Another lovely day with my wonderful granddaughter Catrin
December 20th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Yesterday I spent all day with my granddaughter Catrin (now just one month short of her third birthday) who was allowed to miss nursery to go out with the me.
The starting point was a stage show at the Leicester Square Theatre to see “Stick Man”. Catrin has already seen two stage productions with other relatives this Christmas – one with Peppa Pig and the other with the Gruffalo – and she loves them. In our case. it has hard to be sure which was opened wider: her eyes or her mouth. She delighted in all the opportunities to shout out and granddad enjoyed the jokes (“Why is the sea wet?” “Because the sea weed.”).
Then we teamed up with my friend Jen and her son James who is just three months older than Catrin. The kids have met several times and, when they saw each other again, they ran together and hugged each other. After some lunch at “Gaby’s”, we strolled down to Trafalgar Square to see what we described as “the biggest Christmas tree in the world”. Then we wandered round to Leicester Square – Catrin and James holding hands – where there is a Christmas fair. First Catrin & James rode a small vehicle on a tracked journey and then Jen & I took them on a merry-go-round.
Next Jen and I chanced our luck and took the little ones to their first ever film. The venue was the West End Vue and the movie was the latest Walt Disney production “Frozen” [my review here]. They sat through all 102 minutes utterly enraptured. James and then Catrin took turns sitting on my knee. Little James jumped whenever there was a loud event; after each set back for the heroine, Catrin would say: “Oh, dear!” At the end, James burst into tears. When I asked Jen why, she told me that he didn’t want the film to end. When I explained this to Catrin, she burst into tears too and insisted she didn’t want it to end either.
Finally we returned to the Leicester Square fair for a couple of more rides. This ended a full but fun day. Not sure who had the most fun through: Jen and me or the children.
Footnote: The first time that I took my son Richard – Catrin’s daddy – to the cinema was when he was just two and a half. We saw “Star Wars”. What an introduction to the movies.
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A cheery message for Christmas
December 18th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“Already, we have forgotten the basic lesson of the [financial] crash [of 2008] : Global problems need global solutions. And because we failed to learn from the last crisis, the world’s bankers are carrying us toward the next one.
The economist David Miles, who sits on the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England, may exaggerate when he forecasts financial crises every seven years, but most of the problems that caused the 2008 crisis — excessive borrowing, shadow banking and reckless lending — have not gone away.
Too-big-to-fail banks have not shrunk; they’ve grown bigger. Huge bonuses that encourage reckless risk-taking by bankers remain the norm. Meanwhile, shadow banking — investment and lending services by financial institutions that act like banks, but with less supervision — has expanded in value to $71 trillion, from $59 trillion in 2008.”
So writes former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in an opinion piece in today’s “New York Times”. He concludes his review of actions since 2008 as follows:
“…precisely what world leaders sought to avoid — a global financial free-for-all, enabled by ad hoc, unilateral actions — is what has happened. Political expediency, a failure to think and act globally, and a lack of courage to take on vested interests are pushing us inexorably toward the next crash.”
Enjoy Christmas ..
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
The absurdity which is the current House of Lords
December 17th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“Half the members of the House of Lords clock in and out of Parliament for a few minutes a day in order to claim a £300 daily attendance allowance, a former Conservative peer has said. Lord Hanningfield made the claim when challenged to explain his own attendance record.”
This is the opening to a story on the BBC web site about the latest scandal to hit members of the UK’s second chamber. I don’t actually believe this and I know some really excellent and very hard working peers. But the present composition of the Lords is completely indefensible.
In my “Short Guide To The British Political System”, I write:
“The House of Lords is an utterly bizarre institution that has no parallel anywhere in the democratic world. Indeed the only other country with an unelected second chamber is Lesotho.”
I point out:
“There is no fixed number of members in the House of Lords, but currently there are almost 800 active members – many more than in the House of Commons, more than the combined houses of the American Congress or the Indian Parliament (although both of these nations have a federal system), and the second biggest legislative body in the world (after the Chinese National People’s Congress which is effectively a rubber-stamping body).”
As if this was not bad enough, I add:
“A small number of … members – 26 – are Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England. Iran is the only other country in the world that provides automatic seats for senior religious figures in its legislature.”
So, why have we not reformed the Lords? I explain:
“The Queen’s Speech of May 2012 announced that there would be a Bill on Lords reform in the current session of Parliament. The latest proposal for reform comes from a Joint Committee of the two houses which recommended a 450-seat chamber with peers elected for 15 years in elections to be held every five years. Of these, 80% would be elected by a form of proportional representation with 20% appointed by an independent body.
In fact, neither the Commons (especially the Conservative Party) nor the Lords is keen on reform for very different reasons (MPs do not want the Lords to gain more legitimacy and nominated peers do not want to be replaced by elected representatives). In the summer of 2012, the Prime Minister announced that he could not deliver Conservative support for a reform measure which was therefore withdrawn to the intense anger of the Liberal Democrats who very much support reform.”
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Social mobility and child poverty in unequal Britain
December 16th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s first annual report, State of the Nation 2013, sets out detailed evidence and analysis on child poverty and social mobility. Despite the commitment and efforts of Government and others, the scale and depth of progress are unequal to the social, economic and fiscal challenges. The Commission calls for a renewed drive and new approaches to overcoming poverty and enhancing mobility.
Child poverty and social mobility are two sides of the same coin: the more children in poverty, the lower the level of social mobility we are likely to achieve. The report offers significant evidence to show how, over decades, our society has become wealthier but not fairer:
- one in six UK children, 2.3 million in total, live in relative income poverty, higher than Denmark, Sweden and Germany; poorer children fall behind in development before the age of 3 and never catch up;
- disadvantage and advantage cascade down the generations – the association between incomes of fathers and sons is twice as strong here as in Finland, Australia and Canada;
- social divisions are various – from spatial divisions to divides in earnings and education by ethnicity and gender, with over 60 per cent of low paid workers being female;
- poverty is ‘dynamic’ – today’s young people face the prospect of having lower living standards as adults than those of their parents.
The problems are deep rooted and come at a socio-economic price: child poverty costs £1,000 per taxpayer per year; improving social mobility by raising all children to average levels of educational attainment could contribute £56 billion a year by 2050.
Drawing on historical and international evidence, the Commission identifies features of societies with lower child poverty and higher social mobility and offers these as benchmarks against which to assess developments in the UK:
- adults supported to be warm authoritative parents actively engaged in their children’s education, particularly in the early years;
- high-quality, affordable and universal childcare that enables more parents to work and helps improve children’s early development;
- high-quality schools and teachers relentlessly focused on raising standards, building social skills and closing attainment gaps;
- clear accessible routes into work for those pursuing both vocational and academic education and training;
- plenty of high-quality jobs throughout the country with good progression opportunities and fair recruitment processes;
- family incomes that are supported by decent levels of pay and the right incentives to find employment and work enough hours;
- society becoming less unequal over time and individuals with little wealth being supported to build assets.
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E-waste and where it comes from
December 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
■ A computer circuit board can contain gold, copper, cadmium, iron, tantalum, molybdenum, palladium, lead, cobalt, tin, nickel, cerium, antimony, platinum, zinc, lanthanum, silver and mercury.
■ A chip in a smartphone can contain 60 chemical elements.
■ China made 1.18bn mobile phones in 2012.
■ The US discarded 258.2m computers, monitors, TVs and mobile phones in 2010. Each American is responsible for an average 29.8kg of hi-tech waste; it’s 5.4kg in China and 21.82kg in the UK.
■ The total annual volume of e-waste is expected to grow by 33% to 65.4m tonnes by 2017.
■ The lowest levels of e-waste per person are generated in DR Congo (0.21kg) and Burkina Faso (0.81kg)
■ 10bn mobile-connected devices expected to be in use by 2017.
Sources: UNEP, StEP, MIT, Cisco
Posted in Environment | Comments (0)
My performance as Father Christmas at Catrin’s nursery
December 14th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Today it was the Christmas Bazaar at my granddaughter’s nursery and guess who they persuaded to be Father Christmas. Most of the children were two or three years old and several found the old man so scary that they burst into tears.
But most of the children found Father Christmas a magical figure and loved having their photograph taken with him by very proud and loving parents. Father Christmas loved it too even if he couldn’t eat or drink for a couple of hours because of the costume.
Amazingly Catrin did not recognise Father Christmas. At first, she was shy with him, but she kept coming back to look at him and then she wanted to sit next to him all the time. Somehow there was a bond – or it might just have been that she wanted more presents.
Catrin is not sure about this strange man
so she needs mummy to be on hand
Catrin still does not know that this Father Christmas
is actually her granddad in full costume and make up
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Once more: the Darlington Christmas letter
December 14th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I are spending evenings writing Christmas cards to friends at home and abroad. We like to pass on some news but can’t write too much in each card, so as usual we are uing the format of a Christmas letter which seems to go down well.
You can read the letter for 2013 here.
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My afternoon and morning with the Tinder Foundation
December 13th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Among my portfolio of interests, I am a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Tinder Foundation (previously the Online Centres Foundation) which promotes digital inclusion throughout the UK. I have just returned from Sheffield where Tinder is based after an intense but inspiring afternoon (Thursday) and morning (Friday).
Yesterday, the Board, ably chaired by former Schools Minister Lord Jim Knight, held its quarterly meeting where we heard encouraging news on future funding. Then we had a social event for Board members to meet the staff. Finally the Board had a working dinner to discuss future strategy which began with a PowerPoint presentation by our inspirational Chief Executive Helen Milner.
Today the Tinder Foundation – which is a mutual – had its Annual General Meeting attended by all the staff and Board members. Then we had an event called Talking Tables, an opportunity for each member of staff to join two discussions from four topics (I chaired sessions on Tinder’s pay strategy and on the organisation’s culture).
Next – the highlight of the two days – there was a moot led by the irrepressible Vic Stirling. We were divided into six teams. Each team was given a debating topic and told which side of the proposition they would have to promote in debate through one of their number whom they would have to elect and arm with arguments. The three topics were:
- Facebook vs Twitter
- Digital vs Paper
- A pay increase of 11% for Members of Parliament
I thought that each of the six speakers did brilliantly, since it is no mean feat to prepare a cogent two minute speech with no previous notice and just 15 minutes preparation time with a few colleagues. But the Tinder team is just so fantastic.
Lastly, three Board members (including me) and the Chief Executive were invited to take part in something called a Career Chat where we were asked to tell colleagues about our career highs and lows and to answer a few questions. One question was: “What advice would you give to your 16 year old self?” I said: “Aim high” (I don’t think I have always aimed high enough in my life).
In fact, one of my 30 short stories is on the theme of advice to one’s younger self. You can read it here.
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A review of the film “Blue Jasmine”
December 12th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Woody Allen is back on form as the writer and director of this movie which I have reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The origins of a beautiful Christmas tradition
December 11th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
When four of Santa’s elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.
Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.
Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor.
Just then, the doorbell rang, and an irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said very cheerfully, ‘Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn’t this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?’
And thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
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