Thought I'd share with you a couple of things that have, well, I won't say annoyed me, but made me bristle with irritation over the weekend.
The first was brought to my attention by Jennie on Twitter. I do wonder, sometimes, if the numpties at the Daily Fail have a weekly "how do we wind up liberals and feminists?" meeting. The poll they've been running recently is just ridiculously insulting. They are asking "Should female MPs be allowed to employ a cleaner on expenses?" It's even accompanied by a photo of a woman in alice band and marigolds scrubbing the carpet. The clear implication, of course, is that women should do the cleaning themselves, but men shouldn't be expected to get their hands dirty.
Then I watched Have I Got News for You last night. You would think that Kirsty Young would have more sense than to make a joke of this one, but, sadly, no. She read an excerpt from the memoirs of the canoeist who faked his own death, John Darwin. It was pretty cringeworthy stuff, to be honest, coming defiantly under the description of too much information as he recounted, shall we say, the physical aspects of how he took his leave from his wife.
So it may well be up for one of those badly written sex scene awards, but what happened next was interesting. Kirsty basically said "Now have a look at them." The implication of that was clearly that only beautiful people are allowed to seek and obtain sexual fulfilment. The rest of us, the ordinary looking and the ugly, presumably aren't worthy to indulge our libidos. How shallow can you get?
Thank you, dear readers, for letting me get that off my chest. Now I can go and spend the rest of the evening in a serene state of general relaxation - ie I'm going to go and lie on the couch and watch the X Factor.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Charles Kennedy hits the Campaign Trail in Glasgow North East
On Friday former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy joined Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate Eileen Baxendale to chat with local people on Alexandra Parade. Charles, of course, has long held connections with Glasgow. He went to University there and is now the University's Rector, the voice of the students on the governing body.
Charles has been an immensely popular figure inside and outside the Party for a very long time, and always will be.
His visit came the day after the SNP and Labour candidates had what seemed to be a really snarky, negative debate on STV. I'm very grateful to Andrew for his blow by blow account because I just can't stay up that late these days. Labour and the SNP have spent most of the campaign arguing about things which in the scheme of things nobody cares about. I'm certain that a family struggling to pay their bills after losing their jobs, or struggling in poor housing with a leaking roof or damp which sets off their children's Asthma really don't lie awake at night thinking about where David Kerr was born.
The thing is, if Labour and the SNP can focus their campaigns on issues like that, they don't have to account for the ways in which they have failed to deliver in Government at Westminster and Holyrood.
Where Labour have mucked up with the abolition of the 10p tax rate penalising the poorest, Eileen Baxendale has been campaigning on the Liberal Democrat pledge to ensure that you don't start paying income tax until you earn £10,000. That will save the average household around £700 a year with the poorest benefitting most. That's a reasonable sum of money - a couple of months' rent on a private flat in Springburn, for example. When you consider that the Council Tax on a Band C property in Glasgow is £1428.06, then that £700 is a big help.
Labour have also decided to make it much more difficult for rail passengers to get to the North East of England by scrapping direct trains from Glasgow to the East Coast Main Line. Also on trains, the SNP have decided to scrap the Glasgow Airport Rail Link which was part of the successful Commonwealth Games bid.
If Glasgow North East chooses Eileen Baxendale next Thursday, they'll get a hard working MP with the experience to help with the area's problems. As a social worker, councillor and community regeneration expertise, she's well placed to make a real difference to the area.
Remembering the agony of the families
As I sit in my cosy house, surrounded by my small but happy family, I feel so much for those families of members of the Armed Forces who have lost their lives in the course of their duties.
There are partners and children living every day with the reality of the sacrifice that their loved ones have made. Some children will have no memory of their fallen parent. Others will have had to deal with the shock waves of losing one of the most important people to them and its effect on their family.
I know I simply would not be able to cope with the life that service families have to lead. I couldn't handle the separations and constant anxiety if a member of my family were in a war zone. I would fall to bits if ever the phone or doorbell rang.
I'm thinking today of all of those families, particularly those who are still coming to terms with losing a child, or a partner, a sibling or a parent. Remembrance Sunday will be a poignant landmark in their grieving and they deserve the empathy an support of the entire country. They will never forget, and nor should we.
There are partners and children living every day with the reality of the sacrifice that their loved ones have made. Some children will have no memory of their fallen parent. Others will have had to deal with the shock waves of losing one of the most important people to them and its effect on their family.
I know I simply would not be able to cope with the life that service families have to lead. I couldn't handle the separations and constant anxiety if a member of my family were in a war zone. I would fall to bits if ever the phone or doorbell rang.
I'm thinking today of all of those families, particularly those who are still coming to terms with losing a child, or a partner, a sibling or a parent. Remembrance Sunday will be a poignant landmark in their grieving and they deserve the empathy an support of the entire country. They will never forget, and nor should we.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Jenny Willott lives on State Pension for a week
Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott has been living on the basic State Pension of £95.25 this week, a huge change from her normal salary of her current gross weekly income as an MP of £1245.50.
She's doing it to highlight how difficult it is to manage to live on such a low income. She's recounting her experiences here on Twitter. It's well worth having a look at some of the basic choices she's having to make. She talked about buying a cheap tin of soup for lunch but then realising there was no tin opener in the office and having to nip out and get one. Most poignantly, she realises how hard it is to buy something as simple as a Remembrance poppy:
"My Remembrance poppy is looking tatty and I need a new one. I appreciate now it's a much bigger sacrifice to buy one as a pensioner."
I guess the other thing to think about is that Jenny is getting the full State Pension whereas many women don't qualify for even that paltry amount because they either worked part time, took time out to have children or look after elderly relatives. Some may have been badly advised decades ago and made decisions that it is now impossible to rectify because nobody will take responsiblity for the mistake.
This week Liberal Democrat Pensions Spokesman Steve Webb wrote in Liberal Democrat News about his fight to obtain justice for women who have been let down by the Pensions system.
He told how he had brought individual cases to the Government's attention and identified that 150,000 wome had missed out on help of around £2000 each because they had not received the Home Responsibilities Protection to which they were entitled from 1978 onwards.
He also identified that some women had not been notified of a special scheme to help those born between 1938 and 1944 boost their pensions in certain circumstances. The government agreed to contact the women concerned and they are likely to receive, between them, millions in a Pensions boost that they were rightfully entitled to.
It's appalling that women have borne the brunt of caring duties, saving the Government a fortune in many cases and then been kicked in the teeth when it comes to receiving even the most basic of State help in their old age. And before anyone reminds me about the Pension Credit, it's not that great and many people who are entitled to it don't claim often because they don't know about it. It's good that we have Steve to fight so tenaciously on their behalf.
She's doing it to highlight how difficult it is to manage to live on such a low income. She's recounting her experiences here on Twitter. It's well worth having a look at some of the basic choices she's having to make. She talked about buying a cheap tin of soup for lunch but then realising there was no tin opener in the office and having to nip out and get one. Most poignantly, she realises how hard it is to buy something as simple as a Remembrance poppy:
"My Remembrance poppy is looking tatty and I need a new one. I appreciate now it's a much bigger sacrifice to buy one as a pensioner."
I guess the other thing to think about is that Jenny is getting the full State Pension whereas many women don't qualify for even that paltry amount because they either worked part time, took time out to have children or look after elderly relatives. Some may have been badly advised decades ago and made decisions that it is now impossible to rectify because nobody will take responsiblity for the mistake.
This week Liberal Democrat Pensions Spokesman Steve Webb wrote in Liberal Democrat News about his fight to obtain justice for women who have been let down by the Pensions system.
He told how he had brought individual cases to the Government's attention and identified that 150,000 wome had missed out on help of around £2000 each because they had not received the Home Responsibilities Protection to which they were entitled from 1978 onwards.
He also identified that some women had not been notified of a special scheme to help those born between 1938 and 1944 boost their pensions in certain circumstances. The government agreed to contact the women concerned and they are likely to receive, between them, millions in a Pensions boost that they were rightfully entitled to.
It's appalling that women have borne the brunt of caring duties, saving the Government a fortune in many cases and then been kicked in the teeth when it comes to receiving even the most basic of State help in their old age. And before anyone reminds me about the Pension Credit, it's not that great and many people who are entitled to it don't claim often because they don't know about it. It's good that we have Steve to fight so tenaciously on their behalf.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
What I'd like Nick Clegg to say on Afghanistan
Nick Clegg called today for a Government of National Unity in Afghanistan. He said:
"Afghanistan will never see the dramatic change it needs unless Karzai works with his opponents to reach across ethnic and tribal divisions, stamp out corruption, and start to build the legitimate institutions of central government that the country so desperately needs."
I'd have liked him to say, also, that he expected any Afghan Government to pay more than lip service to the plight of women in Afghanistan. It's appalling that 80% of women are subject to domestic violence, that they are forbidden from even leaving the house without their husbands' permission, that they are held back from having careers and those who attempt it are subject to threats, intimidation and violence.
I found this excellent article written by a woman who has worked in Afghanistan. If you read nothing else today, have a look at it. I was particularly taken by her last statement:
What happens to women is not merely a "women's issue"; it is the central issue of stability, development and durable peace. No nation can advance without women, and no enterprise that takes women off the table can come to much good..
The US and British Governments haven't allowed the issue of women to get even into the same room at the table. It's time for that to change and Nick Clegg, who has stood up for fairness on so many issues, the Gurkhas, MP's expenses and all sorts, is best placed to call, emphatically, for that change.
"Afghanistan will never see the dramatic change it needs unless Karzai works with his opponents to reach across ethnic and tribal divisions, stamp out corruption, and start to build the legitimate institutions of central government that the country so desperately needs."
I'd have liked him to say, also, that he expected any Afghan Government to pay more than lip service to the plight of women in Afghanistan. It's appalling that 80% of women are subject to domestic violence, that they are forbidden from even leaving the house without their husbands' permission, that they are held back from having careers and those who attempt it are subject to threats, intimidation and violence.
I found this excellent article written by a woman who has worked in Afghanistan. If you read nothing else today, have a look at it. I was particularly taken by her last statement:
What happens to women is not merely a "women's issue"; it is the central issue of stability, development and durable peace. No nation can advance without women, and no enterprise that takes women off the table can come to much good..
The US and British Governments haven't allowed the issue of women to get even into the same room at the table. It's time for that to change and Nick Clegg, who has stood up for fairness on so many issues, the Gurkhas, MP's expenses and all sorts, is best placed to call, emphatically, for that change.
What it's really like for woman in politics
There's a fantastic article in the Guardian today by Tanya gold which looks at the disgraceful way Liz Truss, the Tory candidate facing deselection after her local constituency association found out she had an affair with a Tory MP, has been treated.
She goes on to highlight the numerous ways in which women in politics are demeaned in the media. She didn't, but she could have mentioned the horrendous treatment meted out to Jo Swinson by the Telegraph.
If you think that women have got everything they ever wanted, this article will prove you wrong. And if you still doubt, have a read of some of the comments and see some of the misogynistic attitudes that are out there.
She goes on to highlight the numerous ways in which women in politics are demeaned in the media. She didn't, but she could have mentioned the horrendous treatment meted out to Jo Swinson by the Telegraph.
If you think that women have got everything they ever wanted, this article will prove you wrong. And if you still doubt, have a read of some of the comments and see some of the misogynistic attitudes that are out there.
Sick Girls and Racing Champions
I've been nursing a sick little girl today, who woke up with a raging temperature in the night and a sore throat and a cough. Apparently 7 children in the other Primary 6 class are off with the same sort of thing, including the one she spent most of the weekend with.
She eventually managed to come downstairs this morning and was ensconced on the sofa in her My Little Pony sleeping bag drinking hot chocolate. She may have outgrown My Little Pony, but the sleeping bag is so lovely and comfy. Bless her, though - she did try to mount a weak protest at me putting the heating on - which I only very rarely do during the day - because it was bad for the environment.
You can tell she's ill because she's not uttered a word of dissent about me watching the Race of Champions. I might be the thickest person in the entire world, but I hadn't heard of it before - and I could kick myself because apparently Michael Schumacher competes in it every year.
This year he is there alongside, among others, new F1 champion Jenson Button,Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, former Scottish F1 driver and BBC commentator David Coulthard. Today is the Nations Cup event and to be honest, it was clear from the start that Germany had the advantage, whitewashing their way through the opposition in the early stages of the competition.
Their only defeat before the final came when, surprisingly, Michael Schumacher lost narrowly to his American opponent, Tanner Foust.
It's probably just as well this event doesn't get huge tabloid attention because it was obvious from the start that the final would be contested between Britain and Germany - and we all know how they go into jingoistic overdrive when that happens.
The confrontation we wanted to see was the race between Jenson and Schumi. Would the newly crowned F1 champion get the better of this legendary opponent. Well, he almost did. He didn't disgrace himself and it was very close.
After that race it was down to Sebastian Vettel and Andy Priaulx to decide the winner and, somewhat predictably, the German team emerged victorious for the third year in succession.
What I found most amazing was the venue - the Birds' Nest Stadium in Beijing where the Olympics were held last year. If you don't remember there being a racing track for cars in there when you watched the marvellous exploits of Team GB, you'd be right - they've brought in 8000 tons of bamboo (laid over to protect the athletics track and field) and then laid gravel and asphalt over the top to create this parallel circuit for the event.
It must have been quite a shock for Vettel, Coulthard and Button to jet in to the freezing, snowy Beijing from the scorching heat of Abu Dhabi. Jenson certainly seemed a bit disorientated when he was interviewed - very tired after a long flight.
It will be interesting to see how the individual event tomorrow pans out.
She eventually managed to come downstairs this morning and was ensconced on the sofa in her My Little Pony sleeping bag drinking hot chocolate. She may have outgrown My Little Pony, but the sleeping bag is so lovely and comfy. Bless her, though - she did try to mount a weak protest at me putting the heating on - which I only very rarely do during the day - because it was bad for the environment.
You can tell she's ill because she's not uttered a word of dissent about me watching the Race of Champions. I might be the thickest person in the entire world, but I hadn't heard of it before - and I could kick myself because apparently Michael Schumacher competes in it every year.
This year he is there alongside, among others, new F1 champion Jenson Button,Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, former Scottish F1 driver and BBC commentator David Coulthard. Today is the Nations Cup event and to be honest, it was clear from the start that Germany had the advantage, whitewashing their way through the opposition in the early stages of the competition.
Their only defeat before the final came when, surprisingly, Michael Schumacher lost narrowly to his American opponent, Tanner Foust.
It's probably just as well this event doesn't get huge tabloid attention because it was obvious from the start that the final would be contested between Britain and Germany - and we all know how they go into jingoistic overdrive when that happens.
The confrontation we wanted to see was the race between Jenson and Schumi. Would the newly crowned F1 champion get the better of this legendary opponent. Well, he almost did. He didn't disgrace himself and it was very close.
After that race it was down to Sebastian Vettel and Andy Priaulx to decide the winner and, somewhat predictably, the German team emerged victorious for the third year in succession.
What I found most amazing was the venue - the Birds' Nest Stadium in Beijing where the Olympics were held last year. If you don't remember there being a racing track for cars in there when you watched the marvellous exploits of Team GB, you'd be right - they've brought in 8000 tons of bamboo (laid over to protect the athletics track and field) and then laid gravel and asphalt over the top to create this parallel circuit for the event.
It must have been quite a shock for Vettel, Coulthard and Button to jet in to the freezing, snowy Beijing from the scorching heat of Abu Dhabi. Jenson certainly seemed a bit disorientated when he was interviewed - very tired after a long flight.
It will be interesting to see how the individual event tomorrow pans out.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Steamie post - the secret truth behind the private Lib Dem Conference
My latest Steamie post, on the goings on in Dunfermline today (which I'm not at), is here.
Happy Hallowe'en
Ok, yes, I know, it's a vile piece of brash American commercialism, but producing all the tat and growing all the pumpkins and stuff keeps people in jobs - no bad thing in this climate. It is indeed a day full of horrors, as Lewis Hamilton being on pole position in Abu Dhabi shows. The Red Bulls being ahead of Rubens Barrichello isn't good either so the chances of me being in a huff tomorrow afternoon about this time are quite high - I want Ferrari to get back their 3rd place in the Constructor's Championship and Rubens Barrichello to come 2nd in the Drivers' race. Neither option seems very likely at the moment.
Anyhow, I digress. Back to Hallowe'en. If you have a child, you are kind of sucked into it all and you might as well go along with it willingly.
I have to say I'm a bit of a purist. I don't like the idea of Trick or Treat. In my day, you went guising, you had to sing a song or tell a joke before you got your sweets or nuts and you certainly didn't complain if someone gave you an apple as happens today.
Last might was my first venture out after dark in months as I'm usually too exhausted to do anything in the evenings. Anna went to a friend's house for the afternoon, though, so I had a rest before heading out to the Fright Night at the local farm park.
We took two of Anna's friends with us. I suspect that when they were a couple of years younger, more things would have actually scared them. Instead they were high fiving the "ghosts" in the trees on the trailer ride round the "Fields of Doom". There was one point where the picnic barn had been transformed into a haunted house - duly notified outside "We are sorry that this picnic barn is currently haunted. Please look elsewhere for a space to eat your packed lunch". There was one exceptionally dark part that the girls wouldn't go in to. My husband had gone off somewhere and one of them said that we'd have to wait for him to get back. This set me into a fit of feminism so I announced to them that we did not need a man because it was scary. We would do it ourselves. So, we all held hands and went through the pitch dark scary house. I will admit to hating every second of it, but that's not the point.
The staff at Almond Valley Heritage Centre had put on a great event, with apple dooking, eating doughnuts from strings (oh dear - a recipe for spreading germs, but so what?), fabulous costumes, scary werewolves, a pumpkin lantern trail and a ghost train (which we didn't get to go on because it was sold out by the time we arrived). We've had a membership there for virtually all the time since Anna was a baby and we go there a lot. At the moment, they have the cutest, tiniest baby bunnies (don't tell our Benjamin and Patches I said that) I've ever seen, too.
I was so shattered by the time we got home and I've felt really rough today, but I'm glad we went. All the girls had fun.
Now we have to get our little devil dressed up to go guising. Whatever you're doing tonight, have fun.
Anyhow, I digress. Back to Hallowe'en. If you have a child, you are kind of sucked into it all and you might as well go along with it willingly.
I have to say I'm a bit of a purist. I don't like the idea of Trick or Treat. In my day, you went guising, you had to sing a song or tell a joke before you got your sweets or nuts and you certainly didn't complain if someone gave you an apple as happens today.
Last might was my first venture out after dark in months as I'm usually too exhausted to do anything in the evenings. Anna went to a friend's house for the afternoon, though, so I had a rest before heading out to the Fright Night at the local farm park.
We took two of Anna's friends with us. I suspect that when they were a couple of years younger, more things would have actually scared them. Instead they were high fiving the "ghosts" in the trees on the trailer ride round the "Fields of Doom". There was one point where the picnic barn had been transformed into a haunted house - duly notified outside "We are sorry that this picnic barn is currently haunted. Please look elsewhere for a space to eat your packed lunch". There was one exceptionally dark part that the girls wouldn't go in to. My husband had gone off somewhere and one of them said that we'd have to wait for him to get back. This set me into a fit of feminism so I announced to them that we did not need a man because it was scary. We would do it ourselves. So, we all held hands and went through the pitch dark scary house. I will admit to hating every second of it, but that's not the point.
The staff at Almond Valley Heritage Centre had put on a great event, with apple dooking, eating doughnuts from strings (oh dear - a recipe for spreading germs, but so what?), fabulous costumes, scary werewolves, a pumpkin lantern trail and a ghost train (which we didn't get to go on because it was sold out by the time we arrived). We've had a membership there for virtually all the time since Anna was a baby and we go there a lot. At the moment, they have the cutest, tiniest baby bunnies (don't tell our Benjamin and Patches I said that) I've ever seen, too.
I was so shattered by the time we got home and I've felt really rough today, but I'm glad we went. All the girls had fun.
Now we have to get our little devil dressed up to go guising. Whatever you're doing tonight, have fun.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Caron gets Steamie
Ok, so that's a bit of gratuitous headline grabbing. Alternatively, for those of you who actually know me on real life, it's put you off your dinner. There is more than a grain of truth in it, though, unlike my previous attempt at getting your attention, when I intimated that Charlotte Gore was a witch.
Anyway, the reason for this attention seeking is to tell you about a new(ish) collaboration between proper journalists and humble bloggers north of the border. The Scotsman newspaper runs a political blog, called The Steamie, and has added a blogger from each party as a guest contributor. So I, Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting, Kezia on her Labour soapbox (which has moved this week so click this link if you haven't updated your blogroll to get the new address), Scottish Tory Boy and James for the Greens will all be indulging in robust political debate and banter in the run up to the General Election.
A steamie is a Scottish phenomenon, as the Steamie's homepage puts it:
The 'steamie' was the name given to the communal wash-house that was common in urban Scotland in the 1950s. The phrase has survived into contemporary Scottish speech - when something is "the talk of the steamie" it's the talk of the town, the word on the street.
The raison d'etre of the blog is, apparently, to be the place where Scottish politics "washes its dirty linen". It has a mix of serious posts and titbits of gossip from Scottish politics.
I wrote this post earlier in the month about Labour and Tory spending plans and today I've done this one called "It's the Economy, Stupid". It certainly seems appropriate as my friend has lent me the War Room DVD of the Clinton election campaign which I'll watch once this weekends orgy of reality tv, F1 and Hallowe'en is out of the way.
What I'd like to know from you, dear readers is whether you want me to cross post the Steamie posts in full here or whether a link when I've done one will suffice.
It's an interesting project and I'm looking forward to contributing more regularly.
Anyway, the reason for this attention seeking is to tell you about a new(ish) collaboration between proper journalists and humble bloggers north of the border. The Scotsman newspaper runs a political blog, called The Steamie, and has added a blogger from each party as a guest contributor. So I, Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting, Kezia on her Labour soapbox (which has moved this week so click this link if you haven't updated your blogroll to get the new address), Scottish Tory Boy and James for the Greens will all be indulging in robust political debate and banter in the run up to the General Election.
A steamie is a Scottish phenomenon, as the Steamie's homepage puts it:
The 'steamie' was the name given to the communal wash-house that was common in urban Scotland in the 1950s. The phrase has survived into contemporary Scottish speech - when something is "the talk of the steamie" it's the talk of the town, the word on the street.
The raison d'etre of the blog is, apparently, to be the place where Scottish politics "washes its dirty linen". It has a mix of serious posts and titbits of gossip from Scottish politics.
I wrote this post earlier in the month about Labour and Tory spending plans and today I've done this one called "It's the Economy, Stupid". It certainly seems appropriate as my friend has lent me the War Room DVD of the Clinton election campaign which I'll watch once this weekends orgy of reality tv, F1 and Hallowe'en is out of the way.
What I'd like to know from you, dear readers is whether you want me to cross post the Steamie posts in full here or whether a link when I've done one will suffice.
It's an interesting project and I'm looking forward to contributing more regularly.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
F1 gears up for season finale in Abu Dhabi
The F1 world is gathering on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season at the brand spanking new Yas Marina Circuit. At this point, I get a bit squeamish and start wringing my hands a bit because I'm not terribly keen on the idea of building huge, opulent, unsustainable facilities like this in a part of the world where water is so scarce. To add insult to injury, there even having the race at dusk so there will be lots of unnecessary lighting, too.
It's been amusing seeing the tweets from all the media folk and teams and tyre people who are out there. To say that they sound like children who have been given the key to Santa's grotto would be markedly understating the case. The pictures are incredible. My favourite is this from the Official Brawn Twitter account. Some terrace to have!
The place has a marina (you can watch the race from your yacht, apparently), a massive Ferrari World theme park with the fastest rollercoaster in the World, a shopping mall and a luxurious hotel which sits on top of the track.
For the drivers, there are numerous challenges. They are all going to have to learn this circuit in just 4 hours of practice sessions on Friday and Saturday. It'll be interesting to see them all tackling a new circuit together. At least we can expect that the weather will not give us the deluges of recent sessions in Brazil and Japan.
The Drivers' and Constructors' Championship have been decided but I will still need the Official Hiding Behind Pillow for the race. Second place in the Drivers' Championship has yet to be decided and my favourite driver, Rubens Barrichello, slipped down to third after Lewis Hamilton's car punctured his rear tyre in Brazil. He's just two points behind Sebastian Vettel so can easily regain that second place. Let's hope that the precedent set the last time F1 hit the Middle East (Bahrain earlier this year), of a Brawn 1-2, is repeated. It would be a fitting end to the season.
On a bittersweet note, this may be the last chance we have to hear the fabulous commentary of Anthony Davidson on 5 Live. He's so good at explaining all the technical stuff and bringing the race to life. He really wants to be out there driving, though - and I do hope he gets his wish, even though we fans will really miss him.
It's been amusing seeing the tweets from all the media folk and teams and tyre people who are out there. To say that they sound like children who have been given the key to Santa's grotto would be markedly understating the case. The pictures are incredible. My favourite is this from the Official Brawn Twitter account. Some terrace to have!
The place has a marina (you can watch the race from your yacht, apparently), a massive Ferrari World theme park with the fastest rollercoaster in the World, a shopping mall and a luxurious hotel which sits on top of the track.
For the drivers, there are numerous challenges. They are all going to have to learn this circuit in just 4 hours of practice sessions on Friday and Saturday. It'll be interesting to see them all tackling a new circuit together. At least we can expect that the weather will not give us the deluges of recent sessions in Brazil and Japan.
The Drivers' and Constructors' Championship have been decided but I will still need the Official Hiding Behind Pillow for the race. Second place in the Drivers' Championship has yet to be decided and my favourite driver, Rubens Barrichello, slipped down to third after Lewis Hamilton's car punctured his rear tyre in Brazil. He's just two points behind Sebastian Vettel so can easily regain that second place. Let's hope that the precedent set the last time F1 hit the Middle East (Bahrain earlier this year), of a Brawn 1-2, is repeated. It would be a fitting end to the season.
On a bittersweet note, this may be the last chance we have to hear the fabulous commentary of Anthony Davidson on 5 Live. He's so good at explaining all the technical stuff and bringing the race to life. He really wants to be out there driving, though - and I do hope he gets his wish, even though we fans will really miss him.
Vote for your biggest Eco-Villain of the Decade
The Guardian is running a poll to find out who we think is the Eco-Villain of the Decade.
For me, the choice was easy - the person whose actions have caused real harm and distress to people I care about. I can't describe the sadness and anger I feel about all the issues surrounding his planned Aberdeenshire golf course.
Even reading that, the arrogant and horrible way his son talks about my friends, by implication, at least, and dismisses their concerns makes my blood boil. Time for a cup of tea, I think.
For me, the choice was easy - the person whose actions have caused real harm and distress to people I care about. I can't describe the sadness and anger I feel about all the issues surrounding his planned Aberdeenshire golf course.
Even reading that, the arrogant and horrible way his son talks about my friends, by implication, at least, and dismisses their concerns makes my blood boil. Time for a cup of tea, I think.
Lib Dems Stand Up for Scottish Banks and Business
You may remember that when the banks collapsed, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott campaigned against the merger, pointing out that it would cost jobs, be hugely expensive for the taxpayer and restrict consumers' choice in banking.
It was good to see Liberal Democrats vote against the Labour Government's plans to rush through the takeover regardless of the Competition Commission's concerns, when Alex Salmond, for all his bluster, didn't bother to turn up, as I said at the time.
I'm glad that Tavish is continuing to stand up for the Scottish banking industry and is continuing to call for the superbank to be broken up, bringing the Bank of Scotland home, in the interests of Scottish business.
In an e-mail today, he said that:
"I met the EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes in the summer. She made it plain to me, as a fellow Liberal, that she thinks that giant banks are bad for business for everybody else – especially when they are being financed by the taxpayer. That’s why I propose to move Bank of Scotland out of the giant Lloyds Group and have it back home in Scotland, lending to soundly-based Scottish businesses. That is the demand I hear from the companies I have been speaking to in high streets and business parks across Scotland."
Earlier in the week, Lib Dem shadow Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael warned of the consequences of the news that Barclays is to take over Edinburgh based Standard Life's banking operations:
“Scotland’s financial services have already been hit by the misguided creation of the Lloyds-HBOS superbank, supported by the Labour government. The takeover of Standard Life’s banking business by Barclays threatens to further damage competition.
“It could also mean further bad news for Scotland’s financial sector as yet more Edinburgh-headquartered business moves under London-based control.
“Labour and the SNP need to get their acts together – or Edinburgh risks losing its hard-won reputation as a leading European financial services centre, and the many jobs that depend on it.”
Stephen observed that business's love affair with the SNP is cooling as they cope with the reality of Alex Salmond's unsubtle, tackety booted and sometimes unhelpful approach to business.
Labour ought to be ashamed of themselves, both north and south of the border, for their failures - firstly to regulate the banks properly in the first place, and then in going to their first instinct - to centralise and control, rather than find a solution which served the interests of hard pressed individuals and businesses.
It was good to see Liberal Democrats vote against the Labour Government's plans to rush through the takeover regardless of the Competition Commission's concerns, when Alex Salmond, for all his bluster, didn't bother to turn up, as I said at the time.
I'm glad that Tavish is continuing to stand up for the Scottish banking industry and is continuing to call for the superbank to be broken up, bringing the Bank of Scotland home, in the interests of Scottish business.
In an e-mail today, he said that:
"I met the EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes in the summer. She made it plain to me, as a fellow Liberal, that she thinks that giant banks are bad for business for everybody else – especially when they are being financed by the taxpayer. That’s why I propose to move Bank of Scotland out of the giant Lloyds Group and have it back home in Scotland, lending to soundly-based Scottish businesses. That is the demand I hear from the companies I have been speaking to in high streets and business parks across Scotland."
Earlier in the week, Lib Dem shadow Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael warned of the consequences of the news that Barclays is to take over Edinburgh based Standard Life's banking operations:
“Scotland’s financial services have already been hit by the misguided creation of the Lloyds-HBOS superbank, supported by the Labour government. The takeover of Standard Life’s banking business by Barclays threatens to further damage competition.
“It could also mean further bad news for Scotland’s financial sector as yet more Edinburgh-headquartered business moves under London-based control.
“Labour and the SNP need to get their acts together – or Edinburgh risks losing its hard-won reputation as a leading European financial services centre, and the many jobs that depend on it.”
Stephen observed that business's love affair with the SNP is cooling as they cope with the reality of Alex Salmond's unsubtle, tackety booted and sometimes unhelpful approach to business.
Labour ought to be ashamed of themselves, both north and south of the border, for their failures - firstly to regulate the banks properly in the first place, and then in going to their first instinct - to centralise and control, rather than find a solution which served the interests of hard pressed individuals and businesses.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
F1: Jenson Button, Brawn and an overall question of ego
Before I get into full flow, let me just say that I have just about come down from Cloud Nine after the Brazilian Grand Prix which saw my favourite F1 team, Brawn GP grab the Constructors' Championship in style with Jenson Button winning the World Championship.
Considering that 8 months ago, this team did not exist, its achievements have been absolutely remarkable. The car they came up with went through the final stages of development while the designers didn't know if they'd have a job by the start of the season. During the first few races, they had to lose a third or their staff to make the business plan work. It was particularly good to see Ross Brawn, team owner and F1 legend, pay special tribute to these workers in the celebrations. You can tell that it was very painful to him to have to make them redundant.
Had Jenson Button not taken the car he was provided with and won six out of the first seven races, there's no way that either championship would have been won by the team. He thoroughly deserves all the praise and accolades we can throw at him for his achievements on the track.
That said, it would have been nice if he could have just enjoyed the adoration and basked in the glory of the media attention rather than conduct his negotiations for a new contract via the sports pages of the national press. Now, I'm sure that not all the reports have been stirring by Button's manager, but they are certainly behind some of them. How else would we know that he has to pay for his own overalls to be washed after races and the nasty Brawn accounts people refused to reimburse him. Well, I'm sorry, but nurses have to clean their own uniforms so I really don't have any problem whatever with someone who earns several million pounds a year doing so. Especially when that someone is a resident of Monaco where the rate of personal income tax is, um, zero.
Jenson deserves credit for offering his services cheap to the fledgling Brawn team this year, which was helpful given that they had no sponsors. Cheap, in F1 driving terms means a cool £3 million. Now, I know that it's not just a simple question of turning up for work for 17 weekends a year, but that is a fairly hefty pay packet by anyone's standards. If the newspaper reports are to be believed, he's holding out for £8 million.
My friends at Brits on Pole have usefully reminded us of Jenson's sometimes complex contractual history. Sometimes, it seems, he can be his own worst enemy.
Obviously there's going to have to be some negotiations, but I really don't think it's wise for Jenson to be pleading too much in the press, not at a time when many of his fans are going to be facing pay freezes, cuts or even unemployment because of the recession.
While the Brawn team's commercial future is now thought to be assured for the next three seasons, they are now a very small team compared to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari with their pretty much bottomless pockets. These teams, and Red Bull, had the ready cash to throw money at the development of this year's car during the season. While they're keen to pay Jenson as much as they can, they're not going to be able to match what the richer teams might offer him.
I think another thing for Jenson to bear in mind is that it wasn't just him - he was helped on his way to victory by the sweat, toil and tears of the 450 staff at Brackley. They will have mortgages and fuel bills and all sorts to pay and they need a decent pay rise to reward them for their effort. That's not just engineers and mechanics - there's also the people who don't often get the accolades, like the network people who have to provide race cover from the HQ in Brackley over race weekends, the catering people, marketing, PR and Admin, everyone who has kept this team going over the last year. Every extra million Jenson holds out for will be an extra million Brawn don't have for everyone else.
He also needs to think about the future development of the car - again, he doesn't want to squeeze those budgets too tight if he wants something half decent to drive.
Ultimately, if he really wants the big money, he probably will have to go off to one of the bigger, richer teams. Having said that, I can't imagine for one minute that either Lewis or Jenson would fancy being team mates at McLaren. It's not all about money, though. Pretty much everything in F1 that Ross Brawn has touched has turned to gold and he will ensure that the team comes up with the best possible car with the resources available.
So, it's time for all the posturing to stop - Jenson needs to decide whether he's going to stay at Brawn or not. Only he can do that, but I'd like to see him make his decision quickly and without any more fuss in the press.
Considering that 8 months ago, this team did not exist, its achievements have been absolutely remarkable. The car they came up with went through the final stages of development while the designers didn't know if they'd have a job by the start of the season. During the first few races, they had to lose a third or their staff to make the business plan work. It was particularly good to see Ross Brawn, team owner and F1 legend, pay special tribute to these workers in the celebrations. You can tell that it was very painful to him to have to make them redundant.
Had Jenson Button not taken the car he was provided with and won six out of the first seven races, there's no way that either championship would have been won by the team. He thoroughly deserves all the praise and accolades we can throw at him for his achievements on the track.
That said, it would have been nice if he could have just enjoyed the adoration and basked in the glory of the media attention rather than conduct his negotiations for a new contract via the sports pages of the national press. Now, I'm sure that not all the reports have been stirring by Button's manager, but they are certainly behind some of them. How else would we know that he has to pay for his own overalls to be washed after races and the nasty Brawn accounts people refused to reimburse him. Well, I'm sorry, but nurses have to clean their own uniforms so I really don't have any problem whatever with someone who earns several million pounds a year doing so. Especially when that someone is a resident of Monaco where the rate of personal income tax is, um, zero.
Jenson deserves credit for offering his services cheap to the fledgling Brawn team this year, which was helpful given that they had no sponsors. Cheap, in F1 driving terms means a cool £3 million. Now, I know that it's not just a simple question of turning up for work for 17 weekends a year, but that is a fairly hefty pay packet by anyone's standards. If the newspaper reports are to be believed, he's holding out for £8 million.
My friends at Brits on Pole have usefully reminded us of Jenson's sometimes complex contractual history. Sometimes, it seems, he can be his own worst enemy.
Obviously there's going to have to be some negotiations, but I really don't think it's wise for Jenson to be pleading too much in the press, not at a time when many of his fans are going to be facing pay freezes, cuts or even unemployment because of the recession.
While the Brawn team's commercial future is now thought to be assured for the next three seasons, they are now a very small team compared to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari with their pretty much bottomless pockets. These teams, and Red Bull, had the ready cash to throw money at the development of this year's car during the season. While they're keen to pay Jenson as much as they can, they're not going to be able to match what the richer teams might offer him.
I think another thing for Jenson to bear in mind is that it wasn't just him - he was helped on his way to victory by the sweat, toil and tears of the 450 staff at Brackley. They will have mortgages and fuel bills and all sorts to pay and they need a decent pay rise to reward them for their effort. That's not just engineers and mechanics - there's also the people who don't often get the accolades, like the network people who have to provide race cover from the HQ in Brackley over race weekends, the catering people, marketing, PR and Admin, everyone who has kept this team going over the last year. Every extra million Jenson holds out for will be an extra million Brawn don't have for everyone else.
He also needs to think about the future development of the car - again, he doesn't want to squeeze those budgets too tight if he wants something half decent to drive.
Ultimately, if he really wants the big money, he probably will have to go off to one of the bigger, richer teams. Having said that, I can't imagine for one minute that either Lewis or Jenson would fancy being team mates at McLaren. It's not all about money, though. Pretty much everything in F1 that Ross Brawn has touched has turned to gold and he will ensure that the team comes up with the best possible car with the resources available.
So, it's time for all the posturing to stop - Jenson needs to decide whether he's going to stay at Brawn or not. Only he can do that, but I'd like to see him make his decision quickly and without any more fuss in the press.
Newspaper publishers threaten end of free internet linking
My attention was drawn to this by my friends at Brits on Pole on Twitter. I'm technically pretty stupid, but I think that what NewsNow are trying to say is that they provide a service to others by providing lists of links to newspaper's internet pages. Now, News International, publishers of the Times, Sunday Times News of the World and Sun are trying to stop them linking completely while other publishers of other papers like the Daily Fail, the Independent, the Mirror, the Telegraph and the Express are trying to impose either a charge or conditions on the links.
Newsnow's MD has also written an open letter to these publishers which explores the issues further.
This to me sounds like a pretty major threat to one of the fundamental freedoms of the internet, to link to other sites. If companies like NewsNow are stopped, then are bloggers, and even those who post links on Twitter next? I don't really understand why the newspapers want to exert such control. Maybe they take exception to bloggers having a laugh at their expense, fisking their articles in the way that Stephen and Mark recently did Jan Moir's hideously homophobic article about Stephen Gately and her subsequent apology for an apology.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I would have thought having a link to the original in an article criticising it actually gives the reader a chance to judge whether the criticism is valid. It's actually quite a fair minded way of doing things because you get to see both sides of the argument. It's also not necessary to put that link in. My criticism of Jan Moir's article deliberately didn't include the link because I didn't want to give the Mail any more traffic. If the newspapers think that they can somehow quell criticism of themselves by controlling who links to them, they're very much mistaken. It's a move that makes them more like an old style Soviet bloc news agency than a vibrant free press.
The other week the blogosphere and Twitter created a fuss to defend the rights of the Guardian to report Parliamentary proceedings over the Trafigura affair so I am somewhat dismayed to see that they are part of this move.
Sometimes I'll use a link to a news story from a newspaper website to give a bit of background information to a posting without being in any way critical. Having the link in also drives traffic to the website in question. Why on earth are newspapers complaining about getting more traffic to their websites at a time when their industry is struggling?
At first glance, this seems to me like big companies trying to control the internet, to curb the freedom that is an integral part of its existence. It seems also to be completely counterproductive.
It strikes me that if newspaper publishers turned their energy to meeting their readers' and potential readers' needs in the internet age, rather than, Canute style, try to stem the progress and freedom that the web brings, their industry wouldn't be in the mess it's in.
Newsnow's MD has also written an open letter to these publishers which explores the issues further.
This to me sounds like a pretty major threat to one of the fundamental freedoms of the internet, to link to other sites. If companies like NewsNow are stopped, then are bloggers, and even those who post links on Twitter next? I don't really understand why the newspapers want to exert such control. Maybe they take exception to bloggers having a laugh at their expense, fisking their articles in the way that Stephen and Mark recently did Jan Moir's hideously homophobic article about Stephen Gately and her subsequent apology for an apology.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I would have thought having a link to the original in an article criticising it actually gives the reader a chance to judge whether the criticism is valid. It's actually quite a fair minded way of doing things because you get to see both sides of the argument. It's also not necessary to put that link in. My criticism of Jan Moir's article deliberately didn't include the link because I didn't want to give the Mail any more traffic. If the newspapers think that they can somehow quell criticism of themselves by controlling who links to them, they're very much mistaken. It's a move that makes them more like an old style Soviet bloc news agency than a vibrant free press.
The other week the blogosphere and Twitter created a fuss to defend the rights of the Guardian to report Parliamentary proceedings over the Trafigura affair so I am somewhat dismayed to see that they are part of this move.
Sometimes I'll use a link to a news story from a newspaper website to give a bit of background information to a posting without being in any way critical. Having the link in also drives traffic to the website in question. Why on earth are newspapers complaining about getting more traffic to their websites at a time when their industry is struggling?
At first glance, this seems to me like big companies trying to control the internet, to curb the freedom that is an integral part of its existence. It seems also to be completely counterproductive.
It strikes me that if newspaper publishers turned their energy to meeting their readers' and potential readers' needs in the internet age, rather than, Canute style, try to stem the progress and freedom that the web brings, their industry wouldn't be in the mess it's in.
More Sexist Tories
However much David Cameron's Tories try to pretend that they've dragged themselves out of the Dark Ages and are now nice, fluffy, liberal minded tolerant folk, every so often the proof comes that they are still the same old nasty, judgemental neanderthals that they always have been.
First we had the chair of Gosport Conservatives saying that he'd be fine with a woman candidate as long as she was pretty.
Now we have the SW Norfolk Conservative Association in high dudgeon because their new female candidate, Elizabeth Truss, didn't tell them that she'd had sex with someone who wasn't her husband a few years ago. So pissed off are they that they want to deselect her - even though they only selected her at the weekend. It's not exactly a secret, either. I typed her name into Google and I didn't have to look very far down the page to find the Daily Fail article about the matter from three years ago.
Words fail me. I am certain that if she had been a man, there's no way they would be taking such action. They certainly don't seem to have expressed any concern that the man she had the affair with is in fact a Tory MP and has had no repercussions on his career. I don't remember anyone calling for Boris Johnson to be deselected even though he also had a highly publicised extra marital affair. Nor can I imagine that anyone would have expected that he should have made a point of telling London Conservatives about it when he was selected as the Mayoral candidate.
To be clear, I don't think that people's personal lives are remotely relevant to their suitability to public office. This shouldn't be an issue for Elizabeth Truss or Mark Field or Boris Johnson. The problem I have with the Tories is their disproportionate and utterly sexist treatment of a female candidate.
I can think of a gazillion reasons why the people of South West Norfolk might not want to vote for Elizabeth Truss, the Conservative logo next to her name on the ballot paper being the most obvious. Daddy Alex has a few more from his knowledge of her.
There doesn't seem to be any sign of Tory Central Office intervening so we must assume that they think the conduct of their local branch is acceptable.
It's clear to me that the Tories can't be trusted to understand what equality means, in practice and that's as good a reason as any to give them a very wide berth. They might talk the talk, but their deeds don't pass muster. They say they don't believe in discrimination against women but then allow their apparatchiks to do exactly that. They say they believe in gay rights and then they shack up with a nasty bunch of homophobes in Europe. In the not so distant past, Tory MPs have voted against extensions of maternity leave, against civil partnerships, and against the equalisation of the age of consent to name but a few crucial issues.
Update: House of Twits has published this post with a fantastically appropriate photograph:-)
First we had the chair of Gosport Conservatives saying that he'd be fine with a woman candidate as long as she was pretty.
Now we have the SW Norfolk Conservative Association in high dudgeon because their new female candidate, Elizabeth Truss, didn't tell them that she'd had sex with someone who wasn't her husband a few years ago. So pissed off are they that they want to deselect her - even though they only selected her at the weekend. It's not exactly a secret, either. I typed her name into Google and I didn't have to look very far down the page to find the Daily Fail article about the matter from three years ago.
Words fail me. I am certain that if she had been a man, there's no way they would be taking such action. They certainly don't seem to have expressed any concern that the man she had the affair with is in fact a Tory MP and has had no repercussions on his career. I don't remember anyone calling for Boris Johnson to be deselected even though he also had a highly publicised extra marital affair. Nor can I imagine that anyone would have expected that he should have made a point of telling London Conservatives about it when he was selected as the Mayoral candidate.
To be clear, I don't think that people's personal lives are remotely relevant to their suitability to public office. This shouldn't be an issue for Elizabeth Truss or Mark Field or Boris Johnson. The problem I have with the Tories is their disproportionate and utterly sexist treatment of a female candidate.
I can think of a gazillion reasons why the people of South West Norfolk might not want to vote for Elizabeth Truss, the Conservative logo next to her name on the ballot paper being the most obvious. Daddy Alex has a few more from his knowledge of her.
There doesn't seem to be any sign of Tory Central Office intervening so we must assume that they think the conduct of their local branch is acceptable.
It's clear to me that the Tories can't be trusted to understand what equality means, in practice and that's as good a reason as any to give them a very wide berth. They might talk the talk, but their deeds don't pass muster. They say they don't believe in discrimination against women but then allow their apparatchiks to do exactly that. They say they believe in gay rights and then they shack up with a nasty bunch of homophobes in Europe. In the not so distant past, Tory MPs have voted against extensions of maternity leave, against civil partnerships, and against the equalisation of the age of consent to name but a few crucial issues.
Update: House of Twits has published this post with a fantastically appropriate photograph:-)
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