The New Politics

So, how do we feel about the "new politics" a couple of months in? Let's have a quick recap of what they have actually done since taking office:

The Coalition's budget made deep and immediate cuts because A) when they came to power and opened the books things were far worse than they had imagined and B) Clegg had changed his mind in favour of them on the private advice of Mervyn King though he continued to argue publicly against them. Well, A wasn't true because "Sir Alan [Budd, Head of Osborne's new OBR] said yesterday that Alistair Darling was being too pessimistic: on almost every measure, the public finances look like being in better shape"[1] and B wasn't true because "King said today: "I said nothing that was not already in the public domain. In the telephone conversation I basically repeated what I had said at the press conference"[2]".

Well that's not very "new politics" is it? But what about the nature of those cuts?

Firstly and most obviously Michael Gove plans to scrap the Building Schools For The Future programme. If a school was getting a new building or even repairs or renovations of an existing one, it isn’t now. Even if he still claims that it is[3]. Education budgets will instead be spent on the rolling out of the Academies programme which was rushed through Parliament without the usual scrutiny because Gove invoked an extraordinary Parliamentary procedure which is normally reserved for emergency responses to catastrophic security threats[4]. Under this Act “Free schools” could be “set up by parents and private groups with state funding”. This legislation also allows schools to remove themselves from national standards of pay, national curriculum requirements and to introduce selective admissions policies. It also pledges to cut funding for failing schools and pump more money into schools with high success rates[5]. Admissions policies which guarantee higher rates of government funding for selective privately-owned schools? You can draw your own conclusions.

There are also Iain Duncan-Smith’s planned Welfare reforms which include having the Disability Living Allowance statuses (which are currently decided on the recommendation of GPs and specialists) overturned without scrutiny by unqualified civil servants and placing arbitrary caps on housing benefits for the poor which will lead to increased homelessness and destitution[6].

We also have the movement of the ludicrously wasteful funding of Trident from the Treasury to the Ministry of Defence which will see thousands of troops return from Afghanistan to redundancy. The MoD were already faced with 20% cuts and now have to fund this £130bn white elephant[7]. There are only so many ships and guns you can go without before you have to start throwing soldiers on the dole after all.

I’m aware that I have a tendency towards verbosity, so I’ll try and rush through a few more things before I stop making sense.

Other highlights are:

A public sector pay-freeze which includes the lowest-paid (the £21,000 limit is pro-rata and hundreds of thousands of public sector workers are part-time) and contrasts with pay-rises in the private sector[8].

A VAT rise (which the LibDems expressly campaigned against) which hits the poor hardest since VAT is a regressive tax.

The scrapping of a free school meals programme for the poorest children.

Cutting of the rate of Corporation Tax- including for banks.

Shelving (rather than scrapping) the plans to cut Inheritance Tax rates for the very rich.

A refusal to remove the charitable status of private schools meaning that, in effect, they are subsidised by the very families who have seen a cut of £670m in the budget for state schools.

The imposition of the much-derided Labour proposal for a National Insurance increase but, significantly, only for employees and not employers.

And, finally, Health- the one area of public spending that the Tories pledged not to cut. Andrew Lansley (who is personally financed by a private healthcare provider [9]) has taken the 'ringfenced' NHS budget and- in spite of the Tories' pre-election calls for "no more top-down reorganisations"[10] put it towards a top-down reorganisation which will give GPs the task of managing their practices as well as working in them. As this is already a full-time job for thousands of public-sector workers, what this means in practice is that they will be made redundant and replaced by private healthcare providers. It is, in effect, a large-scale privatisation of PCTs paid for by the public for the benefit of private companies.

In conclusion then; the “New Politics” coalition have rushed through a sweeping programme of change which in essence hands money earmarked for schools and hospitals to private companies and have hit the poorest with tax rises while offering businesses and the very rich tax freezes and even a cut in taxation rates. That these seismic ideological changes are based upon lies and misinformation should really surprise no-one, though many LibDem voters will feel betrayed as their intention was (in many cases) to stop the Conservatives and avoid the kind of social carnage this will wreak across the country.

“New politics”? Only if you can’t remember the 1980s.



[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7827761/This-Budget-is-George-Osbornes-moment-to-be-radical.html
[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/28/mervyn-king-nick-clegg
[3] http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Michael-Goves-Is-Forced-To-Apologise-For-Mistakes-On-Building-Schools-For-The-Future-Hit-List/Article/201007115660983?f=rss
[4] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/tories-use-terror-laws-to-rush-academies-bill-through-house-2030336.html
[5] http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23857439-michael-gove-hoping-to-push-through-academies-bill.do
[6] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/welfare-reforms-are-onslaught-on-the-vulnerable-2040855.html
[7] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/7920328/Armed-forces-stunned-by-Trident-bill.html
[8] http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-28/half-of-u-k-public-sector-pay-deals-ended-in-freeze-ids-says.html
[9] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6989408/Andrew-Lansley-bankrolled-by-private-healthcare-provider.html
[10] http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2010/07/health-service-nhs-cameron

Friends Shaking Hands

Funny how songs can transport you back to a previous time in your life. I heard Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World” earlier, a song which always puts me in mind of a time many years ago when I fell for a girl who was already in a relationship. Though our love was transient, it felt deep and our parting was as amicable as these things can be. For reasons I forget she was unable to leave the relationship immediately and so for a period we carried on in secret (I’m not proud of this but it was a nice relationship and is a nice memory). On occasions we would be brought together in public with her boyfriend or mutual friends and had to be discreet and so we developed a code; we would greet each other with a handshake and a "how do you do?" following the suggestion of the great Satchmo who sang:

I see friends shaking hands
Saying "how do you do?"
They’re really saying
"I love you"

A Rare Compliment

A new experience was visited upon me this evening as I strolled through the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral on my way to do the night shift this evening. I passed two guys sat on a bench enjoying cans of Super Strength cider. I didn’t stare of course, that’s asking for trouble, but I did take note of them- given my own struggles with alcohol I can’t help it I’m afraid.

Anyway, it’s lucky for my self-esteem that I did, for I overheard one of the gentlemen say to his colleague “doesn’t he look smart?” to which the other man agreed wholeheartedly. Well that fair put a spring in my step. Upon receiving a compliment directly, the obvious response is to consider the ulterior motive or- more often- disbelieve it as empty small-talk. On the other hand this kind of unsolicited and, indeed, unintentional validation is priceless.

For the record I was wearing a vintage 1960s Wrangler denim jacket with the cuffs rolled back (an ostentatious touch which comes of watching far too many episodes of Jason King), a burgundy merino wool v-neck, white Albany collared shirt, charcoal pinstriped casual-fitting flannel trousers, red socks and oxblood Loake semi-brogues.

In fact, I took a picture when I arrived home at the end of my shift (and here it is). The glasses are an addition to cover the bags under my eyes after a thirteen-hour night shift in front of a computer monitor.

Polishing shoes with Olga Berluti

I have always tried to avoid shoe polishing. I used to think highly-polished shoes look bit too try hard, but with my increased maturity (well, increased age at least) I've come around to appreciating both the look and the long-term benefits that polishing brings. Well, I've just turned thirty-six and haven't polished a pair of shoes since doing bob-a-job week as a young scout and so I decided to do a search on the best methods and products to use and ran across this advice which I liked immensely- though I don't think I'll be following all of the advice therein (the laces must come out first). It is from the Wall Street Journal on March 12, 2009:

Olga Berluti doesn't take shoe-cleaning lightly. "A shoe is your companion. It is the physical imprint of your life," explains the creative director of the men's luxury shoemaker Berluti. "Cleaning shoes is a very noble act."

Ms. Berluti, who has hand-made shoes for the likes of Andy Warhol and John F. Kennedy, treats cleaning, waxing and buffing as a ritual. She even has a shoe-cleaning club made up of her favorite clients. It's called the Swann Club, and every few years, the members get together to dine and shine.

But you don't have to be a Berluti client to enjoy polishing a fine leather shoe. On any given Sunday, Ms. Berluti likes to get her male friends together for some group buffing. Where you do it doesn't matter, she says. "The important thing is to respect the shoe. You are the artist."

After placing the shoes on a waist-high table, she selects appropriate music. If they are moccasins, she may put on some Vivaldi; if they are boots, she will listen to Wagner. Bigger shoes need big music, she says.

Her next move is to place a suitable shoe tree inside the shoe. The shoe tree should be made of plastic, which is lighter than wood and less likely to deform the shoe. Once the leather is tight, she gives it a good dusting using a linen cloth.

After tucking the laces into the shoe, she takes a small brush, taps it in some white neutral wax, and rubs around the edges of the soles and heels. This ensures the stitching is well-greased and remains watertight. She doesn't wax the bottom of the shoe, because the wearer could slip and hurt himself.

Ms. Berluti then takes some linen -- she likes to use old Venetian linen sheets but any old shirt will do -- and wraps it tightly round her fingers. She rubs the shoes using white wax until all the dirt comes off.

Next comes the most enjoyable part: the polishing. This is where Ms. Berluti really hits her stride. After pouring out a small amount of iced spring water, she dabs her linen-clad fingers into a pot of colored wax. Red wax is best if you have black shoes. With a small regular circular motion she rubs in the colored wax until the leather "squeals with pleasure," she says. Depending on the polisher's skill and the size of the shoe, this can take up to 20 minutes.

She flecks some water on the shoe and rubs it in to ensure the wax is sealed in. It's important not to use too much wax or water, as that could damage the leather.

The finishing touch is to massage in some Chianti, Pinot Noir or vintage Champagne. This removes excess wax and makes the shoe sparkle. "It's not snobbism," Ms. Berluti explains. "The great officers of the Tsars used this technique to get their boots to shine."

The Fifth Doctor

I'm working nights at the moment and the consequent catastrophic effect upon my barely adequate grasp on reality is such that I've been thinking all the time about Peter Davison's great Doctor Who costume. I'm not a fan of the series by any means- I haven't seen an episode since the 80s- but I remember being struck during my childhood by how dashing the whole thing looks. It's really stuck with me too.



Taking this as a template and personalising the look is something I could really have fun with. According to Wikipedia (and who am I to dispute it?) "The Fifth Doctor's chosen mode of dress was a variation of an Edwardian cricketer's uniform, and he was even seen to carry a cricket ball in one of his pockets (which saved his life in one adventure). He wore a cream-coloured frock coat, striped trousers, plimsoll shoes, and occasionally a pair of spectacles.". Improving on the trousers and plimsolls would be a necessity, but I think there's plenty there to go on. Now where can I get a cricket ball?