“But there are other dimensions of Ireland’s openness that are no less significant. One … is the elasticity of its labour supply: the capacity for its labour force to be augmented by immigration and depleted by emigration.”
So says the National Recovery Plan for Ireland &, according to a comment on the radio, buried in the small print is an assumption that an extra 100,000 migrants will leave.
This could be more bad news for the Cameron government if, as is likely, a large proportion head for the UK (migration always falls off with distance). Statistics released this morning show that in 2009 UK net immigration – which the government has set itself to reduce – rose by 35,000 to 198,000 compared with 163,000 the year before.
The difference is put down mainly to a fall-off in the number of British citizens moving abroad. In fact the total numbers of both immigrants & emigrants fell, by 23,000 & 59,000 respectively, when officially we would prefer it to be the other way round.
There is nothing the government can do directly to control these migration flows, except for those coming from outside the EU area. But trying to control the difference between two very large numbers – or even to estimate reliably what it is, never mind forecasting what it will be – is always hazardous.
Ask Denis Healey about the estimates of the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement which prompted the IMF to descend on Britain in 1976.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The illusion of income
All of a sudden it seems the difference between GDP & GNP has become real & important again, at least for commentators on Ireland.
In what Robert Peston calls a ‘refreshingly frank’ address Patrick Honohan, the governor of Ireland’s central bank said that GDP overstates the size of the Irish economy & productivity by including income which does not accrue to Irish residents. Last week a commentator on RTÉ1 said that part of the mad euphoria of the Celtic Tiger years came when Ireland’s GDP per head rose above that in the UK, & Irish residents formed the mistaken belief that they themselves were richer, which illusion would have been deflated if GNP per head had been compared.
But I wonder for how long might this remain true; with the rate at which our assets are being taken over might not UK GNP fall significantly below UK GDP.
In what Robert Peston calls a ‘refreshingly frank’ address Patrick Honohan, the governor of Ireland’s central bank said that GDP overstates the size of the Irish economy & productivity by including income which does not accrue to Irish residents. Last week a commentator on RTÉ1 said that part of the mad euphoria of the Celtic Tiger years came when Ireland’s GDP per head rose above that in the UK, & Irish residents formed the mistaken belief that they themselves were richer, which illusion would have been deflated if GNP per head had been compared.
But I wonder for how long might this remain true; with the rate at which our assets are being taken over might not UK GNP fall significantly below UK GDP.
Armies of hedgehogs
In our time, in this day & age, a skeptic is usually one who rejects at least one of the following assertions:
A skeptic is also one who has to proclaim loudly upon his beliefs & to demonstrate to the rest of us that what the believers believe to be true is just not.
Hedgehog armies, lined up to face down other hedgehogs.
They know only one big thing: when under attack roll youself into a ball & stick your prickles out.
They need to watch out for the foxes whose wider wilier experience can find ways of penetrating these defences. Or even, so we have been told in recent weeks, the badger.
- There is a God.
- There is no such thing as man-made climate change.
- Homeopathy works.
He knows these things to be untrue because there is no evidence for them.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Brown shoots of the economy
Brown shoots rather than green ones.
Two observations make me think that the economy is turning down.
There seems to be a fairly sudden increase in what we might call semi-professional crime of a kind we had almost forgotten hearing about on local news. For example two supermarket robberies (tobacco & cigarettes) & systematic theft of trade waste bins & scrap metal. A step change from the crimes against the person, drug offences or drunk & disorderly behaviour we had grown more used to hearing about.
And a marked drop in the volume of traffic on the roads, especially the big hgvs.
Mind you, I rely on the A6 south of Manchester for my observations on this. Roadworks have been causing real headaches, so perhaps the professional drivers in particular are just choosing alternative routes. Let us hope so.
Two observations make me think that the economy is turning down.
There seems to be a fairly sudden increase in what we might call semi-professional crime of a kind we had almost forgotten hearing about on local news. For example two supermarket robberies (tobacco & cigarettes) & systematic theft of trade waste bins & scrap metal. A step change from the crimes against the person, drug offences or drunk & disorderly behaviour we had grown more used to hearing about.
And a marked drop in the volume of traffic on the roads, especially the big hgvs.
Mind you, I rely on the A6 south of Manchester for my observations on this. Roadworks have been causing real headaches, so perhaps the professional drivers in particular are just choosing alternative routes. Let us hope so.
Investing for the future
Stratford City shopping centre, one of the super-duper developments in East London, right next door to Olympic Stadium, has just been half sold, bringing a A$490 million development profit to the developers,Westfield.
The buyers are Canadian & Dutch pension funds.
This sale has been said to be another sign of London’s importance in attracting large capital inflows to Britain.
Well yes, it will provide employment & more consumer-led growth to the economy, but Westfield (an Australian company) have realised a nice speedy return of their money which can now be invested elsewhere, & are said to be considering expansion in Europe.
And half the future profits will go to paying Dutch & Canadian, not UK pensioners.
The buyers are Canadian & Dutch pension funds.
This sale has been said to be another sign of London’s importance in attracting large capital inflows to Britain.
Well yes, it will provide employment & more consumer-led growth to the economy, but Westfield (an Australian company) have realised a nice speedy return of their money which can now be invested elsewhere, & are said to be considering expansion in Europe.
And half the future profits will go to paying Dutch & Canadian, not UK pensioners.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
When a house is not a home
A quick read of the government’s consultation paper on social housing shows that the much trumpeted ‘end to a council house for life’ is really not much more than an end to some of the inflexibility of the current system, though it remains to be seen whether any local authority will really be tempted down the path of never offering anything better than a two year tenancy. It is also interesting & instructive that there is absolutely no mention of any consequential effects on the Right To Buy.
I however have had one of those bright ideas which will help solve two pressing problems at a stroke.
We in England do not have enough social housing.
Ireland has too many new houses which cannot be sold & stand empty.
The solution is obvious.
I however have had one of those bright ideas which will help solve two pressing problems at a stroke.
We in England do not have enough social housing.
Ireland has too many new houses which cannot be sold & stand empty.
The solution is obvious.
Driving the policy through
The Times recent analysis of the end of New Labour quoted someone close to the centre who said that Gordon Brown clearly had no idea of how to run any organisation.
Jonathan Powell recently defended criticisms of Tony Blair’s style of ‘sofa government’ by saying that Labour Cabinets of the 1970s were hardly shining examples of how to make better, collegiate decisions. A strong decisive leader with a small circle of trusted advisers worked better.
That may well be true, up to the point of decision. But the merit of the Cabinet system with all its sub committees, agendas, minutes, inter-departmental discussion & cooperation, & cascade of formal papers is that it informs the myriads of people who need to know that the decision has been taken & what it is. Strange as it may seem these myriads rarely take their instructions from the news headlines or the prime ministerial soundbite.
This is a delicate business, needing the kind of attention to detail which seems tedious to those with loftier ambitions who can sketch out a new & better policy on the back of a dinner napkin & know just the company with the software to do it.
It goes much further than just making sure Sir Humphrey is not trying to subvert your brilliant plan.
The more all staff understand the purpose of what they do, how it fits into the bigger scheme, the better things will work out. For example the ‘lowly civil servants’ who do all the hard graft of getting the data on to the computer & checking that it is correct will feel a real flush of pride when the end result – say the government allocation of funds to organisations – gets its few seconds on the BBC 6 o’clock news: Oh that’s my work, I did that.
Another example is the very important role played by bus drivers successful implementation of the changes in policy on bus passes, which as I have spelled out before is very complicated outside London because of the vagaries of local authority boundaries. They did most of the hard work of explaining the changes to passengers who could sometimes be a bit confused, and even telling them where to go to get their new pass. But that could come only from good training from the bus companies, good documentation from all the local councils (including the county councils) & much all round cooperation.
Although this has much in common with good business management, the skills are not quite the same as when the ultimate test is the bottom line, & it is one reason why I maintain that there is a difference between administration & management.
Jonathan Powell recently defended criticisms of Tony Blair’s style of ‘sofa government’ by saying that Labour Cabinets of the 1970s were hardly shining examples of how to make better, collegiate decisions. A strong decisive leader with a small circle of trusted advisers worked better.
That may well be true, up to the point of decision. But the merit of the Cabinet system with all its sub committees, agendas, minutes, inter-departmental discussion & cooperation, & cascade of formal papers is that it informs the myriads of people who need to know that the decision has been taken & what it is. Strange as it may seem these myriads rarely take their instructions from the news headlines or the prime ministerial soundbite.
This is a delicate business, needing the kind of attention to detail which seems tedious to those with loftier ambitions who can sketch out a new & better policy on the back of a dinner napkin & know just the company with the software to do it.
It goes much further than just making sure Sir Humphrey is not trying to subvert your brilliant plan.
The more all staff understand the purpose of what they do, how it fits into the bigger scheme, the better things will work out. For example the ‘lowly civil servants’ who do all the hard graft of getting the data on to the computer & checking that it is correct will feel a real flush of pride when the end result – say the government allocation of funds to organisations – gets its few seconds on the BBC 6 o’clock news: Oh that’s my work, I did that.
Another example is the very important role played by bus drivers successful implementation of the changes in policy on bus passes, which as I have spelled out before is very complicated outside London because of the vagaries of local authority boundaries. They did most of the hard work of explaining the changes to passengers who could sometimes be a bit confused, and even telling them where to go to get their new pass. But that could come only from good training from the bus companies, good documentation from all the local councils (including the county councils) & much all round cooperation.
Although this has much in common with good business management, the skills are not quite the same as when the ultimate test is the bottom line, & it is one reason why I maintain that there is a difference between administration & management.
Related post
Organising a brewery
Organising a brewery
Monday, November 22, 2010
Pretty girls win prizes
Now we have been told that Eton does not have a monopoly among public schools when it comes to providing the top leadership of this country. The wives of our Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer & Speaker of the House of Commons all went to Marlborough, as did the woman who is soon to become the wife of the second in line to the throne.
As too did Alice Thomson of The Times who broke this story on Saturday – which explains why she was in a position to know all about the Cameron’s Nepalese nanny.
In 1968 Marlborough was one of the first of the traditional boys' boarding schools to admit girls into the Sixth Form. The Good Schools Guide is quoted as saying that the school attracts ‘robust’ girls who won’t be put down easily.
I can remember watching a BBC tv documentary on the subject of girls at Marlborough, though that must have been much later, possibly when the school became co-educational for all ages, not just the 16 to 18 year olds in the sixth form. It was like watching explorers circling round, suspicious of a previously unknown species.
I don’t remember any boy yanking off a girl’s games skirt ‘for a dare’ however, which is something mentioned by Alice Thomson.
Primary school might have been different, but I cannot imagine any boy ever doing that at any of the (thoroughly co-educational) secondary schools which I went to. It would just have seemed much too childish & silly a thing for a sophisticated teenager to do.
The success of Marlborough girls may help to bring about a change in the idea that single sex schools produce better results, make girls better prepared for working in a world containing men. And vice versa.
As too did Alice Thomson of The Times who broke this story on Saturday – which explains why she was in a position to know all about the Cameron’s Nepalese nanny.
In 1968 Marlborough was one of the first of the traditional boys' boarding schools to admit girls into the Sixth Form. The Good Schools Guide is quoted as saying that the school attracts ‘robust’ girls who won’t be put down easily.
I can remember watching a BBC tv documentary on the subject of girls at Marlborough, though that must have been much later, possibly when the school became co-educational for all ages, not just the 16 to 18 year olds in the sixth form. It was like watching explorers circling round, suspicious of a previously unknown species.
I don’t remember any boy yanking off a girl’s games skirt ‘for a dare’ however, which is something mentioned by Alice Thomson.
Primary school might have been different, but I cannot imagine any boy ever doing that at any of the (thoroughly co-educational) secondary schools which I went to. It would just have seemed much too childish & silly a thing for a sophisticated teenager to do.
The success of Marlborough girls may help to bring about a change in the idea that single sex schools produce better results, make girls better prepared for working in a world containing men. And vice versa.
Related posts
Nepalese nannies
Pretty girl
Networking
Nepalese nannies
Pretty girl
Networking
Taking back what is ours
According to a report in last Thursday’s Times the UK government will have insisted that Ireland put up some high quality assets as collateral against the €7 billion loan which it is contributing to the bail out.
These could include posh hotels such as Claridge’s & the Connaught which are under the control of the Irish National Asset Management Agency.
So one small step towards regaining control.
These could include posh hotels such as Claridge’s & the Connaught which are under the control of the Irish National Asset Management Agency.
So one small step towards regaining control.
Related post
Asset sales
Asset sales
Off their trolley
Stockport's Asda fortress has a wizard new wheeze for combating the obesity epidemic - making customers walk an extra 400 paces just to collect & deliver a trolley. That should help counteract the effects of consuming giant bags of crisps & 2 litre bottles of sweet fizzy drinks.
Problem is though, they impose this workout on those who arrive at the store on foot or by public transport. Those who shop by car find the trolley park conveniently in the car park.
Isn’t that the wrong way round? Those who come by car would surely welcome the chance to stretch their legs with all the extra walking, not to mention the weight training from carrying their shopping the extra distance
Problem is though, they impose this workout on those who arrive at the store on foot or by public transport. Those who shop by car find the trolley park conveniently in the car park.
Isn’t that the wrong way round? Those who come by car would surely welcome the chance to stretch their legs with all the extra walking, not to mention the weight training from carrying their shopping the extra distance
Sunday, November 21, 2010
All coherence gone
These past ten days or so have been extremely frustrating for this would-be Blogger.
A combination of changes being made to the Blogger editor, which have made it impossible to predict how it will deal with the stuff I paste in from Word, together with what seems to be a system or browser problem which makes things sometimes run VERY S-L-O-W-L-Y.
Concentration just goes to pot & I am even less able than usual to judge whether I am making any sense at all.
Fingers crossed I seem to have worked out a modus vivendi with the editor for the main text of the posts, but for now I am just going to stop trying to add any Links or Related Posts.
Every cloud has its silver lining however & I am very pleased with the new design which I found just by accident when checking that all was well with my Blogger settings. Clean & clear, & I love the shade of blue.
A combination of changes being made to the Blogger editor, which have made it impossible to predict how it will deal with the stuff I paste in from Word, together with what seems to be a system or browser problem which makes things sometimes run VERY S-L-O-W-L-Y.
Concentration just goes to pot & I am even less able than usual to judge whether I am making any sense at all.
Fingers crossed I seem to have worked out a modus vivendi with the editor for the main text of the posts, but for now I am just going to stop trying to add any Links or Related Posts.
Every cloud has its silver lining however & I am very pleased with the new design which I found just by accident when checking that all was well with my Blogger settings. Clean & clear, & I love the shade of blue.
The Deserted Village
At the age of about 11 I could have recited huge chunks of The Deserted Village Oliver Goldsmith's rage against the loss of rural livelihoods following the land enclosures which were deemed to have resulted in making the rich ever richer at the expense of the less well off.
Sounds a bit like how we feel today about bankers.
Most of the poem has long since disappeared from my memory bank, but Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain will remain engraved forever even though all these charms are fled.
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay:
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed can never be supplied.
A time there was, ere England's griefs began,
When every rood of ground maintained its man;
For him light labour spread her wholesome store,
Just gave what life required, but gave no more:
His best companions, innocence and health;
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.
But times are altered; trade's unfeeling train
Usurp the land and dispossess the swain;
Along the lawn, where scattered hamlet's rose,
Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose,
And every want to opulence allied,
And every pang that folly pays to pride.
Those gentle hours that plenty bade to bloom,
Those calm desires that asked but little room,
Those healthful sports that graced the peaceful scene,
Lived in each look, and brightened all the green;
These, far departing, seek a kinder shore,
And rural mirth and manners are no more.
The wanderer makes the mistake of going back, hoping tospend retirement wrapped in the idyll he had known in his youth
O blest retirement, friend to life's decline,
Retreats from care, that never must be mine,
How happy he who crowns in shades like these
A youth of labour with an age of ease;
Who quits a world where strong temptations try,
And, since 'tis hard to combat, learns to fly!
But
... now the sounds of population fail,
No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale,
No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread,
For all the bloomy flush of life is fled.
All but yon widowed, solitary thing,
That feebly bends beside the plashy spring;
She, wretched matron, forced in age for bread
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread,
To pick her wintry faggot from the thorn,
To seek her nightly shed, and weep till morn;
She only left of all the harmless train,
The sad historian of the pensive plain.
But most of all what lingers for me are the descriptions of the village preacher & the schoolmaster. The preacher wove his spell so that 'fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray'
But my hero must be the schoolmaster who
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around,
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry all he knew.
The whole poem can be read here
Sounds a bit like how we feel today about bankers.
Most of the poem has long since disappeared from my memory bank, but Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain will remain engraved forever even though all these charms are fled.
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay:
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed can never be supplied.
A time there was, ere England's griefs began,
When every rood of ground maintained its man;
For him light labour spread her wholesome store,
Just gave what life required, but gave no more:
His best companions, innocence and health;
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.
But times are altered; trade's unfeeling train
Usurp the land and dispossess the swain;
Along the lawn, where scattered hamlet's rose,
Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose,
And every want to opulence allied,
And every pang that folly pays to pride.
Those gentle hours that plenty bade to bloom,
Those calm desires that asked but little room,
Those healthful sports that graced the peaceful scene,
Lived in each look, and brightened all the green;
These, far departing, seek a kinder shore,
And rural mirth and manners are no more.
The wanderer makes the mistake of going back, hoping tospend retirement wrapped in the idyll he had known in his youth
O blest retirement, friend to life's decline,
Retreats from care, that never must be mine,
How happy he who crowns in shades like these
A youth of labour with an age of ease;
Who quits a world where strong temptations try,
And, since 'tis hard to combat, learns to fly!
But
... now the sounds of population fail,
No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale,
No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread,
For all the bloomy flush of life is fled.
All but yon widowed, solitary thing,
That feebly bends beside the plashy spring;
She, wretched matron, forced in age for bread
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread,
To pick her wintry faggot from the thorn,
To seek her nightly shed, and weep till morn;
She only left of all the harmless train,
The sad historian of the pensive plain.
But most of all what lingers for me are the descriptions of the village preacher & the schoolmaster. The preacher wove his spell so that 'fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray'
But my hero must be the schoolmaster who
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around,
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry all he knew.
The whole poem can be read here
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Poor little Ireland
In the 1970s I was a member of a European methodological group dealing with the implementation of a technical directive. The meetings were usually informal, working largely in English with the chairman providing translation where needed.
There were then only 9 members of the European Community & the chairman had a truly impressive ability to help with translation into or from any of the languages required; as members we marvelled at this, though each country said that, although he spoke their language very well, he was obviously not a native speaker. So we used to speculate about what his mother tongue might be – Russian or one of the languages of Yugoslavia were favourites. Somehow nobody ever found the right moment to ask him the question directly.
In my time we had only one formal meeting – official country delegations under the leadership of a policy civil servant, simultaneous translation, the works.
It must have been 1979 or 1980, just after the implementation of the European Monetary System with its ERM & snake which I think everybody except the UK had joined. It was humbling to have to field repeated expressions of regret from the others at the meeting (including, if I remember rightly, the Greeks who had been invited in anticipation of their becoming full members of the EC) that the UK had felt that they had to stand apart from this project. I particularly remember the Irish delegate who, without any antagonism, told me it was terribly sad.
The UK stod apart from the Euro too, which at the moment & with hindsight seems like a wise thing to have done.
Hearing the Irish reaction to the latest bail out proposals, listening to RTÉ1 this past week has been painful. There is surprisingly little real boiling spitting anger or hints of insurrection. A feeling of resignation best describes it. And humiliation at what is seen as a loss of the independence that they fought so hard to obtain.
I did not catch the name of the person who explained that it was just another chapter in the history of ‘this isolated island’ which must always struggle to earn its way in the world.
Or of the man who said ‘We do poverty terribly well.’
There were then only 9 members of the European Community & the chairman had a truly impressive ability to help with translation into or from any of the languages required; as members we marvelled at this, though each country said that, although he spoke their language very well, he was obviously not a native speaker. So we used to speculate about what his mother tongue might be – Russian or one of the languages of Yugoslavia were favourites. Somehow nobody ever found the right moment to ask him the question directly.
In my time we had only one formal meeting – official country delegations under the leadership of a policy civil servant, simultaneous translation, the works.
It must have been 1979 or 1980, just after the implementation of the European Monetary System with its ERM & snake which I think everybody except the UK had joined. It was humbling to have to field repeated expressions of regret from the others at the meeting (including, if I remember rightly, the Greeks who had been invited in anticipation of their becoming full members of the EC) that the UK had felt that they had to stand apart from this project. I particularly remember the Irish delegate who, without any antagonism, told me it was terribly sad.
The UK stod apart from the Euro too, which at the moment & with hindsight seems like a wise thing to have done.
Hearing the Irish reaction to the latest bail out proposals, listening to RTÉ1 this past week has been painful. There is surprisingly little real boiling spitting anger or hints of insurrection. A feeling of resignation best describes it. And humiliation at what is seen as a loss of the independence that they fought so hard to obtain.
I did not catch the name of the person who explained that it was just another chapter in the history of ‘this isolated island’ which must always struggle to earn its way in the world.
Or of the man who said ‘We do poverty terribly well.’
Music for all tastes
On Fi Glover’s Radio 4 programme this morning Ian Botham chose Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture as the Inheritance Track that he will pass on to his children. Stirring stuff.
But in our family we can still remember the visit to the Italian Lakes in 1964 & the discovery that people danced smoochily to that in nightclubs.
But in our family we can still remember the visit to the Italian Lakes in 1964 & the discovery that people danced smoochily to that in nightclubs.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Random thoughts on a royal marriage
I hope Princess Katherine will wear a slim, elegant wedding dress which covers her shoulders & cleavage. And will not become a Duchess on the day.
Camilla should be a great mother in law in all the circs. Bit of an ally against The Firm. Good at keeping Charles in check.
The idea of wearing Diana’s engagement ring would give me the heebie-jeebies, especially as it is supposed to going to channel her presence at the wedding, but Katherine is in a position to know a lot, to have heard, & to understand just why her husband-to-be finds this appropriate & meaningful to him.
The current baby boom ensures plenty of little girls whose princess passion will provide all the popular support anyone could hope for - more than a match for all those older cynics.
Do Kate’s parents & family have to call William Sir or Your Royal Highness? Do they have to bow or curtsey to him?
It is always amusing to see the English upper middle classes struggle with the idea that someone whose quite recent ancestor was a miner can nevertheless be very charming, attractive & intelligent, almost exactly the same as one of them.
Philip Collins in The Times thought this marriage a rare example of someone (in this case William) moving down in class - but he is still a prince & second in line to the throne. There are plenty of precedents for men (not just the rich or aristocratic) marrying beneath them. But even that is not really a proper analysis in this case. At the time they met William & Kate had very similar experiences of life at public school & shared quite similar groups of friends, as well as being on the same course at the same university.
What has really happened is that The Court has shrunk - nothing like the numbers & range of people of all ages as in Victoria's day. The dangers of this were spotted & spelled out by Lord Altrincham all those years ago.
William & Harry have been allowed to escape its confines, not least thanks to the determination & efforts of their mother.
Camilla should be a great mother in law in all the circs. Bit of an ally against The Firm. Good at keeping Charles in check.
The idea of wearing Diana’s engagement ring would give me the heebie-jeebies, especially as it is supposed to going to channel her presence at the wedding, but Katherine is in a position to know a lot, to have heard, & to understand just why her husband-to-be finds this appropriate & meaningful to him.
The current baby boom ensures plenty of little girls whose princess passion will provide all the popular support anyone could hope for - more than a match for all those older cynics.
Do Kate’s parents & family have to call William Sir or Your Royal Highness? Do they have to bow or curtsey to him?
It is always amusing to see the English upper middle classes struggle with the idea that someone whose quite recent ancestor was a miner can nevertheless be very charming, attractive & intelligent, almost exactly the same as one of them.
Philip Collins in The Times thought this marriage a rare example of someone (in this case William) moving down in class - but he is still a prince & second in line to the throne. There are plenty of precedents for men (not just the rich or aristocratic) marrying beneath them. But even that is not really a proper analysis in this case. At the time they met William & Kate had very similar experiences of life at public school & shared quite similar groups of friends, as well as being on the same course at the same university.
What has really happened is that The Court has shrunk - nothing like the numbers & range of people of all ages as in Victoria's day. The dangers of this were spotted & spelled out by Lord Altrincham all those years ago.
William & Harry have been allowed to escape its confines, not least thanks to the determination & efforts of their mother.
Related post
Ascot flummery
Ascot flummery
Problems, problems
So the man who, for Mrs Thatcher, was the one who brought solutions where others brought only problems has finally become the problem for David Cameron.
Still, at least he recognised this & did the decent thing, bringing, or rather taking away, the solution with him.
Still, at least he recognised this & did the decent thing, bringing, or rather taking away, the solution with him.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Mix up over race
It was not until I was looking for links for the post about Professor Appiah’s book on Honour that I realised that he is the grandson of Sir Stafford Cripps.
I think I remember what the DNB calls ‘a predictable flutter in the British press’ whenCripps daughter Peggy married Joseph Appiah (who was wearing Ashanti ceremonial dress at the ceremony) in Coronation year, 1953 (Cripps had died the previous year). That flutter though was as nothing compared to the fuss which had been made in 1948 & was still rumbling on over the marriage of Seretse Khama & Ruth Williams.
The main reason however for making a note of all this here & now is a quote in the DNB from the Daily Sketch newspaper of 1958; this described Peggy Appiah’s son & daughter, on a visit to their grandmother Dame Isobel Cripps, as the ‘best-connected piccaninnies ever to hit an English village’.
I think I remember what the DNB calls ‘a predictable flutter in the British press’ whenCripps daughter Peggy married Joseph Appiah (who was wearing Ashanti ceremonial dress at the ceremony) in Coronation year, 1953 (Cripps had died the previous year). That flutter though was as nothing compared to the fuss which had been made in 1948 & was still rumbling on over the marriage of Seretse Khama & Ruth Williams.
The main reason however for making a note of all this here & now is a quote in the DNB from the Daily Sketch newspaper of 1958; this described Peggy Appiah’s son & daughter, on a visit to their grandmother Dame Isobel Cripps, as the ‘best-connected piccaninnies ever to hit an English village’.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The end of war
Many British War Memorials (including the plaque on the Stockport Armoury) bear an inscription honouring the fallen of the ‘Great War 1914-1919'.
Presumably this is because they regarded the War as coming to an end finally with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. But I wonder when & why it became generally accepted that the Geat War became World War I which ended on 11 November 1918.
Presumably this is because they regarded the War as coming to an end finally with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. But I wonder when & why it became generally accepted that the Geat War became World War I which ended on 11 November 1918.
Treaty of
The price of secret intelligence
Reluctance to reveal secret intelligence has always caused problems for government, tied their hands, limited their ability to achieve desirable ends.
In November 1867, when England was panicked by Fenians, Continental revolutionaries & home grown working class radicals, the Home Secretary proposed a recall of Parliament to introduce gun control laws.
Cabinet were not persuaded. Among other objections, the Prime Minister, Lord Derby, pointed out that Parliament could not be persuaded to vote for any limit on the right to possess arms unless the Home Secretary revealed secret intelligence he had received from one Emile Van Quellin, a Swiss-American living near Bern, about a supposed alliance of these revolutionaries.
It is not altogether clear whether the reluctance to reveal this intelligence lay more in a desire to protect the source, reluctance to reveal that the British government was indulging in morally distasteful espionage, or a fear of being laughed at.
In November 1867, when England was panicked by Fenians, Continental revolutionaries & home grown working class radicals, the Home Secretary proposed a recall of Parliament to introduce gun control laws.
Cabinet were not persuaded. Among other objections, the Prime Minister, Lord Derby, pointed out that Parliament could not be persuaded to vote for any limit on the right to possess arms unless the Home Secretary revealed secret intelligence he had received from one Emile Van Quellin, a Swiss-American living near Bern, about a supposed alliance of these revolutionaries.
It is not altogether clear whether the reluctance to reveal this intelligence lay more in a desire to protect the source, reluctance to reveal that the British government was indulging in morally distasteful espionage, or a fear of being laughed at.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Honour
One of the guests on the World Service programme Forum on Sunday was Kwame Anthony Appiah who has looked into questions of honour, something which resonates in this country today mainly because of 'so-called' honour killings.
Honour is odd because it can make otherwise sane, healthy & law abiding people do things even when they are against the law. The Duke of Wellington, for example, fought a duel in 1829. He was prime minister at the time.
And yet the requirements of honour can suddenly change - over a period of about 20 years - so that the act or conduct which once seemed co compelling is shunned by all.
Other examples quoted by Appiah were footbinding & the Atlantic slave trade.
So the question is not just 'What is honour' but how can it be changed. Can it be nudged?
It seems to have much in common with fashion in dress, only changing at a much slower rate - Wellington was ignoring a law first passed over two centuries earlier by Elizabeth I.
Honour must also have a complicated relationship to pride, embarrassment, revulsion & humiliation.
Honour is odd because it can make otherwise sane, healthy & law abiding people do things even when they are against the law. The Duke of Wellington, for example, fought a duel in 1829. He was prime minister at the time.
And yet the requirements of honour can suddenly change - over a period of about 20 years - so that the act or conduct which once seemed co compelling is shunned by all.
Other examples quoted by Appiah were footbinding & the Atlantic slave trade.
So the question is not just 'What is honour' but how can it be changed. Can it be nudged?
It seems to have much in common with fashion in dress, only changing at a much slower rate - Wellington was ignoring a law first passed over two centuries earlier by Elizabeth I.
Honour must also have a complicated relationship to pride, embarrassment, revulsion & humiliation.
Links
The Forum 14/11/2010
Kwame Anthony Appiah
The Honor Code
The Duke of Wellington and King's College London
The Forum 14/11/2010
Kwame Anthony Appiah
The Honor Code
The Duke of Wellington and King's College London
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