How on earth could child abuse occur on the
scale of that in Rotherham? Far too
easily is our belief. Driven by the God
of diversity, fear of being called racist and political correctness, those in
authority kept their heads below the parapet, hoping it would go away. Some of the guilty bystanders will have
retried by now, but many will still be in post. So, can we now expect a raft of
resignations and firings? Of course we
can’t. Instead we’ll have a series of
groveling apologies and comments about lessons learned, improvements to be made,
while the guilty check their pension contributions. I’m sure that will satisfy the 1400
victims. I can already hear the shouts
of dinosaurs about our comments and I guess they’re correct. We were brought up during an era when those
in charge applied the old fashioned ‘take names and kick arses’ principle to
abhorrent behaviour. Could it be time
for a step back before it’s too late?
In 2007, the Labour led UK Border Agency
signed a contract with US company Raytheon to develop an IT system to monitor
immigration. The aim was to record
passengers in and out of the UK. Most
folk accept the massive need for such a system, particularly when British born
IS fighters may be trying to return here.
In 2010, Conservative minister Theresa May terminated the contract,
perceiving it wasn’t delivering as expected, a year behind schedule at the time. At that stage we had spent £259.3 million on
work carried out. Terminating contacts
can be tricky; it’s what small print is all about. So it proved in this case as May lost the
case, resulting in a breach of contract payment to Raytheon of £224.0
million. Still, what’s half a billion to
the ministers and civil servants who manage our taxes? You may wonder what happened to the lady, one
Lin Homer, who ran UKBA during the majority of that period. Well, she moved on to run HM Revenue and
Customs so you might want to check your tax code pretty carefully. We treat bankers as pariahs since their greed
made the major contribution to the crash in 2008. Maybe greed is worse than incompetence but
the same people pay the bill in the end, don’t we?
President Obama couldn’t take events in
Ukraine lying down and led the world in applying sanctions to Russia. In March he limited financing to five Russian
banks and two energy companies, as well as applying restrictions to high
profile individuals close to Putin. It
was only a question of time before the Russian leader hit back. After careful planning, he has targeted the
US economy by closing 3 McDonalds in Moscow and threatening others around the
country. We can’t help thinking he may
damage tourism to Russia as visitors are forced to eat pelmini, plov and
meatballs rather than burgers. The lads
always thought Putin has been one step ahead of the West as events in Ukraine
progressed, but now we have a concern.
Could our chest baring, arms bearing superman be a closet vegetarian?
Mariella Frostrup got our applause when we
heard about her ‘partner sharing’ idea for holidays. The plaudits eased a touch when we saw she’d
been on a narrow boat, one step up from camping in our eyes. Jez thought it a great idea but was keen to
know if the partner took on all spousal duties.
On the hope that they do, he is available for any married lady who plans
a break in a 5* hotel anywhere in the world.
He can travel at short notice.
Francois Hollande certainly doesn’t hold
back if his ministers don’t follow his dictates. A second dissolution in less than six months
suggests he’s trying to set some sort of record during his time in power. Hollande remains the most unpopular president
in over half a century, with a popularity rating around 17%. It seems just a
question of time before he hits single digits.
Austerity doesn’t fit the culture of the French, and the fact that the
driving force behind it is Angela Merkel makes it a complete misfit. Hollande’s performance reminds me of a
comment by a great French playright and diplomat.
‘Only the
mediocre are always at their best’
Jean Giradoux
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