% brings us a step closer to the rate of 7% below which the new head of the Bank of England will start to raise interest rates. Watch this space because the Tories have to prevent this from happening before polling in 2015. Given the recent explosion in the housing market, it seems as though the banks haven't wasted any time in getting their noses back in the trough. Given their collective standing in 2008, this illustrates the power they continue to exert over all of us. Now that really is bad news because we all know where their greed got us last time...