Looking at the picture in the Guardian, it is quite noticeable that the officer involved (in the alleged fracas with the woman in the Bank of England protests about Ian Tomlinson) is not displaying his number while several of his colleagues are. It is quite frightening to see that the alleged officer looks about two feet taller that the lady concerned.
Apparently the alleged officer works in the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group.
Ah........
I remember footage of riot police from earlier times when the police just stood there and took any form of abuse from the protesters within batting an eyelid.
I do wonder whether it is time to rethink the Territorial Support groups completely. They have been implicated in a whole string of potential problematic incidents (to put it mildly) including the death of Ian Tomlinson.
In fact, one begins to wonder whether the groups should be closed down and have entirely new units formed in their place with a whole new set of training and guidelines.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The beauty of Ireland
We're just back from two weeks holiday in Ireland. We had three stop offs: Dublin, Killyleagh on Strangford Lough and Portstewart on the Antrim coast.
We went over on the ferry from Holyhead. We were informed on the PA system that the ferry was being steered by "me, Alan Jones, assisted by my colleague, Olwyn Jones". It was all very Welsh and almost like something out of Ivor the Engine.
I took part in the Great Dublin Run, which was 10 kilometres around Phoenix Park in Dublin. Phoenix Park is mind-blowingly B-I-G. I can vouch for that. I did a practice run round it and ended up getting lost. I ran for two hours in the end!
Here's a pic of the Wellington memorial in Phoenix Park. It is quite awesome:
We went over on the ferry from Holyhead. We were informed on the PA system that the ferry was being steered by "me, Alan Jones, assisted by my colleague, Olwyn Jones". It was all very Welsh and almost like something out of Ivor the Engine.
I took part in the Great Dublin Run, which was 10 kilometres around Phoenix Park in Dublin. Phoenix Park is mind-blowingly B-I-G. I can vouch for that. I did a practice run round it and ended up getting lost. I ran for two hours in the end!
Here's a pic of the Wellington memorial in Phoenix Park. It is quite awesome:
Dublin Zoo in the park, also, was a great visit. Dublin, as usual, was a great place to wander around. It was wonderful to see horses being used. In fact (and I say this in a very admiring and affectionate way) Dublin must be one of the few, if only, European capital cities where you have to occasionally sidestep horse manure on the pavement. It also has an absolutely superb tram system. The trams are gleaming new.
We went to Killyleagh on the shores of Strangford Lough. I've wanted to see Strangford Lough for a long time and wasn't disappointed. The exchange of waters/currents at each tide, in the narrows, is quite awesome to witness. At Killyleagh we had much excitement. We stayed in this castle:
More accurately, we were in the battlements, pictured below (our apartment was in the turret on the right):
It certainly had novelty value and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Killyleagh is a wonderful town which sports a great Irish pub, the Dufferin Arms. While there, I was taken by how Belfast seems to be the place to go if you want a job in TV continuity (and have an Irish accent). Both BBC1 and BBC2 have all their continuity links between programmes voiced from Belfast, even during the daytime. As does UTV. In the case of UTV, they are the only TV channel I know of in the UK which still have on-screen continuity announcers. So Belfast certainly seems to be the TV continuity capital of the UK, that's for sure.
I was struck by how most people in Dublin had dark hair but when we visited Downpatrick, further north, there were quite a few people who had fair hair. I wondered whether this was something to do with the Vikings (who visited around Downpatrick quite a lot) but I seem to remember that Dublin was founded by Vikings, so that doesn't necessarily follow.
While we were at Killyleagh I realised that it is mentioned in Prince Andrew's title. You know how the Royals have long titles "Duke of this" and "Earl of that"? Well, Prince Andrew is the Baron of Killyleagh. (His full title is: HRH Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward, The Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh, KCVO, ADC). It was quite an experience to actually see one of these places mentioned in these long royal titles.
We moved on to Portstewart and the Antrim coast. It was a great thrill to visit Bush Mills distillery and have a tour round. I was interested to discover that Jamesons and Paddy is bottled at Bush Mills. Indeed, the same water is used in Bush Mills, Jamesons and Paddy whiskey. Not a lot of people know that.
The Antrim coast is quite rightly a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are so many wonderful sites along it. Dunluce Castle - pictured below - is quite magical:
Then, of course, there is the Giant's Causeway. It is a mecca for overseas tourists. Our hostel at Portstewart was over-flowing with backpackers of many and varied nationalities. In itself it is quite an exceptional geological phenomenum. But it is also surrounded by the most wonderfully picturesque coast, with breathtaking views of Rathlin Island and Jura, Islay and the Mull of Kintyre in the distance. Here below is a shot of the Giant's Causeway (far distance) and one of the bays along side it. The Causeway has its famous hexagonal rocks. When you get there you realise that Mother Nature made quite a lot of attempts before she got the hexagonals quite right. Either side of the causeway there are nearly hexagonal rocks, round ones, irregular ones etc etc.
We travelled north and visited the ruins of Bishop Hervey's pad including Mussenden Temple - below:
But our final destination was the most breathtaking for me. Lough Foyle (below). It really is exceptionally beautiful.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
VAT cut has caused "remarkable" boost to sales
The Centre for Economics and Business research says that the VAT cut has boosted sales by £2.1bn. I wonder if their report could be thrust in the faces of Messrs Clegg & Cameron, both of whom stupidly said that the cut was having no benefit.
Update: Here is the full text of the CEBR "Forecasting Eye" release:
Credit where credit’s due – the VAT cut is working
Prior to the Pre‐Budget Report in November, cebr called for a temporary reduction in the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) of 5 per cent in order to encourage consumer spending and help limit the recession in 2009. Alistair Darling delivered half of what we suggested with a 2.5 per cent cut, citing restrictive EU legislation that precluded a bolder move. The cut of 2.5
per cent was set upon by critics. Opponents argued that it was too small to make a difference, it was overshadowed by the heavy retail discounting underway in any case, or that encouraging saving not consumption was required to rebalance the United Kingdom economy.
Now that we have retail figures from the Office for National Statistics for the first quarter of the cuts duration; it is time to take a view on whether the cut has helped the beleaguered retail sector so far. The figures are clear; the VAT cut is working. There was an immediate boost to the volume of retail sales after the cut was introduced on 1st December 2008. As
shown in the chart overleaf (below), annual growth in retail sales accelerated from 1.6 per cent in November 2008 to 2.6 per cent in December*. Sales growth accelerated further in January to 3.2 per cent, and registered a marginal decline in February to 3.0 per cent.
In our retail sector forecasts prior to November’s VAT cut, we expected to see retail sales continue to decline as the recession intensified, with growth reaching 0 per cent by February 2009. This is in‐line with the fall seen at the beginning of the 1990 recession. Assuming that reality would have followed our forecast in the absence of the policy measure, the VAT
cut has boosted retailers’ turnover by £2.1 billion over the first three months of its operation.
The current plan is to reverse the cut in January 2010 – this threatens to cause a consumer downturn and choke the fragile economic recovery. The Chancellor should extend the duration of the cut to July 2010 when the economy will be stronger. The rise in retail growth is even more remarkable given the economic context over this period. Following the intensification of the credit crunch in October and the bank bail‐out package the United Kingdom economy was in freefall. Indicators of business and consumer confidence declined markedly, interbank lending spreads rose to new record levels and lending
volumes fell to a trickle. We now know that the UK economy recorded its worst quarter since 1980, with a contraction of 1.6 per cent. Despite all of this, retail sales not only continued to grow, but growth accelerated.
The VAT cut boosts retail spend by £2.1 billion in first three months of operation – the Chancellor should extend it to July 2010
*Retail figures are expressed as the year-on-year change in the three month moving average of sales volume. This measure is considered the most representative by the Office for National Statistics due to the volatility of the retail sales index series
Update: Here is the full text of the CEBR "Forecasting Eye" release:
Credit where credit’s due – the VAT cut is working
Prior to the Pre‐Budget Report in November, cebr called for a temporary reduction in the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) of 5 per cent in order to encourage consumer spending and help limit the recession in 2009. Alistair Darling delivered half of what we suggested with a 2.5 per cent cut, citing restrictive EU legislation that precluded a bolder move. The cut of 2.5
per cent was set upon by critics. Opponents argued that it was too small to make a difference, it was overshadowed by the heavy retail discounting underway in any case, or that encouraging saving not consumption was required to rebalance the United Kingdom economy.
Now that we have retail figures from the Office for National Statistics for the first quarter of the cuts duration; it is time to take a view on whether the cut has helped the beleaguered retail sector so far. The figures are clear; the VAT cut is working. There was an immediate boost to the volume of retail sales after the cut was introduced on 1st December 2008. As
shown in the chart overleaf (below), annual growth in retail sales accelerated from 1.6 per cent in November 2008 to 2.6 per cent in December*. Sales growth accelerated further in January to 3.2 per cent, and registered a marginal decline in February to 3.0 per cent.
In our retail sector forecasts prior to November’s VAT cut, we expected to see retail sales continue to decline as the recession intensified, with growth reaching 0 per cent by February 2009. This is in‐line with the fall seen at the beginning of the 1990 recession. Assuming that reality would have followed our forecast in the absence of the policy measure, the VAT
cut has boosted retailers’ turnover by £2.1 billion over the first three months of its operation.
The current plan is to reverse the cut in January 2010 – this threatens to cause a consumer downturn and choke the fragile economic recovery. The Chancellor should extend the duration of the cut to July 2010 when the economy will be stronger. The rise in retail growth is even more remarkable given the economic context over this period. Following the intensification of the credit crunch in October and the bank bail‐out package the United Kingdom economy was in freefall. Indicators of business and consumer confidence declined markedly, interbank lending spreads rose to new record levels and lending
volumes fell to a trickle. We now know that the UK economy recorded its worst quarter since 1980, with a contraction of 1.6 per cent. Despite all of this, retail sales not only continued to grow, but growth accelerated.
The VAT cut boosts retail spend by £2.1 billion in first three months of operation – the Chancellor should extend it to July 2010
*Retail figures are expressed as the year-on-year change in the three month moving average of sales volume. This measure is considered the most representative by the Office for National Statistics due to the volatility of the retail sales index series
Oh dear. It's all kicking off in Palinworld
To go with the Easter chocolate I think we deserve a bit of nostalgia. Remember those halcyon days of.....well...er....only last August actually...when I could get thousands of hits just by mentioning the word "Palin"? Happy days....
Well come on, the lady hasn't gone into cold storage up there in Alaska. So why not indulge in a bit of nose-pokery into her world? Go on, you know you love it.
It's all been kicking off in Palinworld recently. Remember that she didn't/doesn't support explicit sex education programmes and backed "abstinence only" programmes?
And then....whoops....it became known that her daughter - 17 years old and unmarried - was five months pregnant.
Could have happened to any family, eh? But perhaps of public interest given Palin's stand on sex education.
But never mind. The father (without a single shot gun in sight) was going to marry the lass. So everything would be okey dokey, hunky dorey. And there - look - didn't he look great (right,abovish) in a suit on the stage at the Republican Convention standing by his girl?
Only then there was a slight hiccough. Something of a fly in the ointment.
The boy and the girl had a bit of a barney. They then had a bit of a cooling off period away from each other.
But never mind - all would be well we were told. He'll come back into the fold.
Except he won't now because he's been on US national television dishing the dirt on Palin (twice, by my count) and an unholy public slanging match has broken out. See below.
It really is terrible. Most unedifying.
Well come on, the lady hasn't gone into cold storage up there in Alaska. So why not indulge in a bit of nose-pokery into her world? Go on, you know you love it.
It's all been kicking off in Palinworld recently. Remember that she didn't/doesn't support explicit sex education programmes and backed "abstinence only" programmes?
And then....whoops....it became known that her daughter - 17 years old and unmarried - was five months pregnant.
Could have happened to any family, eh? But perhaps of public interest given Palin's stand on sex education.
But never mind. The father (without a single shot gun in sight) was going to marry the lass. So everything would be okey dokey, hunky dorey. And there - look - didn't he look great (right,abovish) in a suit on the stage at the Republican Convention standing by his girl?
Only then there was a slight hiccough. Something of a fly in the ointment.
The boy and the girl had a bit of a barney. They then had a bit of a cooling off period away from each other.
But never mind - all would be well we were told. He'll come back into the fold.
Except he won't now because he's been on US national television dishing the dirt on Palin (twice, by my count) and an unholy public slanging match has broken out. See below.
It really is terrible. Most unedifying.
Gordon Brown needs to personally apologise to Cameron, Osborne & Dorries today
Updated:
Since my last post, I have read the News of the World on the McBride emails.
My view of their gravity has increased considerably. I don't think Brown can ever recover from this debacle, which will now be an additional millstone around his neck, added to all the others. He's a dead man walking, now.
I am uncomfortable with how this has come about - through a medium that has carried so many "smears" about Labour. Sadie's Tavern clearly highlights the cynical side of this.
But that is a marginal point. Guido/Dale don't sit in Downing street. Brown does. McBride did when he wrote the emails. Despite reservations we might have about this as political activists who know many of the tricks and behind-the-scenes stuff, the public really don't want to hear "he did it first" type of schoolyard bleatings, especially when the emails were sent during work time by a highly paid employee of the crown, using government equipment and networks. Just look at the responses to Kevin Maguire when he tried to minimise the issues involved.
Iain Dale points to a very salient post from Labour MP Tom Harris. It's no good trying to diminish this. It was an almighty and horrendous mistake. It was an unforgiveable abuse of taxpayers money. Gordon Brown needs to come out today and personally apologise to all the people named in the emails. End of.
Since my last post, I have read the News of the World on the McBride emails.
My view of their gravity has increased considerably. I don't think Brown can ever recover from this debacle, which will now be an additional millstone around his neck, added to all the others. He's a dead man walking, now.
I am uncomfortable with how this has come about - through a medium that has carried so many "smears" about Labour. Sadie's Tavern clearly highlights the cynical side of this.
But that is a marginal point. Guido/Dale don't sit in Downing street. Brown does. McBride did when he wrote the emails. Despite reservations we might have about this as political activists who know many of the tricks and behind-the-scenes stuff, the public really don't want to hear "he did it first" type of schoolyard bleatings, especially when the emails were sent during work time by a highly paid employee of the crown, using government equipment and networks. Just look at the responses to Kevin Maguire when he tried to minimise the issues involved.
Iain Dale points to a very salient post from Labour MP Tom Harris. It's no good trying to diminish this. It was an almighty and horrendous mistake. It was an unforgiveable abuse of taxpayers money. Gordon Brown needs to come out today and personally apologise to all the people named in the emails. End of.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
....giving amateurism a bad name
With great excitement I have read the McBride/Draper emails. We are being told they indicate a poisonous intent within Labour high command. To some extent that is true, but we have seen far more effective campaigns used against Labour (e.g. over J. Prescott). No, the point is the monumental, mind-shattering naivety and stupidity of it all. ....Boyishly enthusiastic emails sent from government computers...and this man earnt 6 figures as a specialist in ..wait for it...communications! The biggest laugh for me was that the stupid muppet didn't even know how to insert hyperlinks into text! That says it all!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Fisheries update
Coincidentally (given yesterday's post) , I was reviewing some fishing information today (as you do). There is already an alternative name for pollock (or pollack). It's "lythe". So why the heck are Sainsbury's calling it "colin", which is the French name for a different fish, hake, when they could use an existing alternative? The answer, no doubt, exists in the mind of some marketing expert somewhere....
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