The Duchess Goes Shopping
Waitrose must be laughing their heads off, with all the pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge in their store in Menai Bridge in papers like the Mail. They won’t get an advert like that, for under a seven figure sum.
This country has problems and we won’t solve them without a bit of feel good factor. Let’s hope that the Duke and Duchess can provide it.
What is the Truth about Pakistan’s Links with Bin Laden and the Taliban?
I have said before that Pakistan’s Intelligence Services should have known more, but I have now read this analysis from Andrew North of the BBC. Read it.
It is all very murky and if Pakistan doesn’t sort itself out soon, then I am afraid one of its neighbours may well do the job for it.
The Ridiculous Tube Strikes
The RMT is calling a series of strikes on the Tube over the next few weeks. If ever there was a ridiculous set of strikes it is these.
The facts are a bit cloudy but it would appear that two drivers have been sacked. Transport for London says one thing and the RMT says another. Apparently, the cases of the two men are going before an Employment Tribunal.
So surely, all parties should cool off until the results of that!
The interesting things to read are the comments on the various news items on the BBC, The Times and other serious media. I have searched extensively, and can’t find any comment in favour of the drivers actions. As several thousand of them voted for the strikes, surely one or two could put a few words together to explain why they are striking.
In my view this strike and some of the others that have proceeded it is not about the issues, but is a result of the fact that the RMT has seen the writing on the wall of the future and doesn’t like it.
At present on the Victoria and Jubilee lines, the drivers effectively close the doors when everything is clear and start the train in the station and then it proceeds automatically until the next one. The Victoria line has had this method of operation since 1967. So surely, all lines will be updated to work this way in the next few years.
So in effect drivers will not drive the train anymore, but will effectively be train captains managing the train and its passengers. Obviously in an emergency, they would have an important role to play.
But because of the automation it is only one small step to drive the trains remotely. Even if this doesn’t happen, as costs in public services come under pressure, automation will mean that drivers can work safer and in a less stressful environment.
So as they are well-paid would many feel they don’t need the Union!
In other words, this strike may be more about Union survival, than any individual grievance.
It was the same in the printing industry, where in the 1960s and 1970s, the unions put vast numbers of companies out of business because of their attitude and refusal to accept new technology. My father was a printer at the time and his business was ruined because new technology made his business easy to bring in house. The unions only had one place of power and that was newspapers. So we had days without papers and all sorts of Spanish practices. The Times even shut for a year to reform its working practices.
Hopefully we won’t see anything as drastic as that, but Transport for London must stand up to the bullying tactics of the RMT. They in turn, should behave like a responsible union.
Both parties should also wait for the Employment Tribunal.
It is the least Londoners could ask for.
Littering From Cars
The government is thinking about allowing councils to fine people £80 for throwing litter from cars.
Good.
But they should also stop people throwing litter into my letter box!
Drugs in Prisons
A prison officer has been sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring to smuggle mobile phones and possibly drugs into Feltham Prison.
Read about it all here.
The report quotes a Prison Service report which says.
The unpalatable but inevitable conclusion is that corrupt staff constitutes a significant supply route for drugs into prisons.
As many people end up in prison because of a drug problem, surely we should have a major rethink about crime and punishment. Prison should rehabilitate and not be a place, where drugs are freely available.
Unholy Water
There are reports on BBC London that Zam Zam water from Mecca containing arsenic is being sold in the UK. According to Wikipedia, Zam Zam water is prohibited from being exported from Saudi Arabia. So what does that mean about the water being sold in the UK?
I’ve never found any problems with London tap water.
Or is it just that religion gets people to do things, that their knowledge, intelligence or just common sense tells them is wrong? After all, transporting water half way around the world is an ecological crime anyway, as it generates just so much carbon dioxide.
But then many religions have been used by dodgy characters to fleece believers for thousands of years.
The Sellafield Five Are Released Without Charge
When I first saw this story a few days ago, I thought it was quite a waste of police time. So now the five, who were arrested have been released without charge.
How much did this all cost the taxpayer?
Strength Through Adversity
Sarah Stevenson has just become World Champion at her weight in taekwondo in South Korea.
The 28-year-old from Doncaster only made a belated decision to compete in South Korea as both her parents are seriously ill – her mother Diane has terminal cancer and her father, Roy, a brain tumour.
But she still won. Well done, Sarah!
Stories like this give me the strength to continue my fight!
The Good Thing About AV
AV or Alternative Vote is something that politicians can’t agree on.
I was tending towards saying No, but mainly for conservative reasons. Note the small cee.
However a few days ago, I was at the Angel and both sides were handing out their leaflets. On the bus home, many people were reading the leaflets and that was a surprise and a good thing. Anthony Berry would have approved. I say he would have approved as I remember he was one of three candidates who came to my school at probably a General Election in 1964. Whereas the other two candidates, brought out their parties’ lines, Berry concentrated on how voting was a right and we should always exercise it.
So when there was a meeting on AV tonight, I went along. It was a genteel meeting, with both sides putting their views eloquently and answering some intelligent questions from the floor. Wouldn’t it be so much better, if Parliament behaved better and dare I say it more independently and scientifically correct.
I think that AV will not have much effect on the two major problems of our elections; the mediocre nature of many of the candidates and the low turn out. Although with better candidates would we get a better turn out.
I asked a question about which system would bring forward better candidates, but neither side seemed to think it would make much difference!
As the debate proceeded, I came to a logical conclusion, that perhaps AV might improve the candidates in certain circumstances.
I should say that I’ve been represented by some good MPs, I’ve met a couple too, who retained their seats because they looked after their constituents. And I’d also met a couple of real political hacks, who ticked all the right boxes, but who you’d never trust.
But thinking about my last constituency, Newmarket, AV might persuade someone from the racing industry to come forward. They would not stand a chance under first-past-the-post, but under AV many in the town would place them second. So AV might mean that important single issues in a constituency, could give a good single issue candidate a chance. We might see a few more good doctors, like the one in Kidderminster.
On the other hand, single issue parties like UKIP and the BNP might benefit. Which in my view would be a bad thing!
So I think I might have changed my mind and will say Yes to AV.
On the other hand, I might spoil my paper.
The Anonymous Widower 