The media and consequential public response to the natural disasters in China and Burma could not have more different. The failure of the Burmese to allow foreign news media and aid agencies into their country had turned interest away and all the indications are that as a consequence starvation, lack of water and safe sanitation will kill hundreds of thousands more. To-day I watched the horror as the full extent of Chinese earthquake has been revealed because Western journalists and camera men have been taken to the worst hit areas and allowed to report freely and although the government has directed vast resources of rescue and aid workers and materials it has accepted the need for external help and perhaps more important the understanding and sharing of the grief. We all cry and feel helpless.
Yesterday the Brown Government launched its defence by reversing its policy on taxation by borrowing more and going beyond its 40% ceiling originally set by Ken Clark. And was Ken Clark's approach which the government followed over its first two years reducing borrowing substantially and repaying previous debts. Then with the Millennium the strategy changed with increases in taxation and public spending and pushing the borrowing towards the ceiling it had set. For the first time in a decade inflation has breached 3% and worse is to come as warned by the head of the Bank of England. The ten years of stability have come to an end and a bumpy ride is forecast. I suspect any government would have had to face similar problems although one suspects the kitty was used up in order to win the last election and to sustain the Prime Minister after the recent shaky period
.
Two months earlier that planned and again just before the by-election the Prime Minister decided to bring forward the announcement of a new legislative programme which will be announced by the Queen when she opens the next session of Parliament. Once upon a time the legislation programme was announced once a year by the Queen when the Commons attend the Lords. Now it is done in the Commons first, Similarly the budget was a once a year activity often with measure which came into effect the following financial year, Now there is an autumn statement of how the year has progressed and this year the work of the previous budget has been undone. So whatever the spin is put on the activity the rest of the country know what is going on and does not believe what is being said. Before stating what would be in the next programme the Prime Minister, affectionately known as the Supreme Leader, announced that some £200 million of existing money would be redirected to buy unsold new homes and rent them to social tenants. On the basis of £200000 a home this is 1000 homes and therefore an inconsequential amount in terms of social housing need but it will help the building trade. There is also £100 million for shared equity schemes for first time buyers, thus another 1000 new home owners. Something is better than nothing but a pathetic gesture in terms of unmet need.
Most of the legislations sounds good and necessary and the overall package appears to be a good one. Whether it will quell unrest at Westminster and within the Labour party in general remains to be seen. The extreme left, the pro Blair and the anti Brown factions will regard this as open season knowing hat he may well make concessions that risk a challenge to his leadership or defeat on government business which will amount to a vote of no confidence.
I approve of the business rate surcharge proposal to pay for local economic development. There is an interesting piece of legislation designed to open up some coastal areas for leisurely development. However how will this work if the private landowner is opposed to any public development? Will the Heritage Protection Bill aim to open up projects to wider community interest and involvement or will the upper class nature of the management remain? A new Education Bill to end the poorest performing schools and promote fair access cannot work because the good parents will do what is required to provide the best education for he children while a significant section will be indifferent. The Equality Bill sounds good but is misnamed because it is primarily about anti discrimination measures. All women short lists by political parties is good. Concerned if right to criticise, including to make fun is eroded. Further measures to reduce long term dependency on benefits sounds good if new training opportunities are implemented and the skills assessment is of good quality. New Police Bill will provide for the direct election to Police Committees rather than nomination from controlling political parties. Measures to control anti social behaviour should be interesting and Councils will have to work out that they cannot create binge drinking clubs and bards and then shut them down by imposing new control on binge drinking in public places, You tackle the cause not the symptoms. Cutting red tape re police is also a two edged sword.
Transport Security sounds interesting with new measures to act in relation to piracy and terrorism. New measures to enable gathering and storing of internet data in relation to serious crime which includes terrorism. The Law Reform measures also sound positive and I like the idea of promoting Citizenship especially among new arrivals, I also, like the idea of introducing Performance Pay to Hospitals especially if staff will be penalised for the number of patients who die because of secondary infections. The Constitutional Bill also has some interesting aspects taking away personal patronage and political bias. The Community empowerment Bill will be interesting in terms of the inherent conflict between the party political control of local government, There is also what appears to be a technical Bill of minor significance concerned with the Geneva Convention but which is said to provide protection to UN workers who move into difficult places.
There is to be a measure to improve the position of part time and sessional workers also this is double edged as any improvements for these workers will be used as the spring board to press for inflation breaking pay rises for everyone else.
There are two new measures about which I can have a moan. The Banking Bill will be designed to prevent what happened in relation to the Northern Rock but appears to do nothing to deal with the greed of bankers and their incompetence which has caused the crisis and plunged capitalism into crisis. The British and American Governments in particular are talking as if the forces at work are mystical and alien whereas they are were first pointed out by Jesus Christ some 2000 years ago, It is not rocket science. If you lend money to people who cannot pay it back in the hope of charging higher than usual interest you will just accumulate bad debt, The loss should be borne by the bankers personally but instead they draw ever higher salaries and bonuses.
The next legislation is also nonsense in that there is to be Bill to help the least able to save called the Savings Gateway Bill. How on earth are those with least wealth able to save and why should they, unless of course this is another move to reduce the support structure of the welfare state. You had better save even if this puts you in a worse position than before because we have measure up out sleeve which will make you even worse off. However it could be helpful if you are allowed to cash the savings in quickly. I can see a whole new enterprise. I give a poor person £100 pounds top save and the government gives them another £100. I then cash in the savings and give the poor person £25 for his trouble and I make £75 profit from the government the deal
There is one measure which interests me greatly. This is the Coroners and death certification Bill which will create a pattern of full time Coroners and the right of appeal given to bereaved families. There will new medical examiners to examine the cause of death given by doctors,
And now for a complete change in mood and subject. I had planned to make an early first visit to B and Q for by summer season planting combined with some food shopping but then decided to postpone until after lunch hen I learn of the Prime Minister's speech following Question Time and which therefore postponed some of the sting that Cameron would have been able to draw. I then stayed home even longer listening to an episode of To Serve them all my days, the R F Delderfield story which has been turned into radio and TV series since its publication in 1972. I have not read the book but enjoyed the TV mini series with 13 parts and a running time of over 11 hours. While the work is centred on a minor public school it covers the political and social changes between the end of World War and the commencement of World War 2, following the life and teaching career of a miner's son who is commissioned, injured and shell shocked and becomes a popular teacher and eventually the school head, battling a colleague early on and then an authoritarian new Headmaster, losing his first wife and family, losing a potential second partner to another only to find later that the son she bore was his, and finding happiness with a prospective Labour Member of Parliament who joins him at the school as his second wife and a teacher.
Another film which also follows life in a public school from a teacher viewpoint is Goodbye Mr Chips, based on the James Hilton novel first published in an evangelical newspaper in 1934. The book and film follows the long career of Arthur Chipping and like To serve them all my days, covers the political and social changes from the Franco Prussian War of 1870 through to the rise of Hitler in Germany, Retiring at sixty five he is called back to fill during World War I and is deeply affected by the loss of pupils, including a former Austrian master who dies while fighting for the other side. I prefer the 1939 film which stared a young John Mills, Robert Donat, Greer Garson and Paul Henried. In 1969 the book was turned into a musical film staring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark and music by John Williams and Andre Previn and his wife. In 1984 there was a TV mini series with Roy Marsden and in 2002 Martin Clunes was the star of a made for TV film and this is a less sentimental version than the original film
I have been fascinated by public school life since reading the Thomas Hughes novel Tom Brown's School days first published in 1957.The Public School in question is Rugby and the work begins with an idyllic view of village and country life which makes what happens to him at the school that much more horrific. The books centres on bullying by an older boy called Flashman who is defeated and then on Tom's progress with the help of the headmaster and through the friendship of a new boy he is asked to take under his wing they turn into young gentleman, The book has been repeatedly turned into films and TV series with films in 1916, 1940, 1951, and 1971 together with a TV mini series in 1972 and a two hour TV film in 2005
Another film which affect me greatly traversing my childhood and adulthood is The Winslow Boy based on the Terrance Rattigan stage play, a court room drama in which a father fights against the expulsion of his son from a navel college accused of stealing a five shilling postal order. Again my favourite is the film seen in a full cinema in 1946 1947 with Robert Donat and Cedric Hardwicke but I also enjoyed the 1999 version with Nigel Hawthorne.
My interest is such book and films contrasts with the dread I felt about school although I went to a small Catholic Preparatory school between 1944 and 1952 and experienced some success in the first year and a half at the Independent Catholic senior school which included boarders. Now of course I fully understand the cause of the dread and the combination of circumstances which prevented me reaching my scholastic potential.
On Sunday I enjoyed three thick slices of braised beef with Mediterranean stir Fry vegetables and a mixture of small roasted potato cuts and other mixed vegetables. So although I had my roast in a pleasant country pub for a modest £5 I decided yesterday on a second roast meal this time a joint of pork with crackling. It was a mistake to use the grill oven because such was its size that the crackling started to burn before the meat was cooker thus setting of the smoke alarm in the Hallway twice. I eat a portion of vegetables separately and then about a third of the joint with some of the crackling which had been rescued. While to night following the visit to the supermarket I prepared another stir fry concoction following on from last week but adding a portion of courgette and a few slices of tomato to the previous ingredients and enjoyed even more so, looking forward to the second helping tonight. The actual cooking is about a third of that required fro the supermarket version and interestingly as expected the supermarket preparation ahs been reduced in price back to £3 but only the on the basis of buying two. For lunch I had a sandwich of slices of French Salami followed by fresh pineapple and after the main course there was the last banana with custard, and as a late evening snack some water melon and some snap crackle and pop. This was by way of celebrating reaching my first 101 win at Hearts although there were 447 loses
Yesterday the Brown Government launched its defence by reversing its policy on taxation by borrowing more and going beyond its 40% ceiling originally set by Ken Clark. And was Ken Clark's approach which the government followed over its first two years reducing borrowing substantially and repaying previous debts. Then with the Millennium the strategy changed with increases in taxation and public spending and pushing the borrowing towards the ceiling it had set. For the first time in a decade inflation has breached 3% and worse is to come as warned by the head of the Bank of England. The ten years of stability have come to an end and a bumpy ride is forecast. I suspect any government would have had to face similar problems although one suspects the kitty was used up in order to win the last election and to sustain the Prime Minister after the recent shaky period
.
Two months earlier that planned and again just before the by-election the Prime Minister decided to bring forward the announcement of a new legislative programme which will be announced by the Queen when she opens the next session of Parliament. Once upon a time the legislation programme was announced once a year by the Queen when the Commons attend the Lords. Now it is done in the Commons first, Similarly the budget was a once a year activity often with measure which came into effect the following financial year, Now there is an autumn statement of how the year has progressed and this year the work of the previous budget has been undone. So whatever the spin is put on the activity the rest of the country know what is going on and does not believe what is being said. Before stating what would be in the next programme the Prime Minister, affectionately known as the Supreme Leader, announced that some £200 million of existing money would be redirected to buy unsold new homes and rent them to social tenants. On the basis of £200000 a home this is 1000 homes and therefore an inconsequential amount in terms of social housing need but it will help the building trade. There is also £100 million for shared equity schemes for first time buyers, thus another 1000 new home owners. Something is better than nothing but a pathetic gesture in terms of unmet need.
Most of the legislations sounds good and necessary and the overall package appears to be a good one. Whether it will quell unrest at Westminster and within the Labour party in general remains to be seen. The extreme left, the pro Blair and the anti Brown factions will regard this as open season knowing hat he may well make concessions that risk a challenge to his leadership or defeat on government business which will amount to a vote of no confidence.
I approve of the business rate surcharge proposal to pay for local economic development. There is an interesting piece of legislation designed to open up some coastal areas for leisurely development. However how will this work if the private landowner is opposed to any public development? Will the Heritage Protection Bill aim to open up projects to wider community interest and involvement or will the upper class nature of the management remain? A new Education Bill to end the poorest performing schools and promote fair access cannot work because the good parents will do what is required to provide the best education for he children while a significant section will be indifferent. The Equality Bill sounds good but is misnamed because it is primarily about anti discrimination measures. All women short lists by political parties is good. Concerned if right to criticise, including to make fun is eroded. Further measures to reduce long term dependency on benefits sounds good if new training opportunities are implemented and the skills assessment is of good quality. New Police Bill will provide for the direct election to Police Committees rather than nomination from controlling political parties. Measures to control anti social behaviour should be interesting and Councils will have to work out that they cannot create binge drinking clubs and bards and then shut them down by imposing new control on binge drinking in public places, You tackle the cause not the symptoms. Cutting red tape re police is also a two edged sword.
Transport Security sounds interesting with new measures to act in relation to piracy and terrorism. New measures to enable gathering and storing of internet data in relation to serious crime which includes terrorism. The Law Reform measures also sound positive and I like the idea of promoting Citizenship especially among new arrivals, I also, like the idea of introducing Performance Pay to Hospitals especially if staff will be penalised for the number of patients who die because of secondary infections. The Constitutional Bill also has some interesting aspects taking away personal patronage and political bias. The Community empowerment Bill will be interesting in terms of the inherent conflict between the party political control of local government, There is also what appears to be a technical Bill of minor significance concerned with the Geneva Convention but which is said to provide protection to UN workers who move into difficult places.
There is to be a measure to improve the position of part time and sessional workers also this is double edged as any improvements for these workers will be used as the spring board to press for inflation breaking pay rises for everyone else.
There are two new measures about which I can have a moan. The Banking Bill will be designed to prevent what happened in relation to the Northern Rock but appears to do nothing to deal with the greed of bankers and their incompetence which has caused the crisis and plunged capitalism into crisis. The British and American Governments in particular are talking as if the forces at work are mystical and alien whereas they are were first pointed out by Jesus Christ some 2000 years ago, It is not rocket science. If you lend money to people who cannot pay it back in the hope of charging higher than usual interest you will just accumulate bad debt, The loss should be borne by the bankers personally but instead they draw ever higher salaries and bonuses.
The next legislation is also nonsense in that there is to be Bill to help the least able to save called the Savings Gateway Bill. How on earth are those with least wealth able to save and why should they, unless of course this is another move to reduce the support structure of the welfare state. You had better save even if this puts you in a worse position than before because we have measure up out sleeve which will make you even worse off. However it could be helpful if you are allowed to cash the savings in quickly. I can see a whole new enterprise. I give a poor person £100 pounds top save and the government gives them another £100. I then cash in the savings and give the poor person £25 for his trouble and I make £75 profit from the government the deal
There is one measure which interests me greatly. This is the Coroners and death certification Bill which will create a pattern of full time Coroners and the right of appeal given to bereaved families. There will new medical examiners to examine the cause of death given by doctors,
And now for a complete change in mood and subject. I had planned to make an early first visit to B and Q for by summer season planting combined with some food shopping but then decided to postpone until after lunch hen I learn of the Prime Minister's speech following Question Time and which therefore postponed some of the sting that Cameron would have been able to draw. I then stayed home even longer listening to an episode of To Serve them all my days, the R F Delderfield story which has been turned into radio and TV series since its publication in 1972. I have not read the book but enjoyed the TV mini series with 13 parts and a running time of over 11 hours. While the work is centred on a minor public school it covers the political and social changes between the end of World War and the commencement of World War 2, following the life and teaching career of a miner's son who is commissioned, injured and shell shocked and becomes a popular teacher and eventually the school head, battling a colleague early on and then an authoritarian new Headmaster, losing his first wife and family, losing a potential second partner to another only to find later that the son she bore was his, and finding happiness with a prospective Labour Member of Parliament who joins him at the school as his second wife and a teacher.
Another film which also follows life in a public school from a teacher viewpoint is Goodbye Mr Chips, based on the James Hilton novel first published in an evangelical newspaper in 1934. The book and film follows the long career of Arthur Chipping and like To serve them all my days, covers the political and social changes from the Franco Prussian War of 1870 through to the rise of Hitler in Germany, Retiring at sixty five he is called back to fill during World War I and is deeply affected by the loss of pupils, including a former Austrian master who dies while fighting for the other side. I prefer the 1939 film which stared a young John Mills, Robert Donat, Greer Garson and Paul Henried. In 1969 the book was turned into a musical film staring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark and music by John Williams and Andre Previn and his wife. In 1984 there was a TV mini series with Roy Marsden and in 2002 Martin Clunes was the star of a made for TV film and this is a less sentimental version than the original film
I have been fascinated by public school life since reading the Thomas Hughes novel Tom Brown's School days first published in 1957.The Public School in question is Rugby and the work begins with an idyllic view of village and country life which makes what happens to him at the school that much more horrific. The books centres on bullying by an older boy called Flashman who is defeated and then on Tom's progress with the help of the headmaster and through the friendship of a new boy he is asked to take under his wing they turn into young gentleman, The book has been repeatedly turned into films and TV series with films in 1916, 1940, 1951, and 1971 together with a TV mini series in 1972 and a two hour TV film in 2005
Another film which affect me greatly traversing my childhood and adulthood is The Winslow Boy based on the Terrance Rattigan stage play, a court room drama in which a father fights against the expulsion of his son from a navel college accused of stealing a five shilling postal order. Again my favourite is the film seen in a full cinema in 1946 1947 with Robert Donat and Cedric Hardwicke but I also enjoyed the 1999 version with Nigel Hawthorne.
My interest is such book and films contrasts with the dread I felt about school although I went to a small Catholic Preparatory school between 1944 and 1952 and experienced some success in the first year and a half at the Independent Catholic senior school which included boarders. Now of course I fully understand the cause of the dread and the combination of circumstances which prevented me reaching my scholastic potential.
On Sunday I enjoyed three thick slices of braised beef with Mediterranean stir Fry vegetables and a mixture of small roasted potato cuts and other mixed vegetables. So although I had my roast in a pleasant country pub for a modest £5 I decided yesterday on a second roast meal this time a joint of pork with crackling. It was a mistake to use the grill oven because such was its size that the crackling started to burn before the meat was cooker thus setting of the smoke alarm in the Hallway twice. I eat a portion of vegetables separately and then about a third of the joint with some of the crackling which had been rescued. While to night following the visit to the supermarket I prepared another stir fry concoction following on from last week but adding a portion of courgette and a few slices of tomato to the previous ingredients and enjoyed even more so, looking forward to the second helping tonight. The actual cooking is about a third of that required fro the supermarket version and interestingly as expected the supermarket preparation ahs been reduced in price back to £3 but only the on the basis of buying two. For lunch I had a sandwich of slices of French Salami followed by fresh pineapple and after the main course there was the last banana with custard, and as a late evening snack some water melon and some snap crackle and pop. This was by way of celebrating reaching my first 101 win at Hearts although there were 447 loses
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