Patronage Politics & Strategic Planning

Yesterday's Financial Times carried an article about plans by the University of Oxford's Said Business School to run a Masters course on strategic programme and project management. A lack of UK (and international ?) skills in these areas was cited as the main catalyst for the course. However, I would argue that these skills do already exist both here and abroad, and that the main constraint upon them is the increasing dominance of so-called patronage politics, or clientalism as it is sometimes called. The latter term also points to another problem. Lack of expertise, and, more importantly, experience amongst the "clients" for (and procurers of) strategic projects and programmes. Administration rather than management is the modus operandi of many of these organisations and groupings, with an over-reliance on often inappropriate and/or inadequately customised IT systems. Sound familiar ?

"A Binge rather than a Boom"

The well-regarded economist Roger Bootle recently commented that the circumstances leading up to the present "credit crunch" reflect a "binge rather than a boom".

When news of the former Deputy Prime Minister's bulimia broke yesterday - incidentally, I did think for a moment that Bremner, Bird and Fortune had hijacked Broadcasting House - my understanding of the New Labour Project was, therefore, profoundly deepened.

The fact that, in a world where there are serious food shortages and many people are starving, just why Mr Prescott should anticipate that the British public might feel sympathy with him is interesting in itself.

Hard working people often say to me that what they particularly dislike ("what I can't stand.."!)about New Labour's time in office is "The Greed" to which it has given rise and then rewarded.

News of Mr Prescott's erstwhile desire to chomp his way through the entire menu at his local Chinese Restaurant, and then spew up, may well make many British people, struggling to pay their rising food bills, feel sick.

However, this kind of thing appeals to the neurotic middle classes, who in my view, have come to make up much of the hard core support of New Labour, and have certainly been the main beneficiaries of its policies, including a "bingeing" economy.

Does Boris have the "Ken" to run London ?

I was recently asked who would have my votes (ie first and second preference) in the elections for London Mayor. This is a hypothetical question because I do not live in London. At the time, I responded the Green and Liberal Democrat candidates. However, on reflection my first choice would be Boris Johnson and my second Sian Berry : who might, incidentally, make a very good team, compensating for one another's weaknesses. Mr Johnson is a tad (or should that be cad ?)too clownish, and Ms Berry a little too serious. My questioner, although a Liberal Democrat who also lives outside London, said he would vote for Ken Livingstone, although I hope Brian Paddick would be his second choice.

My questioner was, I suspect, surprised that current London Mayor Ken Livingstone would not be amongst my voting preferences. The main reason for this is that I believe politicians should be limited to fixed terms of office ie 2 successive terms, and not "go on and on, and on" as Ken's great adversary, Mr Thatcher, threatened to do, but did not succeed, thankfully. Moreover, I have to confess to preferring early vintage Livingstone (as Leader of the Greater London Council) to the later variety. In short, Ken seems to have lost some of his metal, and perhaps like Vladimir Putin needs a sabbatical, if only to attend to his lady friends, as Mr Putin is reputedly engaged in doing.

I also happen to feel that Mayor Livingstone has run out of ideas, something Boris Johnson seems to have, although I'm not quite sure what they are, aside from the return of the Routemaster bus, which I heartily support. Indeed, if BoJo had no other ideas, I might vote for him on these grounds alone, being a great fan of the Routemaster, and occasionally experiencing an all too brief epiphany when I infrequently catch sight of an old one (usually the No 12) around Worcester, unfortunately no longer taking public passengers to Oxford Circus. However, like the Routemaster, old "Red" Ken holds not only a certain nostalgia, but the sense that he could make a comeback at a later stage.

In the meantime, I'll be asking, along with many other people, I'm sure : "Does Boris have the "Ken" to run London ?". Working with a good green woman like Sian Berry, he just might have.

Planning, Growth and Regeneration in England

Planning in England, and particularly in Southern England (an area stretching from the South East to Cheshire, albeit that some places in between are excluded !) is particularly problematic at the present time. This Government labours under some fallacious assumptions about the relationship between planning, growth and competitiveness which have proved remarkably resilient thus far to reality check. These assumptions have, by and large, been imported from the United States, and are based on the belief that the domestic economy can be continually grown through increased access to mortgage and other forms of consumer credit. The current crisis in the world's financial markets, itself largely brought about by the implosion of the US sub-prime home loans sector, is evidence that this is not a prudent fiscal strategy. However, our government's plans to increase housebuilding in the South of England are substantially founded on it. Another assumption imported from the US is that economic competitiveness is the beneficiary of a planning system which accommodates high vacancy levels, especially in the commercial property sector. Although again, over-supply of commercial, and residential, property in this country and the United States were important contributors to the previous global recession of the early 1990s.

In the above context, the current predicament of the West Midlands Regionals Spatial Strategy (WMRSS) Revision Preferred Option, which has in fact been hi-jacked by Central Government, provides an interesting point of reference. The Government believes that the West Midlands Regional Assembly's (incidentally WMRA is due to be abolished) plans for house-building in the period 2006-2026 are too low. Although, WMRA's risk assessment for its own proposals suggest that over-supply is more likely to be a problem than under provision. Moreover, the Government's intervention is not restricted to housing. The WMRSS Revision also covers employment land, transport and distribution and waste provision, all of which will have to reflect the increased numbers of housing proposed for the region. The outcome of all this is that the WMRSS Revision Preferred Option is unlikely to be sustainable in either economic or environmental terms. Furthermore, the WMRSS core strategy of "Urban Renaissance" (ie the regeneration of the 2 major conurbations in the West Midlands) is likely to undermined through excessive release of greenfield sites in counties such as Worcestershire, and even here greenfield sites may increasingly be developed before brownfield. In this scenario, the region would revert to the dispersal of economic activity and people away from the older urban areas. Isn't this also happening in the United States by a not-so-funny co-incidence ? So much for evidence-based policy making.

Please see also my blogs @

• http://limits-2-growth.blogspot.com (subtitled : Deconstructing the New Labout Project)
• http://smartlimits2growth.wordpress.com

One the Benefits of Health, Marriage and Family etc

In an interview with Channel 4 News's John Snow, an Islamic Cleric, since deported although his large family remain here, had the candour to say that he had enjoyed the benefits of living in Britain, including state benefits. Let's face it, at least he was being honest !

Now the Conservative Party have become very vociferous on the benefits of marriage and the family recently. I seem to remember that Ian Duncan Smith had to resign, in part, for employing his wife's administrative services, and, more recently, Derek Conway MP for paying his two sons (handsomely) as research assistants, although it wasn't clear that they had done any work.

Let's face it, Britain is a nation on the make where "state benefits" are concerned, whatever form these may take. Those in high office are just as culpable as those they regard as "the underclass", and so is just about every class in between.

I, for one, have become increasingly sympathetic to those claiming incapacity benefit, although I've never been a claimant myself, not yet anyway. However, I've found it so difficult to see an NHS doctor in recent years, that I'm seriously considering asking for a state medical, if such things exist these days. There might be some benefit in it for me after all !

We Are Not Being Served !

There has been a flurry (or should that be storm ?) of correspondence in my local paper recently about the wages of local government officers. Many feel these to be too high, and the upmarket vehicles on display in the council's car park are a particular gripe. My own view is that this is a difficult issue. Some council work does need to be well rewarded, to attract and retain high quality staff. However, the remuneration "package" for the new chief executive of said local authority was reported by a local councillor to be approaching £200K, which seemed rather steep, even by the standards of overpaid and under worked GPs.

I have to say that I was particularly unimpressed by a recent encounter with another new director (bearing the name "communities" in her job title) of the same council. A"stakeholder group" meeting for a major PFI project was in danger of being cancelled because of low attendance, so I thought I'd better go (in a voluntary capacity I hasten to add). The meeting was packed with paid staff from other local institutions, with rather fewer people, like myself, attending in the public interest. Needless to say, there was a great deal of waffle by the public sector cronies, and a few probing questions and points made from those attending in their own unpaid time.

At the end of it all, the new local authority director, a busty woman, bearing a passing resemblance to the character of Mrs Slocum in that classic British comedy series "Are You Being Served ?" - who'd spent a good deal of time fiddling with her earrings during the meeting (I'm sure you know the type !) - approached me to ask how I came to be in attendance (incidentally I was invited !) She clearly hadn't liked my contributions - obviously a reality check too far - and was obviously hoping to exclude me from future sessions, something I wouldn't mind, having only attended out of a sense of public service....and local authorities wonder why they can't attract high calibre councillors !

As for Mrs "Director" Slocum, I'm afraid she lacked both customer service skills and any sense of humour : both core competences for her position, I should think. Therefore, dock her pay, I say !

The Nationalisation of Northern Rock

News that Northern Rock is to be nationalised does not come as a surprise. There was a certain inevitability about yesterday's announcement. The prospect of an increasing number of "uncommercial" ventures having to be bailed out by the UK Government also looms. This Government's own over-optimistic faith in the god of economic growth, together with poor regulation of the economy, are the root causes of the present predicament. But would a change of government save the situation ? As one yet to be convinced by the "substance", as distinct from "spin", of the other political parties, I doubt it.

PS The following article pretty much sums up my take on Northern Rock :

"Life on Mars: Brown and Darling go back to the 70s
Richard Hunter, head of UK equities, Hargreaves Lansdown
February 18 2008

It seems the retro-fashion for all things 1970s has now extended to the corridors of Whitehall.

The decision to nationalise (albeit temporarily) Northern Rock is one that will not have been taken lightly and it may yet prove - although by no means guaranteed - to have been the "least worst" option, to use what has become Northern Rock's catchphrase.

In the 1970s, a number of faltering British companies were taken back into public ownership in an effort to revive their fortunes. Rolls-Royce in 1971 (subsequent privatisation did not take place until 1987), British Leyland and British Aerospace were among those nationalised, with the likes of the banking arm of Johnson Matthey following on in the 1980s.

In the mid to late 1980s, the trend was reversed with the Conservative government's decision to privatise a number of businesses in an attempt to promote wider share ownership, which saw the likes of British Telecom, British Gas and British Airways becoming quoted companies".

A Non-Elected Chancellor of the Exchequer ?

There were murmurings on the radio this morning about the prospect of a Cabinet re-shuffle. I thought we'd just had one (see below). Of course this may have gone unnoticed by some !

The current Chancellor of the Exchequer was identified as someone on the transfer list, with Ed ("I've got the") Balls named as a possible successor. I won't repeat my views on Balls.

Personally, I might favour a Non-Elected Chancellor, following the precedent of Lord Digby de B'rm. Now let me think....Richard Branson and Virgin Treasury Services perhaps. Ho, Ho, Ho !

Core Incompetences have Serious Consequences

Today's resignation of Peter Hain MP may have come as a surprise to his colleagues. The holder of two offices of state, Work and Pensions together with Wales, the career of Mr Hain seemed on upward spiral. No doubt he'll be back, but let his immediate fate be a reminder to holders of high office, that core incompetences have serious consequences !

Ken's Kitchen Cabinet : A Case of Pot & Kettle ?*

* In an old saying, the pot stands accused of calling the kettle black.

I'm going to continue with the culinary theme in this reflection on the politics of Ken Livingstone's "Kitchen Cabinet". Ken was, of course, once a restaurant critic for his now hated London Standard.

Unfortunately I missed Channel 4's "Dispatches" programme the other evening about "The Court of Ken". However, the Radio 4 Today show has covered some of the issues raised by Dispatches, and this morning The Mayor of London was on air to answer some of these.

Quite a lot of attention, it seems, has fallen on the activities of one Lee Jasper, whom I seem to remember (from my London days) advises the Mayor on race relations and police matters.

It also seems that Mr Jasper has had a major falling out with former journalist Trevor Phillips, previously head of the Commission for Race Equality (CRE) and now Chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

I should say, incidentally, that, like many people, I feel that Britain is a less equal place than it was, say, during the days of Ken Livingstone's earlier incarnation as Leader of the Greater London Council, and the status of human rights may also have declined during the same period.

It may also be the case that the "Race Relations Industry", as many people call it, has acquired something of the daftness and general excesses of the Old Labour trade unions, with deep simmering enmities, which occasionally boil over.

Now not so long ago, probably during the latter days of the CRE, Trevor Phillips was also on the Radio 4 Today Programme, responding to charges of media manipulation on race (? and religious) issues by, I think, Mr Jasper.

Mr Phillips responded with reference to the case of "the pot and the kettle" (using these or similar words), meaning that the Mayor of London's Office (capable of, in my view, more spin than the spin cycle on a washing machine) was hardly "white" itself on matters of media manipulation.

Funny how old sayings strike a cord missing
In these contemporary storms in a teacup...
I could go on.... but hear the kettle hissing !

New ! Political Celebrity Kitchen Sink Drama

Has that onetime demi-god of New Labour become its unholy fool ? Yes, I'm talking about the Schools/Children's Secretary Ed Balls again. Whilst the world's financial kitchens (or should that be markets) were in turmoil, the one time Chief Secretary to the Treasury was in the news talking about the spaghetti sauce, stir fries and simple curries that every English school child should know how to cook. However, when pressed about the state of the British economy, he seemed to have gone off the boil, answering without the sauce (or should that be balls ?) we've come to expect of Ed. My guess is that that he's preparing for one of those reality TV shows which keep politicians past their sell-buy date going. I'm looking forward to Ed's double act with his missus, Housing Minister Yvette Cooper. Now that would be a real Kitchen Sink Drama. Perhaps I'll do a treatment for the show.

The Balls of St Trinians ?

I see that the well-known educational institution of St Trinians has received a cinematic revamp. In the light of recent government announcements, perhaps a sequel called "The Balls of St Trinians" is called for. It's time these New Labour types were treated with the laughter and derision they merit. Do I feel another seasonal e-pantomime approaching ?

We Don't Need No Education Secretary.....

Just as the performance of Britain's school education system is looking rather shaky : ie no better, and on some indicators worse than it was pre-1997, the supposed Schools (Education) Secretary seems to have disappeared. Ed Balls is now, it seems, Secretary of State for Children and Families, with a portfolio majoring on "play" and especially ball games. Santa, please bring me some of Ed's new sparkling balls, so that I can stick them on my seasonal tree ! Oh yes, and if the BBC don't get more critical of all this bollocks, I'll start to think that the Panamanians are running British public media.

People who can't remember anything before 2000

The present case of a man who claims not to remember anything that happened to him before the year 2000 comes as no surprise to me whatsoever. It seems that many people involved in economic management, planning, and housing have this problem. Personally, I'm looking forward to the day Yvette Cooper buys a house in Panama, and husband Ed Balls disappears only to return with feigned memory loss of anything he did before 2000 (or more recently perhaps). I'm sure, however, that both will have some difficult questions to answer at some point in their lives.

Planning, Propaganda and the Politics of Meltdown

Back in 1999 I became aware that there was a certain Stalinist tendency within the "New Labour Project" with aspirations to demolish and re-construct the planning system. Since then, a large number of announcements to this effect have ensued, and, fortunately, rather less action. Yes, there is indeed a certain ineptitude about "The Project" which can usually be relied upon.
The question then arises as to whether the latest set of proposals for the planning system, new power generation and transport infrastructure etc will be subject to the same sort of systemic problems. My guess is yes, they will. Moreover, I suggest something of a meltdown may now be on the cards, and I'm not talking about nuclear power, but perhaps something more akin to the bathos of recent references to Mr Bean.

Carry on Darling, This is Ed's Balls Up !

I find myself in the rare position of offering my support to the Chancellor of the Exchequer today. There may be systemic failures in the way this Government manages the economy and their internal communications, but neither the Chancellor nor the former head of HM Revenues and Customs should have to fall on their swords over these. If any heads should roll, they should be those of "teflon types" like the awful Ed Balls. As former Chancellor Brown's "Representative on Earth" Balls was, after all, instrumental in paving the way for the present debacle.It is,therefore, ironic/appropriate (depending upon your point of view !) that the current crisis should involve child benefit payment records, when Balls like to style himself "The Children's Secretary" (and, yes, he does look like a big fat school boy !).

Some Personal Reflections on Long (& Short) Haul Travel

I've made 2 visits to the United States : the first to New York State in 1978; and the second to California in 1991. Both were of a short duration (ie a fortnight or so), and involved family business and visits to friends, rather than pure tourism. My visit to New York also extended to a further few weeks in the Caribbean, taking in short stays on Grand Bahama and Aruba. Between 1984-5, I took a rather longer "working holiday" to Australia, incorporating a "stop-over" in the Philippines on the way out, and an unintended (but nevertheless interesting and enjoyable) stay in Papua New Guinea. These, other than some back-backing in Israel and Egypt, are the sum total of my adolescent/adult long-haul travel. Although, it should be said that I also visited Australia and the Far East in the mid 1960s, as an infant, travelling mainly by ship. With regard to short-haul travel in Europe, I've done a fair amount of this, roughly half for "holidays" and the rest work-related. Quite a lot of this used, incidentally, rail, bus and ferry services. So I've done a fair amount of travelling in my time, but have made only 4 short-haul trips to Europe since the mid 1990s, and none since early 2001. It is now nearly 7 years since I visited another European country. So why have I become not only very grounded, but very little travelled at all in recent, and, indeed, not so recent, years.

The truthful answer is that I'm really not quite sure why I've become so grounded. Other activities and commitments have taken not only a time precedence to travel, but also a financial one. I've never been a big holiday person, although I've enjoyed work-related travel, and visiting people I know who live abroad. Environmental concerns have played their part, particularly after I visited California (the San Francisco/Berkeley/Santa Cruz and Yosemite areas), but these are by no means the exclusive reasons for my non-travelling, although a convenient excuse these days. I should also say that I now have an extremely low carbon footprint (by over-developed country standards), neither having a car nor, except very infrequently, travelling in other peoples : something I do naturally point out to other people from time to time. However, whilst there are undoubted environmental benefits to my lifestyle, and also personal health and fitness advantages as well, these may not be the main reason for my increasing groundedness. Indeed, I sometimes feel that some spiritual or more deep ecological force may be at work, for the interest and enjoyment I derive from my more local focus has been immense : at least commensurate with the pleasure and stimulation I used to derive from travel. Moreover, I meet lots of people from foreign lands these days in my everyday life, so feel less of a need to visit their countries.

All this said, I do feel the occasional desire to spread my wings again, but then I remember my last budget flight to Ibiza in 1997, or even my business-class return trip from Geneva in 2001, and still seem stubbornly unmotivated to return to the air. Am I just sad ? I really don't know. All this recalls a conversation with London Mayor Ken Livingstone in 2000 (Purple Ken as he was then) who seemed really chuffed to have travelled by helicopter from Brighton to London, when there was some problem on the railways, whilst he criticised me for using a car in the Capital, although on that occasion I actually needed a vehicle for various reasons. So perhaps, unconsciously, in my groundedness I'm a victim of other people's piety, and have unwittingly internalised this somewhere a long the line, losing my will to travel to some voodoo-like force. Interesting thought. Could this be the long and and the short of it all ?

Crisis, What Crisis ? : The Economy, Stupid !

I very much hope that the relocation of Sybil the Cat from Edinburgh to Downing Street heralds a more robust approach to government policy. The fact is that much of the economy has been poorly regulated for too long. Indeed a decline in the standards of economic regulation probably co-incided with the departure of Humphrey the Cat from No 10 early on in the New Labour regime. Now that things have really hit a rocky patch - yes, I'm talking about the finances of Northern Rock - we need rather more substance in the work of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other government departments. After all, this is the first time a British financial institution has needed to be rescued by the Bank of England since the 1970s. As for those politicians and commentators who maintain "Crisis, What Crisis ?", the response must surely be : "The Economy, Stupid !".

On the Numinosity of "Stalin's Russia"

For once, I can sympathise with Jeremy Paxman, sometimes a rather bullying interviewer of recalcitrant politicians, as he likens the increasing "management" of British television media - Paxman works as a presenter for BBC television - to "life in Stalin's Russia".

The metaphor of "Stalinism", generally used humorously - Stalin may have appreciated this as he apparently had a sense of humour, albeit a rather dark one - has been used increasingly widely to highlight certain tendencies in British politics and the administration of the "public interest".

An article by Professor Robert Service, an Oxford academic and Russian specialist, in The New Statesman a couple of years ago, in which then Prime Minister Tony Blair was likened to Stalin, seems to have fired a wide range of imaginations, for instance that of a former Cabinet Secretary (this time with reference Gordon Brown) and now Jeremy Paxman.

Paxton notes certain Stalinist tendencies in British TV, notably the BBC, including an obsession with new technology, with the Media increasingly technology rather than content driven, and ultra-sensitivity to the opinion/reactions of Jo Public. However, what he really seems to be annoyed about is the heavy-handed administration of the BBC.

Now it seems to me that whilst the BBC, and British broadcast media generally, still has many great things going for it, there are certain issues which are now rarely covered, or acknowledged as having a important role in other social trends which have a very high profile coverage indeed.

One of these trends, for instance, is increasing gang-related violence amongst young people, which has recently led to a number of tragic deaths amongst teenagers, and even children, in the major urban areas of England.

This gang-related violence is typically ascribed to one major cause : the breakdown of the traditional family. This may be a important factor, but another issue - the fact that many young people have no expectation of ever securing work sufficiently rewarding to enable them to live a normal life - is another factor which receives virtually no media coverage at all.

For the "labour dimension" of the British economy is virtually a no-go area for the Media today, notwithstanding that we have, in name at least, a Labour Government in England (but no longer in Scotland, Wales - except in coalition - and Northern Ireland).

The increasing political "dis-integration" of the United Kingdom is also an issue which is under-reported in the broadcast media, which remains London, and to a lesser extent South East England, focussed in the extreme : something noted by the present government of Scotland.

This brings me to what Josef Stalin would have regarded as one of his greatest successes : the creation of a largely artificial reality in the former Soviet Union, which the public bought (and were coerced) in to, and which was administered by the professional classes, with frequent (Stalin-instigated) resort to largescale gang violence, and occasional foreign military escapades.

Stalin's Soviet Union was the ultimate shadow reality. He understood profoundly the darker side of human nature (perhaps even the human soul) and manipulated this masterfully for many years. He was, himself, the ultimate gang leader.

Perhaps it is the case that "gang culture" has infiltrated wider English society to such an extent that it is now running our country. All Hail, Gordon's Gang ! The professional classes do indeed seem to have rallyed to its ranks, at least until they are safely (or perhaps not so safely unless they work in the public sector) drawing their pensions.

And, yes, every now and then someone, like Jeremy Paxman, from The Establishment raises their head above the parapet. I wonder what Stalin would have made of that particular "Cloud-Dweller"* ! Of course, I'm just referring to Mr Paxman's physical stature.

* A term which Stalin might have used for media types whom he didn't regard as "dangerous" to his regime.

London : Avoiding Apocalypse through Timely Action

I've just caught the Internet trailer for a new British disaster movie called Flood, which opens on 24 August. This film appears to offer a fairly apocalyptic vision of the impact of major flooding on London. Let's hope that is doesn't herald some catastropic event in 2012 (no I'm not referring to the London Olympics !), which is widely predicted to be a year of profound global transformation or "The Great Change". This "Change" sounds fairly apocalyptic in some accounts, but forecasting the end of the world has proved unpredictable to date. Nevertheless, there would seem to be a real probability of a major tidal surge in the direction of London by 2030. So instead of faffing around with projects like the Thames Gateway Bridge (if the project still goes by this name), I would suggest that organisations with a key role in the future of London look to better flood risk management in the Thames Gateway.....and get a move on !