Liz’s Triumph
The Queen’s visit to Ireland has passed so far without any serious hitches or gaffs. But then visiting Ireland, where nearly all the population are hospitable to all visitors, is a lot less tricky than visiting some of the places governed by some of the worst or the worst, she has been told to go by successive governments. I’m sure she really enjoyed her visits to Saudi Arabia and Rumania!
There might however be a problem for the Queen on the horizon, where Ireland is concerned.
Currently, her horse, Carlton House, is favourite for the Derby. He also has entries in the Irish and French Derbys.
Many Epsom Derby winners have followed up their victory at Epsom, with a run at The Curragh. And of course, there are horses, who have run in Ireland because of minor problems that prevented them competing at Epsom.
The permutations are endless.
But it is not inconceivable that a horse as good as Carlton House is, will run in Ireland.
So as with the visit to Ireland, it’s all so far and so good!
But she has undoubtably shown politicians how to forgive and forget and move on constructively. And many of those she’s met in Ireland have shown the same positive attitude.
So many of those in trouble spots around the world could follow this lead in looking forward rather than hundreds of years into the past.
A Project Management Approach to Better Justice
The whole justice system from victims, families on the brink of divorce and criminals, to the courts and ultimately prison is very much like an enormous project, such as building a new railway line or refurbishing a fleet of airliners.
The objectives are very similar.
- Complete everything on-time and as close to the budget as possible.
- Get a high satisfaction rating from customers, who in this case are victims, their families and in the civil courts those that litigate and seek redress.
- Do all this within strict resource constraints, such as numbers of police, courts, judges and other legal staff.
So how would a good project manager build his railway line to meet the objectives?
There is an old phrase that Time is Money and I believe that this is something that the justice system in all its manifestation doesn’t address.
I can remember C coming home one day and saying that she’d finally got the details of a divorce settled, ten years after she first took on the case.
And yesterday we had the news that a new trial in the saga of Stephen Lawrence would start in November.
I doubt I could find more than a handful of people, if any, who thought either of these examples acceptable.
A good project manager would analyse why various jobs took a long time and take action to make sure that the delays were not repeated.
C often said these long times in divorce were often down to plain vindictiveness on the part of both parties and she would often ponder how they ever stopped rowing long enough to get married. There is even a story, I’ve heard of two barristers, who when they divorced managed to blow all their money on other lawyers. Somehow those that waste time in the divorce system, should be made to pay more, so that those who need help can get it.
With criminal trials it has often puzzled me, how supposedly similar trials take a very much variable time to get to court. This timeline of the Ipswich murders shows how a quite complicated case, was brought to court in just 14 months. Other much less complicated cases take a lot longer to get to court, with all that entails in terms of costs of remand and stress for the witnesses.
We must not cut corners, as quality of justice is paramount, but surely some analysis will lead to ways to improve the speed of the courts.
With all the fuss about Ken Clarke’s comments on rape, it seems to me that emotion has got the better of a decent analysis, which might indicate a few simple procedural changes, that will ensure a less stressful time for the victim and more cases coming to a result where the guilty is rightly convicted.
I remember seeing an article some years ago, where when there was a cot death, one police force tried to send an officer, who had suffered a similar experience. This simple change to procedure, showed a degree of compassion and care and removed a lot of bad emotion and accusations from the system. In my view it showed how if police respond to an incident properly in the first place they might save a lot of problems later on. First response seems to be getting better, but I’ve only reported a couple of crimes in my 63 years. Two were in France and if the French system hasn’t changed, we have nothing to learn there.
To summarise.
- A project manager calculates the resources they need.
- They then look at the systems to get each task done in the most efficient way.
- Analysis is always performed to see if speed and quality can be improved and costs can be better controlled.
In my view, with forty years experience of project mangement, it is getting better as some of the rail projects like the Western Curve at Dalston and the improvements to container routes have been done on time and under budget.
Let’s hope that those who administer the justice system are prepared to learn from management successes elsewhere!
Scottish Devolution
They are debating this old chestnut on Radio 5 Live at the moment.
Apparently there has been a poll in The Sun, which says that those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are more in favour of devolution than the Scots.
If they do leave the Union, then can they please take the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers and its debts with them. And they can keep that banker, Fred the Shred too!
The question has to be asked as to whether the EU would admit Scotland. After all Spain has regions that would like independence and may vote against, as it doesn’t want Spain to split.
The AV Referendum was Good for the Tory Vote
A political commentator has just said on Radio 5, that the referendum on AV was good for the Tories as it got their supporters out to vote in the council elections. They did win more seats and councils despite cutting spending, which was not to be expected. Ross Hawkins also said the following on his blog.
The prime minister and Conservative leader has managed to win seats while cutting public spending, something few pundits expected.
David Cameron said the coalition was “as good today as it was a year ago”
The Conservatives emerged from these elections with more English councillors and councils, and two extra Welsh Assembly members.
There were downsides – losing the party leader in Wales, and a relatively poor performance in Scotland.
But these elections was a resounding success for the Conservatives, especially in England.
If the Conservatives can do this well in the face of the biggest spending cuts it either shows that people will vote Tory whatever, or voters understand the mess the country is in better than most politicians think. In my view, judging by the way AV literature was being read on the Dalston Omnibus and the positive vote for AV in this area of London, I would not discount the latter.
Don’t Blame Me I Voted Yes!
Usually, I’m the one who gets blamed for everything. After all, I’ve had so much bad luck and sorrow lately, that people feel that to heap a bit more on me won’t do any harm!
But if you’re disappointed that you voted Yes to AV and didn’t win, then you can’t blame me, as I did the same! At least though after the result and a good lunch with a friend in Carluccio’s, I had enough strength to take back the bottomless box to IKEA and get it replaced and buy another four!
One of their guys told me that bottomless Branas boxes are a bit of a problem. So when you buy them check you have the five parts and they are all strapped together. After all, what use is a Branas without an as?
Scot Nats Sink Prudence’s Aircraft Carriers
It looks like Prudence’s jobs bribe to Scotland of the manufacture of two unnecessary aircraft carriers has been sunk by the performance of the SNP in the elections yesterday. Labour voters have deserted the party in droves.
I watched the most unusual double act this morning on the television when Alex Salmond of the SNP and Annabel Goldie of the Scottish Conservatives had a forthright discussion on their cooperation in the future.
Scotland has a lot of problems, like funding the NHS and universities, poor health, too much drinking and creating worthwhile jobs that will last.
I wish the new government of Scotland a lot of luck. They’ll need it.
I have said many times, that Gordon Brown will rank alongside Lord North as one of our worst Prime Ministers. It would seem now that his country and his supposedly loyal supporters there have deserted his policies.
Libel Reform Campaign
I received this letter from the Libel Reform Campaign, whose aim is to stop the law of libel being used to silence critics.
Look out on BBC 1 tonight at 10:40pm for the next part of the BBC libel series: See You in Court. The program will follow science writer Simon Singh through his case and through the beginning of the Libel Reform Campaign.
We have been scrutinising the Government’s draft Defamation Bill since its publication in March, and tomorrow we will be appearing before a joint committee of the Lords and Commons in Parliament to tell them what we think, and discuss the Government’s proposals. You can come along to Committee Room Six between 9:30 to 10:30am to support us, or watch online on the Parliament website [http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/draft-defamation-bill1/].
We’re heaping pressure on Government to ensure they deliver a bill that is fit for the internet age. The bill isn’t quite there yet so if you haven’t already done so, please ask your MP to sign EDM 1636, to show their support for substantive reforms [http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-11/1636]. You can find your MP and their email address at www.theyworkforyou.com.
I have written and urge everybody to do the same.
Here’s my letter.
I am writing as one of your constituents who has spent a lifetime developing ideas, that bring wealth, employment and better standards of living not just to this country, but hopefully the whole world. I am also deeply concerned about the effect our libel laws have on medicine, science, journalism and literature. I very much support the Libel Reform Campaign, especially as my late wife was a barrister, who knew the field of defamation and its limitations and excesses well, although she practised in a more worthwhile field.
I would urge you to sign cross-party EDM 1636 Libel Reform welcoming the publication of the Government’s recent draft defamation bill and calling for improvements to fully protect citizens’ rights and the public interest.
I believe, along with the Libel Reform Campaign, that any individual whose reputation is damaged by a false and defamatory statement should have recourse to the law. But beyond that we need to protect discussion of matters of public interest and expressions of opinion.
This draft bill recognises that England’s libel laws are unfair, outdated, complex and costly, and that as a result they chill free speech. It must ensure that final legislation matches our objectives.
Will you please sign EDM 1636 Libel Reform or if you can’t then pleasesign other EDMs that indicate support for its objectives?
Feel free to copy.
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.
To AV Or Not To AV
I probably won’t be voting in the AV referendum. Or I might spoil my paper by writing 1 in one and 2 in the other!
As quite a few papers have shown, there would have been little difference if we’d have AV for the last couple of elections. And anyway according to some of my Australian friends, there is a tendency for people to give the first candidate your first preference, the second your second and so on. So you are more likely to elect Charles Aab than Samantha Zyzzx!
There has been some well-written stories in the papers too. I like this one, which quotes Anthony Eden extensively.
At the Angel this morning, both pro- and anti-AV supporters were handing out leaflets.
To my surprise and I suspect to many politicians, when I got on the bus to go home, about half the people on the Dalston Omnibus were avidly reading the leaflets they had been given.
So does this mean that people actually take more interest in elections, than the turnout suggests?
Damned If He Does and Damned If He Doesn’t!
There are reports questioning what David Cameron will be wearing to the Royal Wedding. It looks like he will break with tradition and not wear a tailcoat.
My view is that as the Palace has said that you can wear either morning dress or a lounge suit, the decision is up to him.
It should not be determined by any of the press on any side of the political spectrum.
In some ways, I wonder if he’s hoping that something comes up and he can’t go!
The Anonymous Widower 