There is a Monty Python sketch that starts 'I think all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired'. There are a few variations on the internet but this is the closest to the one I remember learning as a teenager. It showed me the power that words have to persuade. It also highlighted how some politicians can talk and talk and say nothing.
I was reminded of this sketch yesterday because the Electoral Commission rejected the SNP's wording for the question on the referendum for Scottish independence. SNP ministers wanted to ask "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?" rather than the wording which will be used, "Should Scotland be an independent country?"With whom should the electorate agree?
Do the SNP ministers want voters to agree with right-thinking people? Well I'm sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up with being told about agreeing with the SNP on referenda. I'm certainly not, and I'm sick and tired of being told that I am.
Change the world
P.S. The title of the blog comes from a Michael Palin line in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 'Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony'.
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Monday, 28 January 2013
HS2 or H2S?
H2S, hydrogen sulphide, stinks as opposed to HS2, the high speed rail scheme, which may not stink depending on your view. Arguments for the scheme include the need for strong infrastructure to support a strong economy in which wealth will spread to the north. There will be environmental benefits because travellers will use the train rather than take a plane. On the other hand there will be an impact on the environment and on local communities as building takes place and there may be cheaper and better alternatives.
I am writing this blog because of a quote from a supporter of HS2, Pete Waterman "This makes London and Manchester so close that you could commute every day." I have generally thought of one hour as my commuting limit. Anything more than an hour takes out a large part of the day and the shorter the journey then the better it is. So this would not be an option for me.
The saving in time that will be achieved to get from Manchester to London will not be shaved, it will be almost cut in two from 2 hours 8 minutes to 1 hour 8 minutes and as technological achievement goes this is significant. On the other hand this is the best percentage improvement of all the stations involved. It may not be quite as enticing to travel from Edinburgh where commuting times will change from 4 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 39 minutes.
Let's stay with Manchester. Is it really that important to cut the travelling time? It only takes a couple of hours anyway. Are people really going to commute? The sort of person involved would live in the leafy suburbs of Manchester and would probably not work near Euston. Even if you just add 30 minutes in Manchester and in London (a conservative estimate) we are still talking about more than four hours travelling per day. It is difficult to agree with Pete. Would you commute?
A high speed train, by definition, cannot stop many times. which means the main benefit goes to those who live close to those few stations. As Manchester Airport is on this small list then maybe this will be a significant boost for the airport which would be able to serve London. This lends support to the criticism that HS2 is London-centric.
If this scheme goes through then maybe the environmental benefits will not be great because at the very centre of this debate is whether we should be looking for unbridled economic growth. Does it really matter if it takes a little longer to get across our small country? There are some who think we have no option, we have to have it. These people have not read Schumacher's Small is Beautiful.
It is a route for the rich. It is not a route for commuters, even rich ones. What is the point of going to great expense to save an hour and then find that journeys within London take over an hour? I am sensing a bit of a stink with HS2.
Change the world
I am writing this blog because of a quote from a supporter of HS2, Pete Waterman "This makes London and Manchester so close that you could commute every day." I have generally thought of one hour as my commuting limit. Anything more than an hour takes out a large part of the day and the shorter the journey then the better it is. So this would not be an option for me.
The saving in time that will be achieved to get from Manchester to London will not be shaved, it will be almost cut in two from 2 hours 8 minutes to 1 hour 8 minutes and as technological achievement goes this is significant. On the other hand this is the best percentage improvement of all the stations involved. It may not be quite as enticing to travel from Edinburgh where commuting times will change from 4 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 39 minutes.
Let's stay with Manchester. Is it really that important to cut the travelling time? It only takes a couple of hours anyway. Are people really going to commute? The sort of person involved would live in the leafy suburbs of Manchester and would probably not work near Euston. Even if you just add 30 minutes in Manchester and in London (a conservative estimate) we are still talking about more than four hours travelling per day. It is difficult to agree with Pete. Would you commute?
A high speed train, by definition, cannot stop many times. which means the main benefit goes to those who live close to those few stations. As Manchester Airport is on this small list then maybe this will be a significant boost for the airport which would be able to serve London. This lends support to the criticism that HS2 is London-centric.
If this scheme goes through then maybe the environmental benefits will not be great because at the very centre of this debate is whether we should be looking for unbridled economic growth. Does it really matter if it takes a little longer to get across our small country? There are some who think we have no option, we have to have it. These people have not read Schumacher's Small is Beautiful.
It is a route for the rich. It is not a route for commuters, even rich ones. What is the point of going to great expense to save an hour and then find that journeys within London take over an hour? I am sensing a bit of a stink with HS2.
Change the world
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Snow Joke
I had planned to travel to Manchester yesterday but I knew that snow would fall. I postponed my decision till the last moment when snow fell in Morecambe. If it snows here then it snows heavily elsewhere. The decision was the right one as Heavy snowfall left motorists stranded for hours in their cars on motorways in the north of England.
The M6 motorway was particular bad near Wigan and vehicles were stationary If I had no choice and had to travel in this kind of weather then I would make sure that I was not running low on fuel, had a blanket and warm clothing in the car and a thermos flask. The advice from the police was to stay in the car so it is strange that our Conservative MP, David Morris said "It's a surreal scene to be had. We've even been having snowball fights on the M6." The trouble is that a similar risk assessment for a school would have closed it. We don't want injury and illness caused by bad advice. I heard of one person who was stranded for seven hours. What about the risks of hypothermia and dehydration? What about those with existing medical conditions that would be exacerbated simply by a delay in their journey?
I should have thought that an MP would be more concerned with giving out good advice than commenting on surreal scenes. Moreover David Morris should have known that it was dangerous for people to get out of their cars, and it was irresponsible for him to appear to endorse such behaviour, He may not have thrown any snowballs but his use of the collective pronoun means that he has some collective responsibility for those actions. In his position he must bear more of that collective responsibility.
David also said "It was such an anomaly .. it took everybody by surprise. don't think the services really could have prepared for it." - which is just completely wrong, as it was well advertised in advance. Let's hope the information that the Morecambe MPs receives is better when it comes to voting in the House of Commons.
Change the world
The M6 motorway was particular bad near Wigan and vehicles were stationary If I had no choice and had to travel in this kind of weather then I would make sure that I was not running low on fuel, had a blanket and warm clothing in the car and a thermos flask. The advice from the police was to stay in the car so it is strange that our Conservative MP, David Morris said "It's a surreal scene to be had. We've even been having snowball fights on the M6." The trouble is that a similar risk assessment for a school would have closed it. We don't want injury and illness caused by bad advice. I heard of one person who was stranded for seven hours. What about the risks of hypothermia and dehydration? What about those with existing medical conditions that would be exacerbated simply by a delay in their journey?
I should have thought that an MP would be more concerned with giving out good advice than commenting on surreal scenes. Moreover David Morris should have known that it was dangerous for people to get out of their cars, and it was irresponsible for him to appear to endorse such behaviour, He may not have thrown any snowballs but his use of the collective pronoun means that he has some collective responsibility for those actions. In his position he must bear more of that collective responsibility.
David also said "It was such an anomaly .. it took everybody by surprise. don't think the services really could have prepared for it." - which is just completely wrong, as it was well advertised in advance. Let's hope the information that the Morecambe MPs receives is better when it comes to voting in the House of Commons.
Change the world
How do you get the ball back?
Charlie Morgan is the Swansea ball boy who decided to go against his principles and hold on to the ball when Chelsea's Edin Hazard wanted it back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd38KUjmOho
It is fairly obvious that ball boys should not keep hold of the ball and it is also fairly clear that ball boys should not be kicked. However Charlie has also been criticised by Pat Nevin who said "I'm very, very disappointed with how the ball boy acted. I say acted, he must have watched footballers the way he rolled around pretending to be more injured," My view is that Charlie could be on his way to a career in football as he knows how to get opposition players sent off.
Charlie did act. He appeared to be in a lot of pain, but if you have ever hurt your ribs then one thing you don't do is lift up your arm and gesticulate as your pain increases. Charlie missed that one as his expression was more concerned with criticising Hazard.
I hope that the authorities are lenient with Hazard who knew that he could not use his arms as that is a red card offence. The easiest way to get the ball loose was to toe poke it out. He didn't hurt the ball boy and got the ball back quickly. It would be nice to get some advice as to what footballers should do if ball boys refuse to give the ball back.
Change the world
It is fairly obvious that ball boys should not keep hold of the ball and it is also fairly clear that ball boys should not be kicked. However Charlie has also been criticised by Pat Nevin who said "I'm very, very disappointed with how the ball boy acted. I say acted, he must have watched footballers the way he rolled around pretending to be more injured," My view is that Charlie could be on his way to a career in football as he knows how to get opposition players sent off.
Charlie did act. He appeared to be in a lot of pain, but if you have ever hurt your ribs then one thing you don't do is lift up your arm and gesticulate as your pain increases. Charlie missed that one as his expression was more concerned with criticising Hazard.
I hope that the authorities are lenient with Hazard who knew that he could not use his arms as that is a red card offence. The easiest way to get the ball loose was to toe poke it out. He didn't hurt the ball boy and got the ball back quickly. It would be nice to get some advice as to what footballers should do if ball boys refuse to give the ball back.
Change the world
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
The Cost of Wind Farms
I drove along the West Cumbrian coast last week and saw the wind farm which is close to Whitehaven. I was speaking to a local man who told me that each turbine cost £21 million and did not see any way that they could be efficient. I thought that this capital cost was quite high and turbines should be efficient because we have used renewable energies for centuries and our ancestors did make efficient use of the resource. If the turbines did cost £21 million each then at least the manufacturer would make a profit which would eventually work itself back into the general economy. He then told me they were made in Germany.
Today I saw an article about a wind farm that is to be built near me in Heysham Heysham South Wind Farm The cost of three turbines will be £7.5 million and 'the wind farm would produce enough renewable energy for about 4,200 homes'. Now with some simple maths this means that each household pays less than £2000. According to my bills it would take me less than two years for these turbines to become cost effective. I know there are running costs but this gives me a much better idea as to whether renewable energy pays its way.
Some people don't like the look of the turbines (especially if they think there is no way they can be efficient) but the same has been said for any new innovation - we just get used to them. On the other hand I think they look great partly because they are using renewable energy. They can be noisy so we have to be careful where they go - but other forms of technology and nature itself all make noise. It isn't always windy and other sources of energy are required, but if I had to make a decision with these figures then I know how I would vote.
Change the world
Today I saw an article about a wind farm that is to be built near me in Heysham Heysham South Wind Farm The cost of three turbines will be £7.5 million and 'the wind farm would produce enough renewable energy for about 4,200 homes'. Now with some simple maths this means that each household pays less than £2000. According to my bills it would take me less than two years for these turbines to become cost effective. I know there are running costs but this gives me a much better idea as to whether renewable energy pays its way.
Some people don't like the look of the turbines (especially if they think there is no way they can be efficient) but the same has been said for any new innovation - we just get used to them. On the other hand I think they look great partly because they are using renewable energy. They can be noisy so we have to be careful where they go - but other forms of technology and nature itself all make noise. It isn't always windy and other sources of energy are required, but if I had to make a decision with these figures then I know how I would vote.
Change the world
Snow Closures
The snow has closed schools this week and I was listening to a phone-in on the radio in which it was felt that teachers should walk to their nearest school in order to keep them open. For me this is an excellent idea if the closure is purely because teachers can't get to school. If health and safety issues are involved then it may not be such a good idea.
There is always the thought that some pupils and staff may use bad weather as an excuse for a day off. However one argument put forward was that teachers use these days to prepare lessons and to do marking. If teachers are using this as an argument to avoid teaching at their nearest school then we have a serious problem, namely that teachers are under so much pressure that they need extra days for planning and marking. If this is the case then the implementation of these days should not depend on the vagaries of the weather.
Incredibly I also heard that those schools that remain open in adverse conditions have to count absences whereas schools that close have no absences. If this is true then it is a strong incentive to close!
Morecambe has escaped the worst of the weather as it often does. So compared to schools that have been affected then teachers will teach a few extra days in the year. This is hardly a way to run our schools.
Change the world
There is always the thought that some pupils and staff may use bad weather as an excuse for a day off. However one argument put forward was that teachers use these days to prepare lessons and to do marking. If teachers are using this as an argument to avoid teaching at their nearest school then we have a serious problem, namely that teachers are under so much pressure that they need extra days for planning and marking. If this is the case then the implementation of these days should not depend on the vagaries of the weather.
Incredibly I also heard that those schools that remain open in adverse conditions have to count absences whereas schools that close have no absences. If this is true then it is a strong incentive to close!
Morecambe has escaped the worst of the weather as it often does. So compared to schools that have been affected then teachers will teach a few extra days in the year. This is hardly a way to run our schools.
Change the world
Saturday, 19 January 2013
A&E closures: an accident (and emergency) waiting to happen
In July last year I wrote about the closure of Burnley A&E. Politics for Novices Burnley A&E The NHS Confederation were telling us that more closures should follow, and now in the Lancaster Guardian we read that Lancaster's is threatened. We can't say we didn't see it coming. Shortly after writing the blog I received a phone call from a Mail on Sunday reporter who asked if I had experienced personal hardship because of an A&E closure. Well it won't be hard to find people like this if Lancaster's A&E closes.
Many will have experienced problems caused by closures. Nobody wants these closures. They don't want them in Burnley, Lancaster or anywhere else. I set out my reasons why I didn't want the closures back in July and they are still as valid, but the greater concern is that we are arguing against closure with people who aren't interested. Savings will be made so they think that it must be good. We are arguing with people who think it is 7 miles from the Blackburn to the Burnley hospital (see my blog from 2nd July) when it is more than 16. If their statistics are so wrong then what chance do we have with more complex information that seems to indicate that closure is the best way forward?
Change the world
Many will have experienced problems caused by closures. Nobody wants these closures. They don't want them in Burnley, Lancaster or anywhere else. I set out my reasons why I didn't want the closures back in July and they are still as valid, but the greater concern is that we are arguing against closure with people who aren't interested. Savings will be made so they think that it must be good. We are arguing with people who think it is 7 miles from the Blackburn to the Burnley hospital (see my blog from 2nd July) when it is more than 16. If their statistics are so wrong then what chance do we have with more complex information that seems to indicate that closure is the best way forward?
Change the world
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
