THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH

I finished reading A S Byatt's "The Children's Book" yesterday. Shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize, it is a beautifully written story with a profoundly moving end; and perhaps the finest/most appropriate cover design I've encountered.

Nevertheless, whilst this is a deeply intellectual and thought-provoking book, I find myself disagreeing with the underlying vein of "northern realism" - which Byatt attributes to one of her most sympathetic characters - although I actually share such an outlook myself.

For although "The Children's Book" is a brilliant book, dealing as it does with the birth of socialism in the Victorian period, and the popularity of fantasy in The Arts, particularly in relation to childhood, I am left with the feeling that Byatt does not really understand the psychological power - or indeed empowerment - of myth in helping people confront difficult, sometimes profoundly difficult, situations in their real worlds.

Like some of the main characters in "The Children's Book", C S Lewis fought in and survived World War 1, along with fellow Oxford academic Tolkien. Lewis found it difficult to re-adapt to some of the superficiality of College life and students. However, he is best remembered for his own children's tales of Narnia, and for The Cosmic Trilogy which concludes with "A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups" called "That Hideous Strength".

Like the Narnia books, "That Hideous Strength" has as a central theme the need to recognise evil, and human susceptibility, both individually and collectively, to its cosmic presence. In an incident which might have been encountered in a work of fiction, but in fact happened in my real life, I was reminded of this theme only the other day.

Visiting a country friend on Boxing Day, I was accosted by a local man who inquired "Do you realise that you are approaching the scene of a murder ?". I was shocked but not surprised by this question as there had been a police road closure in the area since before Christmas, which until then I had put down to a traffic accident/dangerous road conditions arising from the snow.

The full story emerged in yesterday's local paper. A woman had been beaten to death a few days before Christmas, and her husband is now the prime suspect. The couple had only recently moved into their lovely house, in what I have long regarded to be an almost idyllic rural setting in this part of Worcestershire.

Indeed this place has a particular resonance for me, a romantic attraction of the kind which A S Byatt - but probably not C S Lewis - might well disapprove. Moreover, my "country friend" is not human but a cat, whom I have known for over seven years. Yet it was precisely this feline, and another who joined her for a while in the run-up to Christmas, who seemed on some subconscious level to have alerted me to something in the area that was not quite right.

For this is an "almost" idyllic setting terrorised by heavy lorry traffic by day, and sometimes by night, from a dubious enterprise nearby, whose inhabitants seem strangely isolated amongst their many parked vehicles. In short, something of "That Hideous Strength" seems to be blighting the land, not just here but in other parts of Worcestershire where the population has become highly mobile. I ride a bike - in all weathers - incidentally.

Returning to the murder incident, it seems strangely fitting that the prime suspect should be identified to the public, in a police statement of the "northern realist" genre, as the driver of a highly distinctive gold landrover discovery. This seems to have travelled across large areas of The Midlands, visiting various shopping centres, on the day of the crime, carrying black plastic bags, and possibly the murder weapon, for disposal.

Lessons of Literary Constructions

I've recently finished reading the final volume of Stieg Larsson's brilliant Millennium Trilogy, "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest". The Millennium series is now topping the best seller charts in Europe and the United States, causing some commentators to make comparisons with the Harry Potter books.

This comparison was particularly interesting for me because I'm also in the middle of "The Children's Book" by A S Byatt, written partly in ironic response to the kind of supernatural fiction popularised so successfully by J K Rowling.

I obtained my copies of "The Millennium Trilogy" and "The Children's Book" from Worcester's excellent city library, currently housed in a wonderful Victorian building, part of a larger civic legacy, some of which has now been re-developed for a city centre apartment block.

By co-incidence, a minor sub-plot of "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" involves the "outing" of a corrupt construction boss. Indeed Larsson's descriptions of the operation of the Swedish construction industry - not too different from our own - are quite fascinating. Larsson's life partner is an architect.

The subject of construction brings me back to Worcester City Library, for whom relocation plans are progressing as part of a larger building complex. As it happens, the firm selected to build this, under the Private Finance Initiative, has just been fined some £8 million by the Office of Fair Trading following an inquiry entitled "Bid Rigging in the Construction Industry".

This is a very interesting story* in itself ! For more information, please see :
http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/ca98/decisions/bid_rigging_construction
However, a word of warning, in my own experience those who try to dig too deeply into such matters tend to be treated like naughty children and excluded by bossy bureaucrats.

* Unveiling the main findings of their investigation, the OFT stated that - as in Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" - almost all potential suspects turned out to be involved. See also Financial Times Article of 22.9.09 "Web of wrongdoing that spanned an industry".

WEBSITE UPDATES

Green Man Projects - http://www.greenman-projects.co.uk/ - has recently been updated, and I plan to relaunch my areas regeneration business EPONA in February 2010 : please see http://eponaland.wordpress.com/ in the meantime. Apologies to anyone who has experienced problems with email contact recently : these have now been resolved.

Three Wise Men to attend Iraq Inquiry ?

Some Suggest that the Three Wise Men came from Iraq*.... Image - Wikipedia Commons

Details of the Christmas cards to be dispatched by the Prime Minister, the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, and London Mayor Boris Johnson have been published today in The Telegraph newspaper. Intelligence suggests that the apparent image of three camels and a desert encroaching upon the Houses of Parliament on the Mayor's card either poses the threat of some unforeseen climate change....an unknown unknown** perhaps ?; or the impending arrival of Three Wise Men at the Iraq Inquiry. Now that would indeed be a miracle !

* There is no suggestion that they came from Dubai, however.

** Former US Secretary of State for Defense Donald Rumsfeld reflected on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan : "Reports that say something has happened are always interesting to me, because we know that there are known knowns, there are things we know we know. We also know that there are known unknowns : that is to say there are things we know we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the one's we don't know we don't know"

A UK Strategy for Enterprise & Industry

Whilst attending a conference on the subject of energy and climate change a couple of months ago, I commented that what the UK needed to properly tackle these issues was a good old-fashioned industrial strategy. Now I want to address the issue of climate change at my other blog - http://janetmackinnon.wordpress.com/ - and focus here on the issues of UK enterprise and industry.

Following my conference contribution - not greatly welcomed by some of the organisers it afterwards transpired ! - I was approached by a youngish man who, I seem to remember, worked for a government funded-agency involved in energy conservation. I had used the analogy of the Greater London Industrial Strategy, produced shortly before the abolition of the Greater London Council in the mid-1980s, and about the time I started my career in area regeneration. The young man told me that he partly agreed with what I'd said, but felt I needed to be more private-sector orientated.

This comment surprised me for 2 reasons. On a personal level, I've been self-employed for some 80% of my working life, and, therefore, in this "private sector". Secondly, the young man seemed to have forgotten - and this is very worrying because I suspect he is not alone - that a large part of the UK banking sector is now publicly owned, and the sector as whole has now been bailed out by our Government to the tune of £850 billion as mentioned in my previous post.

With this level of government intervention - unimaginable in the days of old "Red" Ken Livingstone's GLC - I would suggest that a comprehensive UK strategy for enterprise and industry is required at the present time more than at any other since the end of World War II. This should clearly identify the role of strategic sectors, such as banking and energy supply, in the context of wider economic, social, security, and environmental objectives.

Of course such as strategy would involve partnership between the public, private and non-governmental sectors. However, elected government should take the lead - as the GLC did - so that the citizens of this country can have some influence and accountability in the process. This would, of course, require a considerable cultural change, because it is precisely the absence of real accountability which has brought us to the state in which we all presently find ourselves.

UK Banks Bail-Out & Bonuses

It has emerged today that the UK banking bail-out has cost some £850 billion. At the same time, it's bonus time for bankers again. Surely there must be some mistake, or does gross incompetence merit equally gross reward ?

Looking around me just now, I suggest that there's a bonus for bad behaviour and not just in the banking sector. As I've said elsewhere, it's the survival of the feckless at the present time !

On a more serious note, those concerned about UK finances and economy should check out the Financial Times today - http://www.ft.com/ - and headline reports on the problems of the commercial real estate sector. It is here, I suspect, that events in Dubai will have most impact.

SUNNY DUBAI CASTS A DARK SHADOW

The serious consequences for stock markets in the UK and elsewhere of Dubai conglomerate DP World's request for a 6 month postponement of its debt repayments has been headline news.

However, there is another story underlying the collapse of the patently unsustainable Dubai asset bubble which has prompted my return to economic matters. This is a story about the darker side of the world's property hotpots in recent years, and how the good sense of one Senator Hilary Clinton has helped protect the United States economy from this latest episode of global financial turmoil.

Would Europe's new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, and, indeed, the Iraq Inquiry - see previous posts - please take note !

To begin with Iraq. Following the invasion of that country in 2003, the United States made the largest investment in re-construction since the Marshall Plan following World War II. Nevertheless, it was remarked upon by some commentators at the time that large amounts of this investment found their way out of Iraq and into increasingly speculative real estate markets in countries such as the US, UK and, you guessed it, Dubai.

On the back of this boom - to which key UK business interests, incidentally, have been critically exposed - D P World went on a global spending spree, a prize purchase of which was the British P&O Group. This group had a world-wide shipping and property portfolio which included strategic assets in North America. However, Senator Clinton took the lead in blocking the sale of key US facilities to DP World on grounds, amongst others, of national security.

What her counterparts in the UK and Europe were doing we can only guess, but the answer is clearly not a great deal, which is precisely why these matters need to be thoroughly investigated at the present time.

THE IRAQ INQUIRY

In my previous post I emphasised the need for "tough and fair" public hearings into matters of national and a strategic importance. It is very much to be hoped that the inquiry into events leading up to the war in Iraq - www.iraqinquiry.org.uk - will provide these.

Also, to any readers who feel that my blog has been unfair to members of the present British Government, I would respond that the prospect of fewer lawyers in senior political positions in the next administration offers the possibility of better national governance, and therefore a reduction in the need to blog much on the subject of politics....but I may be wrong.

CLIMATE CHANGE & INFRASTRUCTURE

The impact of flooding on infrastructure has been highlighted again by events in Cumbria, including the tragic loss a policeman's life due to collapse of a road bridge. The danger of similar collapses have made travel around the County extremely difficult, and a motorist interviewed on the radio this morning identified the particular difficulty of access to Sellafield, the location of Britain's major civilian nuclear waste installation.

Further capacity is proposed for Cumbria and the Sellafield area. and it is the task of the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) to assess issues arising from this and other proposed increases in British nuclear power capacity.

Now although the Government's Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has suggested that the flooding in Cumbria is on the scale of a once in a millennium event, I question whether he can really know this. Indeed, I would invite Mr Hilary Benn and some colleagues - weather permitting - to accompany me on a historical climate change tour of Britain, which will include site visits to areas which have experienced significant changes in sea levels.

Returning to the IPC and the need for "tough and fair" decision-making in public policy at the present time, highlighted in my previous post, I would remind the Chairman, Sir Michael Pitt, and his colleagues of the ruthless manipulation of the facts in which promoters of major infrastructure projects sometimes engage, historically leaving objectors to rely on "tough and fair" planning inspectors to hear their challenges.

I have to say in this context that my low estimation of the characters of political and business leaders (see below) would improve if resources were made available to those challenging the Government's proposed nuclear and other major infrastructure programmes, such as strategic road and bridge construction, which may well end up making this country more vulnerable to climate change, when local adaptation strategies are really what are most urgently required.

Ruthless & Manipulative vs Tough & Fair

Harriet Harman's reaction to being asked on BBC Radio 4's "Any Questions" about her attitude to the use of mobile phones whilst driving a car has prompted me to reflect on the subject of character. This is a subject apparently of much interest to policy-makers at the present time.

My own experience - direct and indirect - leads me to suspect that what might be termed "the ruthless and manipulative personality" is currently the dominant one in British business and public life. The attributes of this personality are perhaps more feminine than masculine, although it is by no means exclusive to women, with many - perhaps the majority - of men in positions of authority displaying some or all of its qualities. I would, incidentally, classify both the Leader and Deputy Leaders of New Labour Party as ruthless and manipulative people.

Ms Harman is a particularly good example of this character type. She conducts herself in an aggressive manner, reflected in a number of convictions for driving offenses, but when challenged on her latest entanglement with traffic laws, is extremely defensive.

Readers may gather from my description that I do not regard people like Ms Harman as exemplars of good character, and they would be right. This is because I have had the good fortune, particularly in my early career, to encounter some "tough and fair" authority figures.

The tough and fair personality type is still to be found in business and public life, although I believe there are far fewer of such individuals at present than in earlier times, largely because the prevalence of ruthless and manipulative people tends to bring out these qualities in others, thereby perpetuating them. This is a real problem for society, as great, I would suggest, as any of the other problems which we currently face, because it is precisely these other problems that need tough but fair solutions.

Lesson of Baroness Ashton's Appointment

Like most people, I was vaguely aware that Cathy Ashton had replaced Peter Mandelson as European Trade Commissioner, before her appointment yesterday as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. However, I didn't know - thankfully not being part of them ! - that in New Labour circles Baroness Ashton is best known for being the wife of journalist and YouGov founder Peter Kellner.

The lesson of this is that who you're married to matters in New Labour circles, except, of course, if your husband ends up charged with corruption in another European country, like Mr Tessa Jowell....when you separate from them as quickly as possible.

On this note, I would suggest that a key task for the new European High Representative will be tackling international corruption, and I very much hope that Cathy's Ashton's professional background in, amongst other things, chairing an English health authority has prepared her for this.

Paying For Education With Sex

The story of "Belle de Jour" has received much coverage in the middle class press this week. For those unfamiliar with this tale, it concerns a PhD student who moonlighted as a prostitute and thereby funded her studies, helped also by an anonymous blog which was turned into a television series. The lady in question now works as a science researcher in Bristol - or did until her cover broke.

Although this story may seem - and indeed is - rather sensational, the fact is that there have always been clever women who worked in the sex industry, as illustrated by the histories of royal courtesans across the world.

However, by far the majority of women engage in prostitution through necessity rather than lifestyle choice, often suffering injury, illness and death as a consequence. So whilst "Belle de Jour" may have made the right choice for herself, many young women - in countries such as Zimbabwe, for instance - would prefer not to have sex with their teachers to pay for their studies.

Tabloid Coverage of Environmental Issues

On Monday, I purchased a copy of The Sun newspaper : a first for me !

Inside was a copy the first tabloid edition of the paper, published on 16 November 1969. This was rather a good little read !

My feeling is that there is an opportunity for the likes of The Sun to provide better coverage - dare I say more balanced even ! - than the non Red Top broadsheets, which seem to have opted for the "let's take something straightforward and make it as complicated as we can" approach to environmental issues.

So here's my list of key issues needing some good old fashioned common sense reporting :

• Population & Health
• Resources & Nature
• Energy & Transport
• Waste & Pollution...

I look forward to the headline : "It's The Sun What's Done It !"

"Do Not Go Forth and Multiply" !

The following extract from Channel 4's website (18 November) highlights the importance of population issues in tackling climate change - please also also see my post of 14.11.2009

UN: educating women 'key to climate change'

'Do not go forth and multiply' is the conclusion of the UN's world population report, which says educating women may be the key to cutting carbon emissions - UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund

However, as my earlier post highlighted, the role of men is equally important !

WHY I SUPPORT THE SUN NEWSPAPER

Having never purchased a copy of The Sun, and having little time for the Murdoch Media Empire, I surprise myself in supporting the newspaper's coverage of Jaqui Janes vs the Prime Minister. The decisive moment in this story came for me when a BBC Radio 4 PM male presenter interviewed The Sun's editor, and suggested that Ms Janes was psychologically damaged - which she is by the circumstances of her son's death in Afghanistan - and therefore not fully in possession of her faculties. How deeply offensive to the woman ! Neither the former Deputy Prime Minister nor New Labour's former Director of Communications were, by their own addmission, fully in control of their faculties when running the country : a state which the Prime Minister may yet admit to himself. Perhaps it's only so-called alpha males who are entitled to feel psychologically damaged and give interviews to the Media.

Could Simon Cowell Do The X-Factor For Climate Change ?

Free thinking people in this country have long observed how New Labour has infantilised large sections of the public, who apparently now favour baby-faced politicians like David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Indeed, if anyone doubts that infantile politics are confined to the present government, they should listen to the latest edition of "Any Questions" where Mr Conservative Home refers to the importance of financial support for the struggling parents of babies and toddlers, as these early years are the most important in human life.

Frankly, it is precisely this kind of daftness which encourages people patently unsuited to parenthood to procreate in the first place, thereby adding to unsustainable population growth. This, rather than infrastructural issues, I would suggest, is the overriding challenge in the context of climate change. Put another way, the widespread availability and encouragement, through financial and other incentives, of the contraceptive "male pill" may be the most effective way of curbing population growth, and thereby reducing human pressures on the environment.

Moreover, it strikes me that Mr Simon Cowell who has remarked upon the tendency of the alpha male - and even the non-alpha one - to have multiple partners and offspring, may be right the man to front such a programme, and to show the nation that it's a sign of success to have 1 or 2 children, who are properly looked after, or even none at at all, where parenthood is likely to prove problematic. I suggest this because it seems to me that the onus for family planning, in this country and elsewhere, needs to be placed much more firmly upon the adult male of the species....if he still exists that is !

MORE ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Over the weekend, I felt that perhaps my previous post "On the Limitations of Science and Religion" needed some qualification. I was also reminded of one of my favourite essayists, the great English polymath Francis Bacon. In addition, Haye's boxing victory over "Beast from the East" Valuev is a reminder that the Davids of this world can still beat the Goliaths.

So to begin with the subject of science, on a day when the Government has announced a major expansion of nuclear capacity, with a Goliath-like fist shake to those Davids of the environmental movement who still oppose nuclear power, that it now has the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) in its grasp ie this is going to be a fight, as things stand, with no independent referee ! Although the Conservatives have promised they will do something about this.

Unfortunately, nuclear power has always struck me a being a sort of technocratic religion, and it comes as no surprise that this relatively new religion has a growing number of environmentalist converts. I've previously noted in my other blog - http://janetmackinnon.wordpress.com/ in a post entitled From Forum for the Future to Fight the Future Forum - that I regard many so-called scientific environmentalists as repressed technocrats with a strong preference for top town centralised planning. Such Soviet-style planning has, incidentally, quite alot in common with most of the world's major religions where controlling edicts are passed down from on high to ordinary folk who aren't allowed to question them.

It has occurred to me, therefore, that in another life (whether previous, parallel reality, or future) that the entertainment impresario Simon Cowell may follow some kind of religious calling, or perhaps even convert to one in the later years of his present incarnation and establish a cult. Mr Cowell, it will be remembered, first came to fame with the show Pop Idol. However, following a dispute with the apparent "True Creator" of Pop Idol, he moved on to the X Factor.

The subject of idolatry brings me back to Francis Bacon and his own "Four Idols". Bacon is regarded by many as the first genuine philosopher of science, notwithstanding that he took a bribe whilst holding public office and died directly as a result of his scientific experimentation. However, whilst Bacon would have heartily approved of evidence-based policy making and, had he been alive today, might well have been a celebrity scientist like Professor Lord Winston, Bacon was too astute an observer of human nature to regard science as value free.

Thus he warns us against the following seductions or "idols", which I have adapted to present day culture and semantics and therefore advise readers to consult the original Bacon text. These "idols", which ever threaten to distort the facts, are as follows :

Idols of the Tribe - Scientific thinking is always circumscribed by the wider culture of individual and collective, including political and religious belief systems.

Idols of the Den - Science is subject to personal prejudice as evidenced by the cases of so-called "Expert Witnesses" whose evidence has turned out to be just plain wrong.

Idols of the Market Place - Society and economics ascribe more value to certain types of science than others, which may mean important research is not funded or funded properly.

Idols of the Media Circus - This does not just refer to the silliness which surrounds the likes of the X-Factor, but to the subjectiveness of the media in general on science and other subjects.

Moving on to the subject of religion, it may seem to some that my previous post expressed anti-religious or irreligious sentiments which I would have done well to suppress. In fact, I am, in general, a supporter of religions in their more spiritual forms, but not in the excessive materialism which most seem to support, and, indeed, encourage in their established forms. By materialism I do not mean only an excessive emphasis on the making of money whether through Western-style or state capitalism, but materialism in the Marxist sense which has no place for genuine spirituality. This said, I do not subscribe to the so- called "Doctrine of the Other Cheek" either, which some proponents of Buddhism, for instance, seem to favour, as an "Opt Out Clause" from tackling political and other worldly problems.

On the Limitations of Science & Religion

The tragic shooting of United States service personnel by one of their comrades - a Muslim Psychiatrist - has prompted me to reflect on the shortcomings of the scientifically-trained mind when combined with religious belief, or worse still, extreme ideology - please also see my post on the case of Radovan Karadzic and Dagan Dabic @ http://the-edge-of-town.blogspot.com/

Whilst these are extreme examples of the scientific mind, to all intents and purposes, gone mad, or just plain bad, there are, I feel, underlying issues which are relevant to the more everyday relationship between science, religion and society in this country and elsewhere.

Let's start with the explicit/implicit social status stakes which have become so important in countries such as Britain and the United States. In my experience, scientifically trained individuals tend to assume they are socially superior to other members of society, even if they do not follow a scientific profession. Many have, for instance, found work in better-paid positions within the financial services sector, and look where that has led us ! To systemic insanity and the edge of economic chaos, simple people like me might respond. However, the wider public must also share some responsibility for embracing such obvious charlatanism in the first place. In short, we have given our power away to those who professed to know better, but in actual fact didn't.

Turning again to the case of Johnson vs Nutt on the subject of drugs classification (referred to in my previous post), this has clearly ruffled the feathers of the scientific community with heavyweights such as Labour Peer Professor Lord Robert Winston coming to the defence of so-called scientific integrity.

Now Professor Winston is, in my view, far more of a danger to society than Professor Nutt. The fact is that science of the kind practiced by Winston is deeply value laden. In short, the right to have children supersedes just about every other kind of right and people who don't embrace this notion are socially and morally deficient. This has led to a generation of women - of which I am one, but not one who shares Professor Winston's sentiments - who are obsessed with the need to bear their own children and willing to go to any lengths to this end. Winston and his kind, I would suggest, have created a fertility neurosis amongst women in many Western countries, at a time when there are already many unwanted and uncared for children, and population growth poses one of the greatest threats to the sustainability of both nation states and the wider world.

It is noteworthy that Professor Winston is Jewish, and that unsustainable population growth in both the state of Israel, and, indeed, in neighbouring Palestinian Gaza, is one of the prime causes of instability in that region, although this is one of those truths that dare it's speak their name. For Jews and Muslims population growth is a weapon of mass destruction , which they would do well to focus on as much - if not more so - than other causes of insecurity.

This brings me on to the subjects of Roman Catholicism and Christian fundamentalism, which, like aspects of Islam and Judaism, pose threats to global security. These are also reasons why former British Prime Minster Tony Blair - a Catholic Convert with, I strongly suspect, leanings toward the Christian Right - should be, as far as possible, excluded from international politics, even if people in the business community want to pay alot of money to hear him speak.

Blair is undoubtedly a technocrat, which is precisely why many in the scientific community felt professionally, not to say socially, bolstered by his term in office, with people like Lord Winston accorded celebrity status. This may be one reason why the Professor's website has a colour-scheme which could have been designed by Katie Price. Maybe one of his medical colleagues was the designer of her so-called cosmetic enhancements, and perhaps they'll ghost author "Katie's Guide to Plastic Surgery" one day and make even more money.

The entry of Alan - Corporal or Captain according to your class politics - Johnson into this hitherto cosy relationship, occasional tiffle notwithstanding, between the political and scientific establishments seems to have come as quite a shock, or should that be reality check. Actually, I happen to quite like Alan Johnson, who bears a passing resemblance to David Bowie but is more down-to-earth than fell-to-earth, as he plainly doesn't do drugs. Johnson also seems to have wanted to tighten up on psychiatric drugs during his tenure as Secretary of State for Health, in favour of so-called "talking cures". Whilst I have some doubts about the likes of Cognitive Behaviour and other "State" Therapy - a bit too Soviet for my tastes - there's alot to be said for "Jaw, Jaw", particularly when the alternative is "War, War".

"Captain" Johnson vs "The Nutty Professor"

In recent posts I've reflected upon the importance of maintaining a sense humour in public life, and in the unseemly wrangle between the Home Secretary and Professor Nutt we may observe a classic failure in this regard.

At the time of the local government and EU elections earlier this year, when it became clear that New Labour had suffered a disaster, a Staffordshire councillor referred to "Corporal" Johnson : a reference to the character of Jonesy in Dad's Army who's famous by-line is "Don't Panic, Don't Panic". However, in his sacking of Professor Nutt from his position as a leading government advisor on drugs, Johnson comes across more like Captain Mannering who doesn't like to have his views challenged by sub-ordinates.

In some respects, nevertheless, the Professor is fair game. Nut must be one of the few people to have simultaneously succeeded in upsetting both New Labour and the Horse and Hound Magazine with his views on the relative dangers of drugs and equestrianism, even managing to bring in some class politics by accusing politicians of treating scientific advisers like "serfs".

Unfortunately, the Professor doesn't have the class act of Eddy Murphy in his role as "The Nutty Professor", a charming and talented scientist who is also extremely fat. Seeking a more svelte form - and in a nice take on the tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - the Professor concocts a slimming drug which certainly reduces his girth, but at the same time unleashes a dastardly alter ego, also played by Murphy with much panache. The behaviour of this other personality is not socially acceptable, alienates the Professor's girlfriend and, ultimately, like his slimming drug, has to be suppressed.

"The Nutty Professor" could also serve as a cautionary tale on so-called recreational drugs, including alcohol and cigarettes, which can have unforeseen side-effects that need to be taken account by people contemplating their use. However, for many people a rational and sensible approach to intoxicants - and indeed horse management and riding - is not possible, and this is precisely why we need effective regulation of such activities, and, in this case, science mediated through policy.

CULTURE & ECONOMICS

During a seminar last week I was asked about my most important cultural experience during the previous year. The experience which immediately sprung to mind centred around the film "A Perfect Murder" which was screened - some scheduler has a sense of humour - on the same night as programmes about the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank last year. However, my actual choice of cultural experience was attending the Matthew Boulton exhibition at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. As an Enlightenment entrepreneur, Boulton is regarded as one of the fathers of Britain's industrial revolution, and I shall come back to him later.

Nevertheless, I've since reflected on why I so much "enjoyed" watching "A Perfect Murder". The "perfect" scheduling was certainly part of the experience. "A Pefect Murder" was made in the late 1990s, and stars Michael Douglas as a Wall Street Financier with Gwyneth Paltrow as his beautiful young wife, who is also a wealthy heiress and multi-lingual translator for the United Nations. She also has Viggo Mortensen as her artist lover, who inhabits a large pre-gentrification warehouse studio used for their amorous assignations. Unfortunately, her husband finds out about these and the plot unfolds from his discovery.

"A Perfect Murder" is an elegantly filmed B Movie-remake of a Hitchcock classic, directed by English costume drama afficianado Andrew Davies, and even stars David Suchet in the role of police detective. However, it isn't generally regarded as a particularly good film, so - scheduling apart - why did it make such an impression on my ? One reason is that I'm a great fan of film noir, and the noir genre more generally, as a vehicle for astute psychological observation, and, in partiular, its portrayals of the relationship - some migth say eternal triangle - of sex, money and gender politics. Thus in "A Perfect Murder", the Michael Douglas character is a classic financial speculator and gambler, up to precisely the kind of tricks that ever threaten to bring about personal, professional and corporate nemesis, and which, more recently, have succeeded in doing just this.

However, the Gwyneth Paltrow character turns out to be more of a gutsy girl than we initially imagine and, in my "cultural studies" view, represents an interesting take on the post-feminist heroine. A even more interesting take on this role is found in the character of Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo", Book 1 of the Millennium Trilogy, first published in 2004 - a disturbing piece of "Nordic Noir", which has as its hero an investigative financial journalist. This part, incidentally, could have been written for Viggo Mortensen, although it would take sometone like "Monster" actress Charlize Theron to play Salander.

The reason I mention Larsson's book, aside from it being a very good one, is that its hero, Blomkvist, elegantly distinguishes between the real economy and workings of financial markets in a television interview towards the end of the story :

"... The Swedish Economy is the sum of all goods and services that are produced in this country every day. There are telephones from Ericsson, cars from Volvo, chickens from Scan, and shipments from Kiruna to Skovde. That's the Swedish economy and it's just as strong or weak today as it was a week ago...

...The Stock Exchange is something very different. There is no economy and no production of goods and services. There are only fantasises in which people from one hour to the next decide that this or that company is worth so many billions, more or less. It doesn't have a thing to do with reality or with the Swedish economy".

This description brings me back to the Matthew Boulton, and matters closer to home in space and time. The problem for the UK is that our economy, even more so than that of United States, is highly dependent on financial markets and the management of assets. Thus it has become difficult for economists to distinguish between speculative and real economic performance. Hence the widespread surprise that Britain has not emerged from recession. Therefore - despite my liking for all things noir - what this country country really needs is some more "New Englightenment" enterprises, if we are not all to be plunged in to a New Dark Age.

THE WAR ON TRAFFIC

Having engaged with my more liberal self yesterday, I'm feeling more justifiably waspish (lower case) again today, so let's quickly get going !

The ease with which most women, young and old, together with other impressionable people, are impressed by men with big cars never ceases to amaze me. However, it comes as no surprise that our geeky Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, should invoke a grand automobile metaphor in his support for Tony Blair's prospective candidature for the European Union Presidency. Mr Miliband clearly presumes that the leaders of new world powers such as China and India would be impressed by a Blair Motorcade adding to traffic congestion, air pollution, and thereby global warming. Miliband, incidentally, was previously UK Environment Secretary, and his brother, Ed, is currently Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Of course, what Miliband and his colleagues are really out for is the prospect of a Jobs-4-The-Boyz-R-Us Bonanza that future unemployed New Labour Cabinet Ministers would reap if Blair became EU President.

What we really need is for more British, European, and, for that matter, Asian, African, American and other Antipodean political leaders to get on their bikes ! For, notwithstanding the many casualties of international conflicts, at the present time more people are killed and injured in traffic accidents around the world; not to mention those less directly affected by the other damaging impacts of road transport. In short, the car is more dangerous than the gun. However, this is quite acceptable because of the social status conferred by the automobile, and the so-called Great Car Economy. In others words, cars are more important than people, as those many ladies who endanger the lives of other children whilst driving their own offspring around clearly demonstrate.

Thus I always find it surprising when the Milibands and Blairs - not to mention the Mrs Blairs - of this world criticise people like me for putting the environment before people !

It's Not About Me, Nor Is It About We...

Even as I was writing my post of yesterday, my more liberal (small 'l'!) self reproached me for sounding so WASPish (more Pagan that Protestant in my case however) !

So I want to give some more personal context to my previous post, but let me say first that I'm always suspicious of the "We" Brigade. Remember Mrs Thatcher's comment : "We are now a grandmother" - We were amused ! The individual counts and I (not being a wee person) don't need to hide behind "We".

Thus in 1983, shortly after Mrs T had secured a second term, and with a few month's work in London under my belt, I decided to migrate to Australia under pretext of a short-term publishing assignment and 12 (or it may have been a renewable 6) month working holiday visa. I purchased a one way ticket to Sydney, with a stop-over in Manila (an experience in itself !).

Arriving in January 1984, I lived near Bondi Beach for a few months before going walk-about up the east coast to see relatives and find casual work of the kind Australian citizens were reluctant to undertake. One job took me into the Queensland Outback (just north of Laura in the Cape York Peninsula) for some months. At that point in time this was both the most secure and well paid employment I'd had, even after "contributions" deducted.

Eventually returning to the coast, I arranged to help crew a yacht to the Solomon Islands, but the skipper turned out to a rather disreputable sort - an ex-pat Brit incidentally ! - and set me ashore in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, where I had a most gracious welcome and very much benefited - spiritually that is as these were good Christian people - from my unplanned stay !

However, when after some time I endeavoured to return to Queensland, Australian border officials prevented leaving Port Moresby on the grounds that my visa did not permit me to re-enter their country. When I did get back and headed to Melbourne, I worked as a tea-lady at the "Institute for Multi-Cultural Affairs" : a rather pleasant job, as I recall.

This was nearly a year into my stay in Australia, which I actually managed to get extended as a consequence of the time out in PNG, and by now it had clicked that whilst my "hard labour" - and it was hard ! - was welcome in the Outback where few Aussies actually venture, sub-urban down under had not really taken to me, nor I to it, which is just as well because it has subsequently been impossible for me to obtain the right to work there !

Now - to get back to the point I wanted to make - "it's not about me, nor is it about we" - in general terms, I actually support the more stringent immigration policies adopted by Australia, compared to this country for instance, although these have actually worked against me. The reason for this is simple : the environment. Although a large country, Australia does not have an environment which can support a high population density, although the government might be more welcoming to people who want to work in rural and outback areas.

The UK also has an environmental capacity, and I, for one, don't want to see any more spread of so-called Middle England in Southern Britain. However, other parts of the country, notably Scotland, but also areas of England, Wales and Northern Ireland have room for more people.

Thus we need more spatial planning at a national, rather than sub-national, level and, strangely enough, I recently heard Lord Heseltine - who was not regarded as "One of Us" by Mrs T - talking about just this subject.

The Real Meaning Of "New Labour" and Why It Isn't Working

My post of 21 October asked why there should be apparent censorship of the Migration Watch organisation's website though access "Denial" on the computer system of the local library. Needless to say, I've had some unhelpful email correspondence with the Department of Media, Culture and Sport on this matter. I should point out, however, that access to the British National Party's website and other material of that ilk is available on the same public library computer system.

Since last week, a former Downing Street speech writer, Andrew Neather, has stated that unrestricted migration to the UK, with the aim of socially engineering a more diverse and multi-cultural population, has been a deliberate policy of New Labour.

In fact, non/de-regulated labour markets of the kind linked to unfettered migration are strongly associated with socio-economic polarisation, which is precisely what has happened in this country. The beneficiaries are people like Attorney-General Baroness Scotland who can engage domestic staff without necessary work permits at less than the going rate of pay. By co-incidence an almost identical case occurred in the United States during the former Clinton administration, and the senior legal figure involved had to resign, as the Baroness should have done.

New Labour's policies on migration were very much an importation from the United States, and have contributed significantly to the property market bumble and associated construction boom of which we are now experiencing the downside. In short, the economies of countries where excessive migration took hold became over-heated to the point of boiling and then melted down. So ultimately migration was not the boon to endless economic growth which its advocates had predicted.

Moreover, it has had a serious social downside. Mass migration has put very substantial pressures on many local communities across the country. Far from creating the a more pluralistic and multi-cultural society - of the kind I happen to support - it has had precisely the opposite effect. Many migrants are people of a narrow economic and social focus, who are not really interested in becoming part of British society, and, indeed, some embrace cultural values which are precisely the opposite of the tolerance with which we like to pride ourselves.

In short, New Labour's policies on migration have been a failure both economically and socially. They have substantially contributed to the rise of the BNP, and created a legacy of problems which future political administrations will be hard put to sort out.

It's The Real Economy Again Stupid !

A chance interview with a roving BBC Radio reporter yesterday allowed me to vent my spleen on two matters : the sensationalist side-show created by the appearance of the British National Party's Nick Griffin on "Question Time" (the BNP being the reason for the reporter's roving); and the poor state of Worcester's railway heritage, due to lack of investment by Network Rail (who haven't even bothered to remove a RailTrack sign beneath Foregate Street Bridge).

However, the real issue of the day was the state to the UK economy, now in recession for the longest period since 1955.

Co-incidentally Worcester's two railway stations look like relicts from the 1950s, largely missing out on the ugly make-overs of the 1960s/70s, and, less fortunately, investment in regeneration of the kind which has benefited other areas in more recent years.

However, the stations are a ready reminder of the real world : as distinct from the glitzy one apparently inhabited by most economists, who still seem to confuse the wild speculations of financial markets with the performance of the wider economy.

POPULATION POPULATION POPULATION

Today's Press Release announcement by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that the population of the UK - if present trends continue - will increase to 70 million by 2030 may, at last, have put the issue of population growth firmly on the political and policy agenda.

There have long been calls for the UK, along with other countries, to have a population policy. See the Optimum Population Trust's website - http://www.optimumpopulation.org/ OPT suggest that without this there can be no prospect of meeting targets for reducing green house gas emissions.

However, the subject of population has only started to be seriously aired again by the British media - after being topical in the 1970s - in the last couple of years because of economic growth and political correctness agendas which the New Labour and their supporters have championed.

By way of illustration, it is impossible to access the website of Migration Watch at Worcester City Library, and to attempt this generates the following message : Access Denied: Forbidden, this page (http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/) is categorized as: Extreme. *

Migration Watch have highlighted the problems of mass immigration for this country in recent years in terms of its impact on social and physical infrastructure, and the implications of present trends in planning for the future.

This week the organisation published a report commissioned from consultancy Oxford Economics - who also advise a wide range of government organisations so they can't be regarded as particularly radical - on the growth in migration to the the UK.

However, the issue of migration, which the ONS have identified as the largest direct and indirect - because of higher birth rates amongst migrants - contributor to recent and projected population growth has effectively been censored by the present Government. I wonder why.

* 25. 11.09 This website can now be accessed through the public library computer system

NOT QUITE THE GALLOPING MAJOR* ....

...but this this story from The Daily Mail had me laughing out loud !

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1219741/Victim-lying-Major-TA-girl-fell-serial-fantasist-said-hed-Army-medic-fighter-pilot-psychiatrist.html

* A bawdy music hall song circa 1910 by George Henry Bastow, of which the following lines give some flavour...

All the girls declare
He's a grand old stager
Bumpety-bumpety-bumpety-bump
Here comes the Galloping Major....

We Brits may no longer be up to classic stage or film comedy, but it's not for lack of material !

A NEW COMEDY OF ERRORS - OH WHAT A LUVVIE WAR !

As the season of cultural prizes (Booker, Turner etc) comes around again, along with the Party Conferences, it is no surprise to me that the theatre of politics (as distinct from political drama of the kind now on at the National Theatre) remains firmly centre stage.

Enter right : General Sir Richard Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, former head of the British Army, and future Tory Peer.

Enter left : Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling who - "out of the loop" as they say in spin - misheard details of Sir Richard's forthcoming peerage in a television interview.

Grayling thought the General was to be honoured by the present Government. The fact is, of course, that there is really very little difference between Conservative and New Labour policy on military strategy.

However, Grayling is very lucky his kind aren't still sent to the Tower for such faux pas, notwithstanding that the likes of the General still wield too much power and influence.

For, let's face it, the upper strata of the British military and defence establishment are as much to blame as the present government for current problems in Afghanistan, except that they are proving rather better in the PR war at home than our politicians.

A SENSE OF HUMOUR LOST AND REGAINED ?

The actor and theatre critic Michael Billington laments the apparent demise of classic stage comedy in yesterday's Guardian newspaper. Notwithstanding endless repeats of the likes of "Dad's Army" on television - about which I'm not complaining incidentally - I do wonder whether this is part of a wider sense of humour failure amongst the English people. Political correctness no doubt has played a role. However, there is, I think, a bigger problem. There seems to be a tendency, at least in some of the circles I frequent - particularly bureaucratic, and including "cultural administration" - for people to take comments seriously when these are made partly in jest, and, indeed, to take themselves very seriously indeed.

One of the most effective area regeneration practitioners I have come across in my career - a former director for development at the Government Office for London - was ever alert to a sense of humor failure and, I seem to remember, chastised me on at least once occasion for such shortcomings. I hope that, in recent years, some of these earlier failings have been outgrown, and I have continued to develop my sense of humour, even if this is not always readily appreciated by others, including some "arty" types who, as Janet Street Porter might have said, can be so "f...ing boring !" anyway.

However, ins spite of these cultural and wider social trends, I would suggest that British politics and politicians have provided more genuine comedy in recent years, and hence the great success of satirical shows like Bremner, Bird and Fortune, the stand-up comedy scene. These have, in turn sharpened the comic instincts and observation of many people "out there". Thus I find there is often still plenty of fun to be derived from daily life in general, even if this is lacking in certain cultural quarters. Moreover, the advent of a mass media by the people (as distinct from for) on the Internet has opened up opportunities for user-generated content as never before, so we no longer need, thankfully, to rely upon the cultural establishment for this.

http://janetrocco.wordpress.com/ & http://janetrocco.blogspot.com/

PHYSICIANS HEAL THYSELVES !

Having been quite unwell over the Summer myself - with an illness for which Swine Flu seems to have been in part the catalyst - I have some rare sympathy for Gordon Brown, if reports of his need for pain killers and anti-depressants are true, and, indeed, it they are not. For I also happen to disapprove of the over-prescribing of legal drugs, of which the recent sad death of Michael Jackson is a cautionary tale.

Therefore, notwithstanding my considerable discomfort, I was actually glad to have a taste of my own medicine when refused drugs on the grounds that these might make the condition worse. I am now largely recovered, and, I have to say, the Pantomime of the New Labour Conference seems to be just what the doctor should have ordered to cheer me up !

Enter the gloriously camp Peter Mandelson with his description of Conservative Party Leader David Cameron as a "flibbertigibbet" ("A silly, scatterbrained, or garrulous person" for those of you who didn't know). What a wonderfully appropriate term for the Pantomime Dame himself : aka former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Might I suggest that "Flibbertigibbet" would be an excellent name for Mr Prescott's much-hailed blog !

Returning to serious matters, I strongly suspect that 12 years of New Labour Misrule has also been a contributory factor in my own recent disposition. Therefore, I'm going to suggest to Mr Brown and his colleagues that the well-being of us all - socially inclusive, that is - should improve once they leave office. Physicians Heal Thyselves & Things Can Only Get Better !

SOME RAIL GOOD NEWS FROM WOOLWICH

Those of us who attended the Thames Gateway Bridge Planning Inquiry between 2005-6 will remember that the London Borough of Greenwich, who had been a leading opponent of an earlier version of this project, made much of its importance to the regeneration of Woolwich.

Incidentally, if this long running inquiry of nearly a year's duration had taken place in Woolwich, rather than Charlton Athletic Football Club, the economy of that town, and birthplace of the famous Arsenal FC, might well have benefited.

However, the Planning Inspector recommended against the Thames Gateway Bridge in 2007, and the new Chairman of Transport for London Mayor Boris Johnson scrapped the scheme last year, notwithstanding continuing efforts by the likes of Greenwich Council to revive it.

Now it has been announced that TfL has a joint venture partner for two rail transport related commercial development projects in Woolwich, and that planning applications for these are anticipated next year.

My view has always been that the regeneration benefits of rail investment for Woolwich town centre and the Royal Arsenal areas are much more significant than any potential contribution of a road-based river crossing which has the major environmental objections of the TGB.

TAKING US ALL TO THE CLEANERS

Jonathon Porrit's departure from Chair of the Government's Sustainable Development Commission has generated a good deal of green rancour on the part of the great man. Newspapers report a fall-out with the prime mover in green slime himself, Lord Mandelson.

However, the fact that this Government prefers the nuclear option to renewables should surely come as no surprise to someone as intelligent as Sir Jonathon. After all, the Prime Minister's own expenses showed he shared a cleaner with his brother, who he is top PR man for the industry.

The Problem of Resource Misallocation

Since the publication of my previous post, there has been an ongoing argument amongst British Government ministers, politicians of other parties and senior figures in the Armed Services about whether this country's front line soldiers in Afghanistan are adequately resourced. In fact, the problem is more likely to be one of misallocated resources : for as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Harriet Harman - and someone with whom I rarely agree - has pointed out, Britain's "defence" expenditure is the second largest in the world, presumably after the United States, in real terms.

This problem of resource misallocation is , I would suggest, as much a contemporary "British Disease" as lack of productivity was in earlier times, and, indeed, it may be argued that the two are closely allied. Take, for instance, "a little local difficulty", to quote former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, with which I have been wrestling in recent monthss.

I have been concerned for some time about the state of Worcester's iconic Foregate Street Railway bridge , which passes above a busy thoroughfare. It has been pointed out to me that basic lack of maintenance of this heritage-listed Victorian iron bridge is causing structural damage. As a consequence, I often visually inspect said structure when passing underneath. Last week, I noticed that a bracket attached to a horizontal metal beam was broken and the beam had started to sag. I drew this problem to the attention of staff at the adjoining railway station; and bracket and beam have since been secured with a (very high tech !) piece of wire. This is just as well because a bus stop is located immediately below.

Needless to say there are various stakeholders involved in the future of Foregate Street Railway Bridge : namely Network Rail (who own the structure) together with Worcestershire County Council, who have responsibility for sub-regional integrated transport planning. The lesser players are train operating company London Midland, who run Foregate Street Station, and the City Council, who are the local planning authority and responsible for heritage conservation. I think it's fair to say that these secondary stakeholders, who are most directly affected by the state of the bridge, would very much like to see this structure and the station regenerated.

By contrast, the main obstacles to such regeneration appear to be the infrastructure owner, Network Rail, and, in particular, Worcestershire County Council. The latter has for some years run a concerted campaign to have a strategic rail parkway station constructed to the south east of the current Worcester boundary, and takes little interest interest in the City's two existing railway stations, of which Foregate Street is one. The other, Shrub Hill, was placed on the English Heritage At Risk Register last year, but subsequent investment by the Railway Heritage Trust (part of Network Rail) has brought some respite for that station.

So what is Network Rail doing about Foregate Street Railway Bridge and Station ? I think it's a testimony to the apparent disinterest hitherto of this organisation that a sign on the wall immediately below the structure informs passers-by to contact - in the event of a problem -RailTrack, the deceased private sector company from which Network Rail took over ownership and operation of Britain's railway infrastructure in 2002. As far as I can make out, Network Rail is a sort of quango which means that it operates much of the time along mysterious lines. As regular media coverage also testifies, the company appears to have a strong preference - shared, incidentally, by Worcestershire County Council - for grand prestige projects which distract it from smaller, but nevertheless essential, resource allocations.

An all-too-familiar story, I suspect !

British Foreign Policy

Having been personally grounded for some time - an experience I highly recommend to jet setters and other high fliers - I'm conscious that the downside of this may be a point of view which is insufficiently internationalist, so today I want to reflect on Britain's foreign policy.

The death of British Armed Service Men and Women in Afghanistan is a tragedy. Leaving aside the rationale for their presence in the country, Britain must recompense and resource them adequately whilst they are there. This is not presently the case.

However, the experience of other military campaigns in that country - and notably of the former Soviet Union in the 1980s - suggests that the situation in Afghanistan will continue to be extremely difficult for NATO forces.

A basic issue, which seems to un/under-recognised by Western Governments is the sheer numbers of young men willing to fight for the Taliban and similar tribal/religious causes. In short, this is a war involving "the many" on "the other side".

Therefore, it is only when the citizens of conflict zones themselves take up arms against the perpetrators of tribal and religious violence - as happened recently in Pakistan - that there is any real prospect of "winning the war".

For most Western leaders and technocrats - military and civilian - old-fashioned and prolonged conflict "on foreign ground" - and very difficult ground in the case of Afghanistan - is, I suspect, still alien territory.

The challenge for British Foreign Policy on this, and other issues, is, I would suggest, to find its feet again. Understanding the demographics of conflict zones, including the role of very large, and increasing, numbers of un/under-employed young men is an area worthy of greater policy research.

However, please do not pretend that the so-called "Beautiful Game (ie football) can solve the problems of those countries where former Western foreign policy (notably of Britain and Russia during earlier colonial regimes) was known as the "Great Game".

A New Breed of Climate Change Protester ?

Whilst the President is Away
The Turtles will Delay....

With the G8's latest pronouncements on climate change just made, has a new breed of protester revealed their dissatisfaction with the latest proposals ?

From pa.press.net : Turtle invasion delays flights

A runway at New York's Kennedy Airport had to be shut down after 78 turtles emerged from a nearby bay and crawled onto the tarmac.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said ground crews rounded up the wayward reptiles in about 35 minutes and deposited them back in the water, farther from airport property.

The shutdown disrupted flight schedules, with delays climbing to more than an hour.

My Search for Enlightenment is Well Rewarded

Whilst separately researching sustainable construction and earth-based spirituality (as reflected in the historic environment), I came upon a fusion of the two subjects in The Arch Druid Report http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/ @ Energy Bulletin http://www.energybulletin.net/

My researches thus rewarded in this Zen-like enlightenment, I can heartily recommend both these sites.

Need "To Shrink" the State of Britain.

On 26 June, I reflected on the United States government policy of "City Shrinking" and noted that our former Deputy Prime Minister was something of a convert to this way of thinking, in the context of some old Northern industrial areas over here. I also noted that Mr Prescott acknowledged the need for a "Shrink" (ie psychological counsellor) himself with respect to an eating disorder.

Today, I want to reflect again on these two meanings of "shrink" (verb and noun), this time with regard to the state of Britain.

Yesterday, Deborah Orr, writing in The Independent newspaper, recommended that the state needed to be significantly, but also selectively, reduced in size, a view with which I concur.

However, I would also suggest that our "State", like Mr Prescott, also needs a Shrink. The lengthy reading lists for the public British Broadcasting Corporation's "Headroom Campaign", intended to help people deal with "depression" and make them happier are a case in point : for amongst these lists, I would suggest, are a number of volumes likely to have precisely the opposite effect on most people. But perhaps "misery" is essential to state/media control.

RE-BUILDING BRITAIN'S FUTURE

An article in today's Financial Times refers to "...corporate oligarchies, poor governance and a lack of focus on productivity, innovation and global competitiveness".

The article was not, however, referring to major parts of the British economy and public services - although it might have been - but to "countries in Latin America and elsewhere" unable to rise "to the ranks of the developed nations" due to the above problems. However, we in the UK should pay heed to these and related issues.

Thus whilst some of measures announced by the British Government under the umbrella of "Building Britain's Future", including a re-allocation of funds withing the Homes and Communities Agency to enable the construction of more "social" housing, are to be welcomed, present and future administrations must fully acknowledge underlying structural problems.

The founding Chairman of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Sir Stuart Lipton - himself a highly successful property developer - has been one of the most perceptive observers of the strengths and, equally important, structural weaknesses of the British house-building and construction sectors.

These structural weaknesses have been thrown into relief by the current economic cycle and need to be rectified as a matter of urgency in the interests of "Building Britain's Future". However, there is little indication as yet that either the present Government or the leadership of the other main political parties is up to this task.

Problem of House-building Advocacy Gravy Train

In my post of 4 June on the need for some new enlightenment on housing issues, I referred to the ineffectiveness of the government-funded house-building advocacy sector and the need for this particular gravy train to be shunted into the sidings.

News that former housing minister Nick Raynsford MP earns a comfortable £148 000 on top of his parliamentary salary (and expenses) "from six private sector posts - mostly connected to housing" in today's Metro newspaper is the other side of this particular coin, of course.

THE TRAIN TO STOKE-ON-TRENT.....

In the light of recent posts (see below), this is the real and metaphorical journey that I would recommend to British planning policy makers, and, for that matter, cultural commentators.

Please see also :
http://janetmackinnon.wordpress.com & http://witchofworcester.wordpress.com on related themes.

America's Shrinking Cities & Unsustainable Settlements

The United States, following in the tradition of Britain, has been a globaliser of the dubious enterprise, long before the latest sub-prime mortgage fiasco wreaked havoc on the world's financial markets and plunged international economies into a truly global recession.

Thus I listened with some alarm to an item on BBC Radio 4 this morning about "Shrinking America's Cities", a "plan", I fear, which will find new enthusiasts in this country and elsewhere.

It is well known that many older industrial cities in the United States have experienced a massive flight of people both to suburban areas, and to other parts of the country. This flight, incidentally, has been largely, but by no means exclusively, of white middle class people to more desirable neighbourhoods and states, or so they thought.

In fact, the flight has brought unsustainable population growth to precisely those parts of the United States most vulnerable to natural disasters and, therefore, climate change, such as California and Florida. Moreover, the State of California now has its own economic woes comparable to those of the so-called "Rust Belt".

It is the cities of this "Rust Belt", mainly to the north and east of the country, which are the main targets for the latest "Shrinking Plan", notwithstanding that many are well-situated and have good basic infrastructure : unlike many of the apparently desirable suburbs and new settlements of Florida, for instance.

So what does shrinking actually entail ?: essentially knocking down abandoned homes, retail centres and former employment areas and not replacing these with new development; or "rationalising the physical layout of the city", according to one exponent of the plan.

It should come as no surprise, of course, that an earlier recruit to the "Shrinking City Plan" - and who has himself subsequently revealed a need for the services of a "Shrink" (ie psychological counsellor) with regard to a personal eating disorder - was none other than former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott*.

This brings me in turn to the subject of food, and why urban abandonment** should not be encouraged by policy makers, particularly in our rather smaller country than the United States : excessive suburbanisation and new settlement growth generally consume agricultural land, if not natural areas, which may well be required to sustain future populations.

* Some readers may feel that I've been unfair in highlighting Mr Prescott's condition. However, I would suggest that daft ideas are always waiting to seed themselves in the political psyche, and this should serve as warning to the next generation of politicians Over Here and, indeed, Over There.

Moreover, the spatial distribution of populations within countries and internationally, along with food production and consumption, will be amongst the most important issues facing nation states and the global community in the present century.

** Except where environmental factors make this necessary.

The New Road to Milton Keynes.....

I returned again yesterday to my reading of John Brannigan's* excellent book on "Literature in England, 1945-2000", sub-titled "Orwell to the Present" (well not quite the present, the book was published in 2003).

Nevertheless, Brannigan's choice of post-war English literary subjects is remarkably prescient. By way of illustration, early on he quotes from Richard Goodwin's poem "Return to England" which refers to none other than :

"the headline bankers, the spinners of captions,
the millionaires -"

This sounds rather familiar ! However, it is on the opening of the later chapter entitled "English Journeys" that I want to focus today.

In this, Brannigan returns to "the summer of 1983" when the novelist "Beryl Bainbridge joined a BBC television crew in a journey around England" :

"Bainbridge retraced the journey undertaken by J B Priestley fifty years earlier....'English Journey, or The Road to Milton Keynes' pays homage to Priestley, and, as its sub-title suggests, also to Orwell's 'The Road to Wigan Pier' (1937)".

Eventually arriving at Milton Keynes, Bainbridge finds :

"....'a cathedral dedicated to the worship of the credit card, a place where people could come and pay their respects to the consumer society'"

She also finds : "...it's housing estates empty, its shopping arcades derelict, and an architectural planner who tells her that 'no one had foreseen a recession and unemployment.'"

Once again, this sounds all too familiar : please see below my post of yesterday.


* I have also referred to this work @ http://witchofworcester.wordpress.com/ in a post of 3 June 2009.

Housing : From Growth Hotspot to Negative Equity

Yesterday's report in the Financial Times based on data released by credit agency FitchRatings made interesting reading. The top 10 cities and postcodes with the highest proportion of loans in negative equity (by % number of borrowers) was something of a revelation. As the article pointed out :

"The range of locations showing either a high percentage of borrowers in negative equity or a high proportion of loans under water is striking. In central Birmingham, 31.2% of borrowers, representing 37.4 % of loans by value, are in negative equity, while the countryside around Cambridge, where house prices rose sharply in recent years, has also suffered badly".

However, whilst house price falls in major cities such as Birmingham and Manchester - Salford Quays also has a high proportion of loans in negative equity - significantly reflect unsustainable levels of apartment-building, the situation in the East of England's "growth triangle" of Cambridge, Peterborough and Northampton is more surprising.

For it is in fact Northampton which is currently the UK's epicentre of negative equity, according to FitchRatings. All the more important, therefore, for housing policy-makers and planners to remind themselves - as memories are surprisingly short - that this part of England has been the focus for the development of "affordable housing" for so-called "Sustainable Communities".

SPECULATION, SPECULATION, SPECULATION

Although it started out with the mantra "Education, Education, Education", and now offers the prospect of "Regulation, Regulation, Regulation", it is "Speculation, Speculation, Speculation" which has defined not only New Labour's time in government, but leadership of the Party itself.

Thus New Labour has presided over a period of unparalleled speculation in the UK economy, notably in the property and financial sectors, to the extent that even leading speculators such as hedge fund managers have suggested the country needs to refocus it's economy back to "making things" : to which advice should be added, "that employ British labour". It is precisely these real needs that should determine the future leadership of the Labour Party.

The question is who could fulfil this role : not, in my view - and present incumbent aside - Alan Johnson (or "Corporal Johnson" as a Staffordshire Labour Councillor recently called him), David Milliband, Ed Balls (Mr & Mrs) or Harriet Harman. That leaves some space for speculation.

UK Euro Elections - A Failure of Regional Policy

Having declared my vote as "Green" in both the County Council and European Parliament Elections, I shall now reflect upon the outcome of the latter.

First of all, though, I have to confess that whilst I voted "Green" pretty much without hesitation in the local elections, and will probably do so again in the general, the long ballot paper for the Euro elections caught me contemplating other parties. Yes, I too considered the option of voting for UKIP, the English Democrats, and another party represented by Dave Nellist (See - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Nellist)

Why ? Because, like many people, I view the European Union - notwithstanding the fact that it does some excellent work, on the environment and planning, for instance - and its over-expensed politicians and bloated bureaucrats, with some suspicion. Yes, I too, like the Labour Party, have to confess to something of a political split-personality.

Returning to "That Party", for whom I have not only voted but also been a member (until the election of Tony Blair as leader, that is), and for whom the outcome of the Euro Elections is an unmitigated disaster, I have to say that "We were Warned !", but the election of 2 British National Party MEPS still came as something of a shock !

A shock but not a surprise ! For the fact is that there are significant parts of the Nation (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), and sections of their populations, who are, in effect, in a "State" of managed decline. For sadly, much of UK regional policy - most particularly in England - is, to use the words of former Europe Minister Caroline Flint, a "window dressing".

Thus whilst it is the "Greens" who have displaced Labour in the "Growth" areas of the Southern England, it is the BNP who have done the same in areas of "Decline", typically the old industrial heartlands of the North of England. The result is that both parties now have two English MEPS.

In Scotland, for whom ownership of "The Land" (see below) has always been a key (perhaps "the key") issue, the Scottish National Party has fared rather better....than its banking sector

Euro-Election Results also @ http://janetmackinnon.wordpress.com/

THE PROBLEM OF LAND BANKING

Whilst the problems of Iceland's Landesbanki* are in the news once again, it is the problem of land banking - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Banking - which I want to focus on here.

Land speculation is as much a challenge for regulators - if not more so - than other forms of financial speculation.

It is time for regulatory authorities in the UK, and elsewhere, to get to grips with the negative contribution of speculative land banking to dysfunctional property markets.

Until there is a proper understanding of this, housing issues of the kind referred to in my previous post cannot be resolved.

At the present time, UK government policies continue to encourage excessive speculation, and, therefore, exacerbate the very problems they seek to tackle.

See also my blog @ http://smartlimits2growth.wordpress.com/

* Landesbanki now own West Ham Football Club

Housing - Some New Elightenment Needed

The New Labour Government - and I blame the centralists and the localists equally for this - has created an enormous house-building advocacy sector, which has achieved remarkably little "on the ground" as the following article illustrates :

"Millennium Communities scheme set to fall far short of goals
Jamie Carpenter, Regen.net, 2 June 2009

A government programme to construct 6,000 environmentally-friendly homes in seven new communities between 1997 and 2010 has so far succeeded in building fewer than 2,000 homes, ministers have admitted.

Figures published in a written parliamentary answer by housing minister Margaret Beckett show that the Millennium Communities initiative has delivered 1,626 new homes.

The Greenwich Millennium Village in London was the first development to be announced under the scheme in 1997. The figures show that nearly 1,100 homes have been built on the site.

But only 14 homes have been completed at the Oakgrove Millennium Village at Milton Keynes and no homes have been constructed at the Hastings Millennium Community, spanning an area of 72ha across three sites in East Sussex, Beckett said.

In New Islington in Manchester, 179 homes have been constructed under the scheme, while 172 homes have been constructed at the Allerton Bywater Millennium Village near Leeds, the figures show.

At the South Lynn Millennium Community in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, 109 homes have been built.

In 2007, the then housing minister Yvette Cooper revealed that public expenditure related to the Millennium Communities programme amounted to £131.6 million."

I have to say that all this comes as no surprise to me at all. The state-funded house-building advocacy sector is, I would suggest, a gravy train which has plunged well off the rails of common sense and the sooner someone shunts it into the sidings, the better !

On Re-Naming the She-Shanty

Travelling back to Worcester from Birmingham on the train the other week, I fell into a conversation with two gentlemen, who reminded me a little of a couple of Bird and Fortune characters. After discussing the "Enlightenment Enterprise" of Matthew Boulton*, also called "The Father of Birmingham", our talk turned to contemporary politics.

One of the gentlemen was a lawyer, with an obviously keen interest in politics. He suggested to me that that New Labour has a "split-personality", with the key ideological fight taking place between the "Centralists", led by Ed Balls, and the "Localists", led by Hazel Blears.

Returning to events of this week, and my post of yesterday, I wonder whether the "Nancy Lee" (see below) should be re-named the "Hazel Blears" or

On reflection, perhaps the ship,
After She who steers,
Should be re-named,
the "Hazel Blears",
"Rocking the Boat"**
With Her own waves :
"YouTube if you want to....***
....The Lady's not for turning"****
But then it all ends in tears !*****

* There is an excellent programme of events in Birmingham over the Summer to commemorate the bi-centenary of Boulton's death
* Hazel wore a brooch emblazoned with these words after her resignation from government
*** As Hazel said of Gordon and his gang : those of us who hail from the North West of England, never under-estimate the power of the Manchester Mafia to influence national events
**** As Margaret Thatcher told the men of her day
***** Hazel's subsequent recantation to the Manchester Evening News

Please see also http://limits-2-growth.blogspot.com/ - Gender Politics & New Labour's Undressing

"The Capting" faces his "Ukulele Music"

Last October, in a post entitled "Deconstructing "Captain" Gordon Brown's Rhetoric", I quoted some lines from the sea shanty "Nancy Lee" :

"I sing you a tale of the Nancy Lee
A ship that got shipwrecked at sea
The bravest man was Captain Brown
Who played his ukulele as the ship went down

........All the crew were in despair
Some rushed here and others rushed there
But the Captain sat in the captain's chair
And he played the ukulele as the ship went down."

Today's national newspapers all suggest that it is time for the Prime Minister to face the music.

However, I want to reflect once again on the subject of my blog of yesterday, Tom Paulin's book "Minotaur : Poetry and the Nation State".

The concluding chapter of this book focuses on the work of the contemporary British poet, Peter Reading, and, in particular, his poem "Ukulele Music" and the figure of "The Capting". The poem poses the following question :

And shall it, now, be counted
as ye dignified defiance
in us towards our fateful
merciless element,
or gull naivete,
cousin to recklessness,
that, e'en in pitching Gulpward,
our salt kind brings forth chanteys ?

Paulin, in turn, offers the following reflection on this passage :

".... these lines carry a patriotic impulse as well as performing a kind of ritual absolution. In them we witness the the isolated, scarred and diminished soul of a great seafaring nation asking forgiveness after centuries of reckless imperialism. It's a hard request to answer and it perhaps betrays a sentimental softness for the imperial past*. We may be grateful, though, that the nation has found such a prolific laureate in Peter Reading. The imaginative risks he takes in confronting the state have a witty desperation and a strange but essentially confident poignancy that speaks in that phrase "our salt kind". It reminds me of Churchill's remark in May 1940 that the nation was as " sound as salt in the sea"".**

* A past unfortunately re-kindled in the imperialist foreign policy of the Blair Government and a UK banking system which swelled to leviathan proportions under "Capting" Brown's watch.

** The subjects of "soundness" (legal) and "SEA" (in this case "strategic environmental assessment") are tackled at my other blog : http://janetmackinnon.wordpress.com/

The Minotaur dances with Big Brother

I've just started reading Tom Paulin's 1992 book "Minotaur : Poetry and the Nation State", which explores the nature of government through the symbolism of the "bull-man" and other poetic imagery, from John Milton to Peter Reading. The Minotaur is widely regarded as a metaphor of political oppression, a theme which Tom Paulin - whose hinterland lies in Northern Ireland, and who has a deep interest in the Israeli-Palestinian relations - is keen to expound. Incidentally, he (Paulin) might make a very good Oxford Professor of Poetry.

On a lighter note, I very much enjoyed a BBC Radio 4 "From Fact to Fiction" programme the other day, which dexterously wove together medieval animal tale and modern political fable in the story of a "Parliament of Rooks". Here the common rooks dispatch their political brethren, led by a David Cameron-like twitterer, whose nests that have grown overly-well feathered, from the rookery. The piece owed its inspiration to Chaucer, one of my favourite poets, whose work dances along as merrily to the music of the spheres as it does to lower vibrations.

Returning to the present, it seems to me that we (the citizens of Merry England) are now witness to an uneasy dance between The Minotaur (in an overly-powerful, but deeply wounded body politic) and a media-induced frenzy of "Big Brother" "vote-'em-out-of-the-house" popularism. Let's hope this doesn't lead us back to another kind of "Big Brother" : the Orwellian kind. I have to say that the prospect of Comrade Balls taking over the reins of Chancellor of the Exchequer makes me deeply uneasy, indeed rather queasy.

THE BIG ISSUE FOR SMALL BUSINESS.....

....IS PROMPT PAYMENT OF MONEY DUE.

Notwithstanding all the fine words from Government about prompt payment - never mind loans - to small business from large public agencies, this remains - along with slow payment by large private sector companies (and particularly those formerly in public ownership) - The Number 1 problem for smaller businesses and the self-employed.

It's just a shame that this issue doesn't receive the same media attention as MPs expenses. Could it be that media organisations are also slow to pay freelancers etc and don't want to draw attention to an issue which might embarrass them : much like MPs and their expenses, in fact.

Just what is the News "Cost" of MPs Expences ?

The current media frenzy around MPs's expenses is similar to the indignation about bankers's bonuses. Yes, these are important issues, but are they worthy of so much press attention ?

There are other important matters at home and abroad just now : loss of more jobs in Britain and the lives of more British soldiers, for instance. I thought Nigel Lawson's suggestion that it was time for the British army to start withdrawing from Afghanistan, because this is a foreign conflict Britain can no longer afford, an interesting one : certainly of more interest to me than the banalities of MPs's expense claims.

As to the "cost" of MPs, my own experience is that some are good value for money and others aren't. Some are good at dealing with constituency matters, others with wider issues. I would cite Joan Ruddock, my MP when I lived in London, and now a government minister at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as someone who is good at both. On the other hand, I don't rate highly my local Worcestershire MPs, Labour or Conservative.

With regard to Messers* Foster and Luff MP, details of their expenses are posted on the windows of the empty Woolworth store in the centre of Worcester : now there's a real story.

* There is an old country saying : "To hold parry with the hare (or fox), and to hunt with the hounds" ie to be something of a double-dealer. On environmental issues, I would suggest that this saying applies equally to these gentlemen; notwithstanding that "Foxy Foster" was instrumental in the hunting ban : another political and media distraction, from the preamble to the Iraqi war, for instance. Let's hope the next government brings fewer fatal distractions.

Asian Noire : "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga

When "Renaissance Man" Michael Portillo became Chairman of the Man Booker Prize committee last year, I had expectations that the 2008 winning novel might just be rather more interesting than the usual stable of winners, and in the "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga I have not been disappointed.

The fact that the choice of this first-time novel clearly upset the sensibilities of a few white middle class journalists of "The Guardian" genre only added to its appeal. For whilst India may be "The Great Brown* Hope" of many in the West, I remind convinced that a combination of democracy and good quality urban planning are the high watermarks of civilisation and development, and, arguably, this combination can only be found in parts of Northern and Western Europe : I stress parts !

Returning to "The White Tiger", whilst this is very much a "fusion" novel, I don't think that its author should be called an "outsider" in his own country (as one Guardian reviewer did), as he was born in Madras and currently lives in Mumbai (or Bombay as they still call it there). However, Mr Adiga - still only in his mid-thirties - is undoubtedly a man of this world (he has travelled widely) and of literature.

Thus "The White Tiger" owes its bite not just to an extraordinarily vivid account of modern India, but also to a much wider literary heritage. Nevertheless, whilst Aravind Adiga has been compared to both the Victorian Charles Dickens and the modern American writer Tom Wolfe, we should also look to Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Notes from the Underground" for both narrative style and points of reference.

Indeed, a memorable episode involves the narrator - and driver/servant- of an Americanised Asian living in Delhi, taking his boss and a corrupt Indian government official to a blond Russian prostitute who speaks a modest amount of Hindi and looks like the Hollywood actress Kim Bassinger. Later, when the narrator seeks out a similar "blond" for himself, he discovers she is a Ukrainian with dyed hair whose circumstances are even more desperate than his own.

Although the hero ultimately triumphs over adversity - through a brutal and criminal act - and sets up a successful enterprise in Bangalore on the back of the city's world-renowned technology/call-centre "cluster", both he and we are left to wonder whether democracy really has a future in India, or whether the country's profound socio-economic failings have sunk it into the irredeemable terriory of pre-Soviet Russia, or China before the coming of communism.

The following passage from towards the end of the book may remind readers of "news management" and international pre-occupations closer to home, including those of our former and current prime ministers :

"The health minister today announced a plan to eliminate malaria in Bangalore by the end of the year...

....In other news, the chief minister of state announced a plan to eliminate malnutrition in Bangalore in six months. He declared that there would be not one hungry child in the city by the end of the year..."

However, the narrator addresses himself not to the Good and Great of the West, but throughout his story, to "His Excellency Wen Jiabao, The Premier's Office, Beijing, Capital of the Freedom-Loving Nation of China", or "Our Great Yellow* Hope".

*The term's "brown" and "yelllow" are used here as they by the narrator of "The White Tiger".

Tackling the Legacy of Phony Tony

I found Michael Parkinson's attack on Jade Goody shortly after her death not only in rather bad taste, but demonstrating a callous lack of concern for people close to her. Although I didn't follow Jade's story closely - and I'm proud to say have never watched an episode of Big Brother - both are ultimately the creations of media people like Mr Parkinson, for whom I've never had much time anyway. Indeed, I can't recollect a memorable incident involving him, save for his recent comments on Ms Goody which did bring him a lot of media attention.

In fact, "Parky" has always struck me as something of a "Phony". I'm using this word as it first came to my attention in the film "American Beauty", when the central character describes her friend's mother as "such as phony", and promptly sets about disrupting the domestic scene. From my recollection, the "Mom" works in the real estate business and conducts her family life in what might be described as "Scenes from a Show Home". In short, she is a shallow but also smart (in the sense recently used by Michelle Obama ie intelligent and elegant) and plausible lady.

Now whilst none of these descriptions could fairly be applied to Jade Goody, they could with the exception of "lady" and, possibly, "intelligent" be applied to Tony Blair, with Cherie providing the missing qualities. However, Mr Blair does seem to share some qualities with Jade Goody, namely a certain opportunism, ability to create significant problems in international relations, love of celebrity status and its rewards, and religious consolation in distress, all of which qualities he shares with his wife, who, over time, appears to have aspired to be more and more like Jade.

So before venting their spleen on the sadly deceased Ms Goody, I would suggest that people like Michael Parkinson look more closely at the political and media castes in this country. I use the term caste rather than just class, because many people in Britain now feel that the barriers to social mobility go beyond those that existed before the advent of New Labour. Moreover, unlike Michelle Obama, many people over here also suspect that "being smart" may not get them very far, but "being phony" might just get them somewhere, even if it's over there.

Learning from the Lessons of Unpaid Labour

All independent professionals should reflect seriously upon the latest downfall from grace of Derek Draper, who has apparently lost his unpaid advisory role with New Labour. Providing one's services free of charge to certain types of client can have serious consequences for one's professional reputation if things go wrong, and relationships turn sour. The "People Professions", of which Mr Draper is a member - as psychotherapist and political "spin doctor" - are, of course, particularly prone to relationship problems. However, all of us should adopt a cautionary approach to the provision of free advice, as should those who seek to procure it.