But It's No Longer Serving The Needs Of The Audience, That's Why It's Failing

New BBC director general Matt Brittin has told staff the BBC "has never been more needed" but that "tough choices are unavoidable as we make savings".

What do we need it for, that other broadcasters cannot provide, exactly? 

In an email to staff, Brittin said: "The BBC has proved throughout its history how quickly it can reinvent itself to serve the needs of audiences - from restructuring for World War II to repurposing during Covid to spinning up services in conflict zones. We need, collectively, to call on that sense of urgency now."

The BBC has never served its audience because that’s not who it’s geared to and on which it has no need to depend for its cash flow. Just like the NHS. 

"I know change will not be easy. Tough choices are unavoidable as we make savings. We should ask ourselves, honestly: if we were inventing the BBC today, what would we do? Then respond with clarity, pace and purpose."

Well, as the old joke goes, I wouldn't start from here! And I agree with Longrider - no one should be forced to pay for a license simply for possessing a tv. Move with the times, move to a subscription model. Then we will see what people truly rhink you are worth...

Ladies And Gentlemen, I Have Finally Found It!

 The most unbelievably and insufferably arrogant person in the UK! Beating off, I have to say, some pretty strict competition but he did it with ease:

Imagine the astonishing level of self-absorption you have to have to claim children are 'suffering' by not being able to read your works? 

It was against this backdrop (The Taliban's decicion to stop girls attending school, Reader)  that I read about the school in Weymouth, Dorset, that had removed American author Angie Thomas’s wildly popular young adult novel The Hate U Give from its Year 10 reading list, apparently in response to the objection of one parent, former Conservative councillor James Farquharson. While copies of the book would continue to be available in the school library, its removal from classrooms sent a worrying message: that one man’s comfort could be considered more important than the rights of an entire student cohort to access literature that might speak directly to them, never mind that it may contain dangerous or difficult ideas.

They can, of course, still access his scribblings freely, by walking into a bookshop or opening their Kindle and clicking the little shopping trolley icon, he's just lost his ability to have them given no choice but to read it by having schools ram it down their throats... 

The use of my novel, Pigeon English, is also under review at the school, thanks again to Farquharson’s intervention. His objections to my book – which he shared on Facebook having read the first 13 pages and Googled some reviews – centre on its use of profane language and depictions of violence and sexual behaviour.

Well, why on earth would we want children reading that, then? 

Pigeon English explores some of the same themes as The Hate U Give, social injustice chief among them. It draws on my experiences growing up on a diverse and deprived council estate in Luton in the 1980s and 90s, and on the killing of Damilola Taylor, the Nigerian schoolboy stabbed to death in Peckham, London, in 2000.

Sound like a feelgood read. 

The novel was very much directed at an adult readership, which I felt could parse some of its more troubling content and recognise the urgent social questions it posed. I did not predict that it would end up in the hands of schoolchildren or being dissected in classrooms; nor was I consulted when the decision was made in 2015 – rubber-stamped by a Conservative education secretary – to include it on the GCSE curriculum.

Should they have consulted you? This man's ego clearly knows no bounds. As if he'd have said anything but 'Yes please!' 

When Caravaggio’s Madonna di Loreto was unveiled in 1606 it scandalised Rome; not because it dared to put a face to the newborn Christ but because it showed the dirty feet of the peasants who knelt to venerate him. Centuries later, do those same prudish sensitivities still prevail?

Good god, he's comparing himself to bloody Caravaggio now!  

Why Do They Need The Tail To Wag The Dog?

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, said: “I would get rid of it (WFH) now. People have got to be encouraged back into the office.

“The infrastructure in London is desperately in need of people going back to the office — shops, small food outlets, restaurants, entertainment — all these things that make London vibrant are all flat at the moment.”

Make up your mind, I thought it was all the stabbings that did that?! 

Sir Bob Neill, Tory MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, said WFH guidance should go by January 26 “at the latest and earlier if hospitalisations continue to decline”.

He told the Standard: “The hospitality and retail sectors in central London are being crippled and, thanks to the success of the vaccine campaign, albeit that we have more to do there, we must be planning to move steadily back to normality as soon as possible.”

Why 'must' we be planning that? What if WFH is the new normal? What if workers aren't the only ones to benefit?

Ros Morgan, chief executive of the Heart of London Business Alliance, said: “Work from home guidance has hollowed out the centre of London and meant that our businesses and cultural venues had a really difficult December — an option for office workers to come back would bring a much-needed boost to our capital. Central London stands ready to welcome people back — so let’s remove the barriers as soon as we can and help bring London back to life.”

Everyone seems to be forgetting that these services grew up in the first place to service a need - if the need diminishes because the working culture is changing, then they need to adapt to serve the new need or die out. Not demand that workers and firms regress to serve them up with a captive market.

That's not capitalism, and it's certainly not progress either.  

No Longer 'One Of Us'...

So, a new therapy for autisic children. Good thing, yes?  

What’s exciting about the findings of this study is that the therapy does successfully boost the social development of the children who receive it.

...

What makes this complicated, however, is that social communication skills are one of the main things measured when someone is assessed for an autism diagnosis. The fact that this therapy boosted those skills meant that children scored lower on those parts of autism assessments, which in turn meant they didn’t meet the criteria for an autism diagnosis. In fact, the study shows that this therapy reduced autism diagnosis by two-thirds.

Or, another way to look at this, 'these children are no longer held back by their affliction'. Why would that not be a positive thing? 

The main concern for us in the UK is that support only follows diagnosis. Even if the therapy allows autistic people to have a better start in life, the system will need to change to ensure support is there if and when it is needed.

Ah. As always, follow the money. And the activist's hopes of a guaranteed milk herd... 

We also have to ask what else a child may miss out on if they go on to be diagnosed with autism at a later date. For many autistic people, autism is part of their identity.

This is beginning to sound a lot like those wretched 'deaf culture' proclaimers, isn't it? 

Medical research studies such as this, for all their methodological rigour, do rub uncomfortably against the experience of being autistic. Autism is not a “preventable” condition that we can treat like other areas of medical research.

How fortunate for you, then, to have a 'cause' that will never be met..? 

Next Earth-Shattering Revelation In The 'Guardian' - "Serengeti Waterhole Has Highest Number Of Predators"...

 

The UK’s most deprived areas have more than 10 times the number of betting shops than the most affluent parts of the country, research shows.

Maybe that's why they are deprived?  

Gambling venues are concentrated in the most deprived areas of Britain, against the wishes of people who live nearby, according to a report commissioned by the Standard Life Foundation charity. “Those with the least resources are being targeted more,” the report says.

If it really was 'against the wishes' of the local people, wouldn't they go bust? 

The report also raised concerns that half of the 348 gambling treatment services mapped by researchers were within five minutes’ walk of a gambling premises.

Errr.... 

Real life is like an alien world to the 'Guardian', isn't it? 

If Only We Had Some Competition...

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's is axing 3,500 jobs as it shuts all its deli, fish and meat counters and closes swathes of standalone Argos stores.

Well, those lucky enough to still have a good local butcher (mine recently closed and the new one is now halal...) will be OK. 

But what about the rest of us? I suppose we'll have to go to Tesco or Morrison's. 

Sainsbury's said its decision to close its fresh food counters and shut 420 standalone Argos shops by March 2024 would save the group £60million and enable it to 'better reflect customer demand.'

If you really cared about customer demand you wouldn't be telling all your customers 'From now on, you eat only plastic-wrapped identikit steak, or shop with our competitors, ok?'... 

Isn't This Soliciting?

An app allows users to record their interaction with police and securely store the footage using “military grade encryption”.

Should the user be arrested, they can immediately contact the Legal Lifelines team for advice.

Who have, coincidentally, produced the app! 

Mr Herford, 38, said: “We know that BAME people, as well as minority communities such as Travellers, are likely to experience disproportionately negative outcomes at work, or when engaging with the authorities.

“We aim to empower them with the knowledge they need to protect themselves by bringing them critical information on legal issues that affect them such as stop and search, county lines, human slavery and protest law.”

Oh, really? And here's me thinking you were just fishing for more trade... 

The collaborative effort will combine some of the most skilled lawyers in the country with the determined efforts of the charity and entertainment sectors to provide access to the best advice.

Oh, I always go to the entertainment sector for legal advice! Doesn't everyone? 

Buggy Whip Manufacturers Hardest Hit...

The second that final spoonful goes in your mouth the waiter runs over, noisily clears the plates away and shoves a new menu under your nose, while insisting that you order the set menu immediately. That’s the experience we all have when watching films and TV on streaming platforms.

It might be yours, chum, but it's not mine! What, exactly, has your panties in a bunch?

The end credit sequence is an unsexy but still important part of the film-going experience. It can be a key moment of contemplation, to assess, absorb and reflect on everything you have just experienced. It can be a moment of musical resolve. It can be a place to see the countless hundreds of people who worked to create something from nothing (not just the famous ones). Or it can just be an excuse to look for crew members with funny names. But the current trend with virtually all the streaming services is to treat end credits as having the same artistic merit as a DFS Summer Sofa Sale ad.

They allow you to skip them. Or...not. They aren't chopping them off. You can watch them if you want.

I understand why the feature was introduced, especially in the age of the multi-episodic binge watch. And I have no problem with a lot of people wanting to skip credits...

But you clearly do, or you wouldn't be writing this, would you?

But I do have a problem with having to “opt-in” to watch something that is often an integral piece of a complete artistic vision.

You think people should be forced to opt out, then?

Some services have added options to turn these features off but they are usually hidden away and rarely fully implemented.

Oh, boo hoo! It might take a couple of clicks! Surely this can't be the most important reason?

But that isn’t my only reason for despising this trend.

Aha!

I write music for movies and TV, and I know, that from a compositional point of view, the soundtrack for the end credits can be an incredibly important part of the musical arc you and the director may have tried to create over a whole film.

Figured as much...

"It's Your Fault For Wanting To Stay Warm!"

The problems stem from a decision by Falkirk Council to install new, eco-friendly boilers in around 900 council properties over the past ten years, in a project costing £6 million.

The homes were previously heated by coal fires and storage heaters. Instead, the Thermaflow boilers use electricity to heat water and warm homes — which means residents don't need gas.

Hurrah for the Greens! We're all saved from glob...

Oh.

On this deal, they were charged two different rates. They paid 7p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for their heating, and 12p/kWh for powering appliances and lighting.

But the supplier has since hiked the prices, to 16p/kWh and 18p/ kWh respectively — rates described by one expert as 'absolutely outrageous'.

On top of this, residents are now finding that they are barred from switching to another deal because the way their meters were set up means they are not compatible with most other tariffs on the market. So, to switch to a new deal, they would have to pay as much as £250 for an electrician to change their meter.

Well, of course! If you get to choose, you're the consumer. If someone else chooses for you, you're the open wallet waiting to be pilfered.

It's why public sector contractors can charge £1000 to move a computer from one desk to another...

A Scottish Power spokesman says: 'These customers are not prevented from switching, all suppliers have an obligation to provide a tariff to support these meter types. To address the root cause of the problem, that many customers are using high levels of energy, we're working with Falkirk Council and making a £1 million fund available for energy efficiency and insulation measures.'

When someone's selling something, and claims that high demand for that something is a 'problem', normal people smell a rat.

A council spokesman confirmed an independent contractor was visiting homes to review boiler performance, but had not yet identified any significant issues.

Because there's nothing wrong with the boilers, except it's cold in Scotland and people want to use them...

George Curtis, of Thermaflow, insists the boilers are not to blame and puts the soaring bills down to energy providers hiking prices and residents using boilers incorrectly.

How dare they expect to use them to keep warm? And despite this disaster, are second thoughts being had by the state?

Reader, they are not.

Crimewave!

Is it me, or does that sentence make little sense?

Carrots are one of the cheapest vegetables by weight, which has led to suspicions that supermarket customers are abusing electronic checkouts in a shoplifting scam.

Emmeline Taylor, a senior lecturer in criminology at City, University of London, said people switch labels or deliberately input the wrong item to pay less for produce.

Heh! Well, serves the supermarkets right. They put these things in to save money.

"This behaviour is perceived as cheating the system or a way of 'gamifying' an otherwise mundane routine," she added.

It's just shoplifting, aided by technology.

When Is An Increase Not An Increase...?

Well, for heaven's sake, don't ask a Southend councillor!

Tony Cox, councillor responsible for transport, says the changes will benefit visitors and businesses.

...

“I don’t accept this as an increase in parking charges. We’ve frozen parking charges unlike the previous administration when charges rose extortionately.”

It doesn't really matter whether you 'accept it', does it? It clearly is an increase!

The change will mean those who wanted to pop into town for an hour for £1.10p will now have to fork out £1.90 for a two hour ticket.

A three hour stay costing £2.70 will, if the plans are agreed by cabinet, cost £4.70 and and a previous £5.70 five hour ticket will go in favour of six hours at £6.60.

One might ask if you're trying to shackle people to longer hours in a vain attempt to prop up the beggar-ridden, increasingly empty high street...?

That is, of course, exactly what you're doing:

He said: “A lot of people are meter feeding. We want to ensure people do stay. With one hour’s parking people are coming back to put in another hour and by doing that it works out more expensive.

“By doing this we increase revenue as as (sic) helping businesses in the High Street by ensuring people stay longer.”

And if that doesn't work - and it won't, judging by the comments! - what next? 

Middle Class Angst

Councillor Lynda Hyde, former mayor of Brighton and Hove, will cut the ribbon to greet Costa Coffee’s arrival in High Street, Rottingdean at 10am.

But not everyone is happy with the national multiple opening in a street of independent retailers and cafes, with many venting their frustration on social media.

Oh?

Cllr Hyde said: “When they asked me if I would open it, I had to think whether this would be detrimental to other traders or will it be beneficial to the High Street.

“Because we need to do all we can to get as much footfall as we can in the High Street.

“So I did think about it but my view is Costa is likely to encourage more people into the High Street and therefore benefit the other traders.

“And, they’ve done up an empty building which was empty for over a year, which again is beneficial to the High Street.”

Splendid! What's the problem, then?

Juliet Ryan, who owns the Open Art Cafe in the centre of Rottingdean in Nevill Road, said: “I feel quite strongly about it, a lot of the traders do. “It’s something we didn’t want.

“Nobody knew they were coming, we didn’t see any signs or anything about the planning application.

“If we’d known, we’d have protested like they did in Totnes in Devon where they stopped a Costa coming.

“We’re a historical village, we don’t need a massive franchise coming in.

“It’s already crippled a lot of small business.”

How? Surely if everyone feels so strongly, they'll refuse to shop there & Costa will pull out. What have you got to be afraid of?

Kate Sandford, of Rottingdean, said: “Had to say something about this as it made me so angry.

“Costa don’t need to be in a small village. They make enough money globally as it is.

“Leave the small town alone and stop crushing small local businesses that work hard to pay the bills.

“I loved working in a cafe as a teenager in Rottingdean and it’s sick to think the individuality of British tea rooms is being pushed over by corporate franchises.”

Perhaps what you're really worried about is that people will find their coffee or service isn't all that good after all, and Costa is better?

How Long Before The Poor Thing Goes Totally Tonto?

Parit Patel, IPSoft's head of solutions, added that the AI would adjust its emotional tone to respond to that of the caller. He said: "If I told Amelia I didn't think she was doing a good job, she would pick up on that."

Good grief! Is this how SkyNet gets started..?

Amelia, created by "digital labour" company IPSoft, based in New York, has already started answering the phones at Enfield Council in a bid to - you guessed it - cut costs.

Yup, that oughtta do it!

I, for one, welcome our vengeful AI overlords with customer-induced PTSD...

"We Demand A Captive Market!"

Some independent traders in Southend town centre fear free parking at Fossetts Farm could be the final straw which drives their businesses under.

Yes, and..?

Queens Road toy shop owner Alan Dadswell has warned Southend Council of the consequences of giving Fossetts Farm’s traders an unfair advantage over town centre businesses.

Mr Dadswell claims he was forced to close the Rayleigh branch of his Toys’n’Tuck business in 2012 because Rochford District Council allowed out-oftown-retailers with free car parking to set up in competition.

He said: “I’m not convinced Fossetts Farm will be a threat to us, until we see what anchor tenant they have for the retail units.”

“However, I have concerns over out-of-town retail, because I experienced it first-hand.

“The most successful council in destroying high streets is Rochford Council, which allowed out-of-town retailers, such as Asda, in Rayleigh.

“I don’t have a problem if it is an even playing field.

“Councils should be given the opportunity to charge for car parking in out-of-town retail parks.”

So...potential customers should have to pay  for parking just to drive them back into your arms?

Really?

People will go there if it’s free and town centre parking isn’t.

“Councils can’t have it both ways. They can’t have out-of-town retail and have their own car parks full in town centres.”

Never mind what you want, or what councils want. What about what customers want?

John Ginsberg opened his cake decorating supplies store, Sugar and Co, in the Victoria Shopping Centre, earlier this year said: “Not a lot of retail space in Southend has free parking.

“If they had free parking at Fossetts Farm, it would have an impact. Lakeside has it and that attracts people there. The big thing which has an impact on us will be the parking situation there.”

So why are you demanding that another competitor should be prevented from allowing free parking? Why not band together and demand that free parking be available for your customers?

However, some other traders believe the specialist nature of their businesses will mean they are not affected by Fossetts Farm, where large national chains would be expected to move into the retail units.

Richard Onslow, the owner of the South record shop, in Queens Road, said: “This is happening all the time with out-of-town parks being developed.

“There are various challenges for local shopkeepers to face, such as internet shopping, but you either adapt or die.

“Unless a record store opens there,Idon’t think I’ll be affected.”

Quite! It's a shame I don't need a record, or I'd be only too happy to shop at Mr Onslow's establishment.

I'll be damned if I'll be buying any toys or cake decorations,m if that's the attitude of the other two to my potential custom...

“Ugh! Commercial Aspects? How Dreadful!”

Vested interests are perturbed….

The higher education green paper is a radical document, explicitly designed to change universities. But beyond the debates about metrics, funding structures and social mobility is a far more fundamental reframing – of the very concept of higher education.

Oh oh! Someone’s sensing there may be trouble ahead, methinks…

The authors of the green paper do not view students as citizens in an educational relationship but as customers taking part in a market transaction.

*gasps* Oh noes! Filthy lucre! Tainting our purity!

In his classic tome In Defence of Politics, first published in 1962, Bernard Crick argues that some sectors of public life are simply too important to be handed over to the vagaries and vulgarities of the market.

Yes, god forbid that vulgar monetary concerns be allowed to penetrate the hallowed halls of academe…

The role of the state, he says, is to counterbalance the market and protect certain sectors because of their social importance and benefit to the public.

Universities did indeed once have social importance. But now? I’m not entirely sure…

We are moving from a public to a private notion of universities, in which higher education is just another market. This, above all else, should be of primary concern to the generations of yesterday, today and tomorrow, because it threatens the integrity of British cultural and civilisational development.

Really? How?

In downplaying the public benefits of higher education, we run the risk of disregarding values such as dialogue, creativity and democracy…

I didn’t think today’s students, being such special snowflakes, valued those things, when it comes to opinions they don’t share…

To truly fulfil our potential we need to grasp the broader social value of universities and instil in our students the desire to acquire what US author David Brooks calls “eulogy virtues” not merely “resume virtues”, that is to say: “resume virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace […] eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral – whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love?”

‘Deep love’..? And that’s on which curriculum..?!?

Publicity You Just Can’t Buy!

Keren David has been appointed ‘Patron of Reading’ at Highgate Wood School in Crouch End, Haringey.

The former journalist for the Independent will work with the schoolchildren over the next three years, encouraging them to read for pleasure as part of their education.

If the name sounds familiar, then yes. She’s an author. Handy, eh?

The Year 9 students at the school will also be working on her first book, “When I Was Joe”, published in 2010.

Fancy that!

“What you read when you are a teenager is very important. They will be able to talk about what they enjoy and why, as the books become part of you.”

“And you’ll buy more of my books as a result. Whoops! Did I say that out loud?”

One Story, Two Headlines...

First, the 'Daily Mail': 

Next, the 'Guardian':

Confused..?

Two Bald Men Fighting Over A Comb…

A shopping centre struggling to attract customers has 26 empty shops, a survey reveals.

A management count of Southend’s Victoria Centre’s 63 units this week showed 41 per cent are vacant.

It’s an old refrain. The place has never been filled since opening, probably due to the sky-high rents charged which drove out old favourites.

Even those shops which have relocated to the Victoria have left behind gaping wounds in the High Street which are filled (if at all) with the sort of stores no-one in their right mind would buy from…

Yesterday, the Echo told how traders there blamed changes to the Victoria Gateway for hitting trade. They blame politicians for not acting quickly enough to address their concerns over the lack of shoppers.

Wha..? What have politicians got to do with it?

The association believes a second crossing in the shared space area, which was completed in 2011, has diverted people from an escalator leading to the centre, resulting in a drop of more than 500,000 visitors. Traders say they want the crossing removed or fenced off.

They also believe the recent introduction of trees and seats proved there was money in the pot and the opportunity to do something to help the centre had been ignored.

Oh, FFS! The crossing has little to do with the lack of footfall, since even people using it are directed up the side of the Odeon and then can enter the Victoria at midlevel on the left, should they wish. 

Clearly, should they not wish, these idiots would like to see them forced into it. At gunpoint, probably.

Graham Longley, deputy leader and councillor responsible for enterprise, tourism and economic regeneration, said he believed the problems at the centre were temporary. He said: “I think it is a superb centre and the owners have done an awful lot of work on it.

“The centre has just had a major new business start there with the Pound Shop moving in.

“I think the centre has maybe been through a hard patch, but I think it’s a short-term issue.

“The council is always doing all it can to encourage businesses, but I think it is a matter of encouraging the right blend of businesses to come in.”

Get the right blend of businesses, and customers will beat a path to your door. Get the wrong one (and remember, you’re competing with the Internet now) and…they won’t.

There’s very little government – local or national - can do to help you if you are selling things people don’t want to buy, or can get cheaper elsewhere.

Top Marks To Tesco!

I mean, they shouldn't have pleased poverty, obviously. They should have simply said 'No. We aren't paying AGAIN for you to do the job you're already paid to do'...

Dozens of businesses in St James’s Street area of Brighton have signed up to the city’s Business Crime Reduction Partnership as a way to club together and reduce antisocial behaviour for the greater good.

But, despite its parent company making a profit of more than £1 billion a year, the local Tesco Express told community activists it could not afford the cost.

So...what would Tesco have got for their money?

Steve Parry, who sits on the St James’s Community Action Group Policing Working Group, wrote to the firm’s chief executive Philip Clarke. The letter in Mr Parry’s name said: “We have in Brighton and Hove, as in many other parts of the UK, a Business Crime Reduction Partnership that is extremely effective.

...

“As with most areas having similar demographics to ours we have a serious problem with shoplifting and associated antisocial behaviour, largely centred on drug and alcohol abuse.

“We are making progress but this is hindered by the lack of support from a very limited number of traders.

When information is shared between retailers within the BCRP it is most effective when used by all shops in the area. Unfortunately Tesco Express on St James’ Street is one of the few businesses declining to work with the local community and, worse of all, has stated that the reason for not joining the BCRP is one of cost (£8 + VAT per week).

And why should it cost anything to share information? What's the money they extort actually paying for? Is it so a better class of biscuit can be enjoyed at these BCRP meetings?

Shouldn't that be the thing raising the ire of 'local campaigners'?

I Confess, I'm Puzzled...

...no, not about the fact that standards in our care homes for the elderly are appalling and dangerous, I think everyone knows that.

No, this is the bit that puzzles me:

May Ward died of multiple injuries after falling out of a sling her carers - from China and Bulgaria - were using to hoist her out of bed at Meppershall Care Home in Bedfordshire in August 2010.

Shasha Wei and Rumyana Ivanova, who have now left the country, had not been trained to use the new type of sling introduced to the home three months before, Hatfield Coroner's Court was told.

It's this - if we question why we have such unemployment in this country  yet we can import workers from the EU and China - China! - we will be told that this is a consequence of the low wages offered by the companies that run these homes, and that no-one here will get out of bed for that as it's not cost-effective and they cannot live on it. Hence the move from 'minimum wage' to the new demand for a 'living wage'.

But I'm puzzled. These two care workers will have had the same living costs as our home grown unemployed, won't they? The same food costs, the same rents, the same travel costs.

So...how is it viable for them and not the unemployed in the UK? What am I missing?

A Twitter conversation with Bella Gerens on this issue suggested there may be 'hidden' benefits available for certain types of work, but surely only to the EU national?