Author Archives: Hilary
Distinctive Economics And U.K. People Migration Between The North And South
Making housing even cheaper than at present is not the way to keep professional workers in the north, whatever the short term arguments about attracting inward investment and skills. Professional workers in the north as much as the south need easy mobility, if they are to increase their experience and value both to themselves and to their employers.
An arfticle in this Wednesday’s Business Week has business writer Bill Gleeson pondering the demise of a well-known Liverpool restaurant.
From this Bill Gleeson moves on to consider the need for ‘policies that will allow real points of difference to emerge between the north and the south, the sorts of difference that can work in our [the north’s] favour.’ One of these ways, it is proposed, might be for the Government to introduce policies which make the cost of housing up north fall.
This move would, it is suggested, attract more workers from the south because the quality of life would be better. But how, I wonder, would it make the quality of life of those currently in the north better as well?
Internal U.K. migration needs to be more, not less, equitable
For those of us who live in the north, but have interests and skills which are applicable across most parts of the nation, anything which restricts our mobility is definitely a minus, not a plus. It would be difficult to persuade me that lessening even further the value of my northern (and only) property would be for the common good, let alone in my own financial interests.
On several occasions in the past year or two I have heard speakers say that it’s imperative to keep wages and prices down in the north ‘to attract investment’.
In the short-term there may be an argument of sorts for this position; but as a rule of thumb for inward business it’s surely not only a weak position, but also in many ways downright against the interests of the employment economy and directly antagonistic to those of go-ahead workers already in the north.
Skilled workers need to be mobile
If anyone is serious about developing their skills they need to operate in a free market, at least within their own country. Experience and connections across the nation are invaluable, both to the people directly concerned and to their employers.
Seeking to reduce the mobility of those already in the north is not only detrimental to their personal interests, but will also act as a longer-term deterent to workers from the south who might otherwise be willing to consider northern migration.
33 Things To Do Before You Turn 10 (or 110)
Kids’ play is in one way serious stuff, but that’s no reason why fun shouldn’t also be far less than serious for them and for the grown-ups too. Here are some ideas to try which came from a survey of children earlier in the year, plus a few suggestions for the adults as well… Go for it, and enjoy!
Do you remember the Persil ads of last Summer? They were all on the theme of children playing, with the subtext, ‘never mind the dirt, have fun‘…. a rather useful notion, if you happen to sell washing powder, since there were thirty three of these ideas:
33 things kids should do before they’re 10 – the official list
1. Roll on your side down a grassy bank
2. Make a mud pie
3. Make your own modelling dough mixture
4. Collect frogspawn
5. Make perfume from flower petals
6. Grow cress on a windowsill
7. Make a papier mache mask
8. Build a sandcastle
9. Climb a tree
10. Make a den in the garden
11. Make a painting using your hands and feet
12. Organise your own teddy bears picnic
13. Have your face painted
14. Play with a friend in the sand
15. Make some bread
16. Make snow angels
17. Create a clay sculpture
18. Take part in a scavenger hunt
19. Camp out in the garden
20. Bake a cake
21. Feed a farm animal
22. Pick some strawberries
23. Play pooh sticks
24. Recognise five different bird species
25. Find some worms
26. Ride a bike through a muddy puddle
27. Make and fly a kite
28. Plant a tree
29. Build a nest out of grass and twigs
30. Find ten different leaves in the park
31. Grow vegetables
32. Make breakfast in bed for your parents
33. Make a mini assault course in your garden
Not all fun things need be grubby
We might also want to say that you don’t have to get grubby to enjoy yourself, even as a child; but there may be a useful idea or two in the message, especially as we reach that part of the Festive Season when for some (holiday guests, if not perhaps rushed-off-their-feet festive host/s) the main question is, ‘What shall we do next?’
The Guardian reports that what kids enjoy and apparently want to do before they reach the age of ten does not always meet with adult approval in our sanitised society, and there are concerns that children themseves are now sometimes reluctant to enjoy things which their parents expected to do without chastisement. Certainly, I for one as a child much enjoyed almost all the activities on the list – though I fear that face painting and scavenger hunts must have arrived after my time – and, although there were in those days no ‘to do’ lists of fun activities, we were keen also to ensure that our own family tried the current Persil ideas too. So maybe these things are perennial, and none the worse for that.
You don’t have to be a child to have fun!
And, since it’s holiday time right now, let’s add to these suggestions with more ideas I’ve heard for the grown-ups: Try acting out a little play / panto with the kids, make some music, tell / read a story, or simply enjoy a good walk somewhere refreshing. (By all means try to spot lots of different birds and plants on the way.) But I don’t have to elaborate this list, everyone has their own – though it’s always interesting to know what the best and simplest ideas are.
Plus, if we do get the predicted post-Christmas snow, maybe we should all try the Persil suggestion which most of us probably hadn’t heard of as children – the Snow Angel. All you have to do is lie on your back in the snow (very briefly, but thereby already providing loss of dignity and thus huge amusement for the Juniors present) and ‘wave’ your arms above your head. When you get up, you’re promised an imprint in the white stuff of an angel.
So now we can all be angelic during the Festive Season, for very little effort; and we’ll have the sparkly image in the snow to prove it.
Have you read….?
Things To Do When You’re 11 – 15
Things To Do When You’re 19 – 21
Things To Do When You’re 22 – 25
Things To Do When You’re 26 – 30
Things To Do When You’re 31 – 40
What To Do At Any Age – Be Happy
* Life is not a rehearsal
* Smile when you can
* Do acts of random kindness
* Try no-TV days
* Be cautious sometimes, cynical never
* Use your pedometer
* Treat yourself daily to a ‘Went Right’ list
So You Want To Put On A Show?
Shows are far more complicated to produce than many in the audience will ever realise. Here’s a lighthearted ‘poetic’ guide for anyone who fancies chancing their hand as promoter or director of a musical or theatrical event. Hopefully, everything you need to think about is here…
So you want to put on a show?
Well, here are the things you must know:
What’s the date, when’s the time, where’s the money?
What’s the theme, is it straight, sad or funny?
Who can act, who can play, who can sing?
Who’ll direct, can they do the whole thing?
What’s the venue, location and cost?
If the tickets don’t sell, are you lost?
Who’ll do your box office, and how?
Do you need to start marketing now?
Who’ll design programmes, posters and flyers?
Will you cope if a team member tires?
Have you found all your quotes for the print-run
And settled dates for it to be done?
Who’ll design any costumes and sets?
Are you confident budgets are met?
Have you found all your scripts and / or scores?
Are there copies for all, and some more?
Have you sorted rehearsals and places
So performers can go through their paces?
Will you use a presenter, and who?
If you have to cut back, will that do?
Will your artists require expenses,
Are these likely to be quite extensive?
Have you registered with Performing Rights
(Or composers could give you sleepless nights)?
Do you know that your players need cuppas
And without these they’ll end on their uppers?
Are you certain your insurance’s updated
Just in case your poor venture is fated?
Have you checked your venue is licenced
To avoid legal questions or sentence?
Are your sponsors signed up and contented?
Have you made sure no egos are dented?
Can you say hand on heart
That you’ll still play the part
When frustrations or worries are vented?
Have you thought if your venue needs heating?
Have you sorted there’s adequate seating?
Have you sound-checked against any din?
Is your access well-lit coming in?
Are your backdrops and props fine and dandy?
Your producer not reaching for brandy?
Are the stage lights and spots in good order?
Can the musos all see their own folders?
Is the piano in tune?
Has the stage enough room?
Have you ordered the squash, wine and biccies?
Can you wash your hands clean if they’re sticky?
Do performers have costumes which fit them?
And a place where they change to get in them?
Come the day when the show’s set to go
Who will do all the tapes and photos?
Will there be a recording on the night?
(And what about the media rights?)
Have you vendors for tickets and nibbles?
And some stewards to sort out the quibbles?
Have you marked out seats on the front row
Where your V.I.P. guests will all go?
Will a few words be said when the show starts
By a ‘vip’ with sound wisdom to impart?
Are there flowers gift-wrapped with a bow
To present at the end of the show?
Are your thank-yous all done to be posted,
So your artists and hosts feel toasted?
Will the audience know
When it’s over, to go
With a smile and a song in their hearts?
Oh! You’ve had quite enough
And you think it’s too tough
And you wish that you never had started.
But the show must go on
And there’s no escape from
The idea which began so stout-hearted.
Then the audience arrives
And the tails and bow ties
Are put on by your doughty performers;
And they go on the stage
And the show is a rage
(So you hope in your dreams,
If the critic thus deems)
And the buzz when it ends is high order.
But there’s just one more task
As you sort out the costs –
Fingers crossed, not a loss? –
And the hall’s cleared at last
As the costumes and music are stowed.
Now the hassles are over,
And though you are sober
You feel as if you’re quite heady.
And somehow a notion
Sets itself into motion
For another performance or show……
Are you c e r t a i n you’re r e a d y ???
© HB/Nov.04
A Bach Christmas For Us All!
The BBC Radio 3 Bach experience has been an extraordinary experiment; but sharing something like this with people all over the world as Christmas approaches surely has a particular meaning for many.
Anyone who enjoys classical music will be aware that the BBC has just offered us ten days of uninterrupted Bach. This has to be the tour de force to beat ’em all.
I’d be less than candid if I didn’t admit there have been times when I decided enough was enough – and turned to Dinah Washington, the Walker Brothers or other entirely ‘off site’ artists for a bit of contrast… or when I chose instead to listen to my usual fare of the wonderful chamber music of the past two centuries.
Nonetheless, in this season of good cheer, perhaps it’s worth just thinking how amazing it is that the BBC can arrange for us to listen to all, everything, J.S. Bach has left us, from three hundred or so years ago.
A global legacy shared
My guess is that people all over the world have been ‘tuning in’ on their broadband computers and hearing Bach in the morning, Bach at lunchtime and Bach in the evening [postscript, 27 Dec: 2.5 million hits were recorded!].
Maybe Bach is not everyone’s cup of tea, but here we have something really quite extraordinary – a community of ‘People on Earth’ who, without knowing each other, are sharing a legacy of three hundred years which has been the basis for much of our contemporary music, popular, ‘classical’ and even cutting edge.
Just as we can share the hoped-for goodwill of Christmas without necessarily the religious aspects, so through music and very ‘new’ technologies we can share a heritage which means something, whatever our own contemporary musical preferences.
Evolutionary Theory In The Lime Light
Evolutionary scientists have been awarded the top accolade by the journal ‘Science’ this year. Perhaps scientists until now have taken too much for granted the public understanding of the scientific basis of evolution; but recent attacks on evolutionary theory by proponents of ‘intelligent design’ have demonstrated the need to be much more pro-active about ensuring that the amazingly complex evolutionary process is generally understood.
The the leading U.S. journal Science has just published its top ten list of major accomplishments for 2005. Happily, its top placing, for ‘breakthrough of the year’ was awarded jointly to a number of studies about evolutionary theory.
The aspect of the science of evolution which attracted particular plaudits was the way the selected studies illuminated the very complex mechanisms underlying evolution as a general concept. These included the sequencing of the chimpanzee genome, reconstruction of the flu virus of 1918, and a study of European blackcap birds which demonstrated how two different populations can become separate species.
The fightback starts in earnest
Science says that its award this year was solely on the basis of the excellence of the work done on evolutionary studies. And deservedly so.
But there is also another aspect of evolutionary science which has for a while been of deep concern to observers and scientists alike – the attack on formally constituted science as knowledge, by proponents of ‘intelligent design’ and ‘creationism’. Neither of these latter ideas carries any credence as science.
There would for many be no problem if these ideas were claimed only as alternative, non-scientific, belief systems, but there’s a huge issue for the very basis of science itself if these ‘theories’ have to be placed in the school curriculum alongside the continously tested and explored notion of scientific knowledge. Yet that is exactly what sizeable, wealthy and powerful groups of people in the U.S.A. are currently seeking through their very highest law courts to do.
An attack on science is an attack on rationality
The debate about what this attack on evolutionary theory actually means is becoming much more overt (e.g. Guardian Unlimited blog earlier this week) but it still sees some scientists at a loss. Yes, there are risks in challenging big sponsors of universities and other large-scale institutions. But without peer-reviewed and tested knowledge, scientific education itself means nothing.
In the end an attack on scientific method (for such it is) is indeed an attack on science and rationality themselves – which makes for a strange conundrum, given that the ‘intelligent designers’ have chosen the courts of law as their vehicle for attempting to impose their ‘theory’ as a serious contender, against evolution, as an explanation of the physical basis of our being.
Tim Berners-Lee has a weblog!
So now the founder of the world-wide web has his own website. And it’s great to see how warmly people have responded to it.
It’s a bit of a surprise that it’s only just happened, but Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who created the world-wide web, has just started a weblog. I just saw an entry about it, dated 12 December this year… and then the excellent ‘In Praise Of’ Guardian editorial appeared.
Too early no doubt to say what we shall all learn from this contribution to the www, but it’s heartening to see that many of the early responses have been outpourings of appreciation and thanks for what Sir Tim achieved. He may not, as a contributor on this humble weblog noted, have made any money from his amazing contribution to communication technology, but he must surely be enjoying the warmth of all the responses to his work.
Tesco And The Objectors Both Win Their Points
Tesco has won its appeal to expand a store in South Liverpool (Allerton) by 50%. Some – though not all – local people are very worried by this. But the retail giant has also offered to set up consultation with residents to see how developments can be made to have the most positive impact. This offer must be taken up.
I see (front page of today’s Daily Post) that Tesco’s appeal for their South Liverpool development has been successful.
It’s been interesting that so many people have read and / or responded to my postings on Tesco and the environment. This is clearly a matter about which a lot of people have strong feelings, one way or the other. My own view however is that the debate, whilst it’s probably now come to an end legally – unless there’s a challenge? – has been beneficial whichever view one takes.
The community has gained influence
Perhaps those members of the local community who were and are against the development of the South Liverpool (Allerton) site – and by no means all local people took this view – are currently despondent about the outcome of Tesco’s appeal. I’m not so sure that they should be.
Yes, Tesco has the go-ahead to enlarge their store very considerably, but there have been serious efforts made to reduce the ‘green impact’ of the development as far as possible, and the University is pleased they can confirm they will go ahead with their own sports proposals. Also, of course, the promised money from Tesco will now be forthcoming for the public realm work along the Allerton shopping corridor.
But that’s not the only positive outcome. The most recently evident one is that Tesco is striving to show itself in very publicly ‘listening’ mode. They want to set up a residents’ committee to work on the local impact of their development, and they have acknowledged the significance of the concerns expressed. The opportunity is therefore now available to take Tesco up on these offers and see if the promises of consultation etc are kept.
The ball is now firmly in the objectors’ court. I hope, to continue the sporting reference, that those who protested will choose to pick that ball up and run with it. Tesco has offered to work and liaise with local people. Let’s respond in kind and see if and in what ways the offer is meaningful.
English Regions or City-Regions?
Protagonists for City-Regions are often much less sympathetic to the rationale for the English Regions as such. But perhaps it’s all a matter of differential scales. City Regions could well choose, to their mutual benefit and that of their hinter-lands, to collaborate on some of the much bigger strategic things without fear of damage to historic and local identities.
The debate about City-Regions vs. English Regions shows no signs of resolving. The recent launch of a campaign for an Elected Mayor in Liverpool (and some other towns and cities) has if anything exacerbated the differences between those who support regionalism as such, and those who support city-regions within England, or presumably, come to that, anywhere else.
Whilst there are obviously some areas where people may not ever agree, I do however believe there are a number of areas of common cause between the protagonists for each ‘side’, if the issues are looked at in a particular light.
The meaning of ‘regionalism’
For those who take a strongly anti-regional line the main problem seems to be that they perceive this as inevitably favouring one stronger city over other cities in the region… indeed, they may even take the view that there is no such thing as a region, as a way to circumvent such a perspective entirely.
In this view the real issue is the power of one place over others, and the expectation that, given half a chance, this place will take unfair advantage, at significant cost to other towns and cities nearby.
On the other hand, to at least some people who would support a regional persepctive alongside a city-focused one (and there are few regionalists who don’t also favour the healthy growth of cities per se), the underlying issue is connectivity. Who will make the case for, e.g., good road and rail connections between different cities within the region and, even more importantly, the way that very large centres of population – especially the metropolis – connect with the region at all?
Taking this perspective, there may be surprising commonalities even with towns and cities in other regions. For instance, Birmingham shares with the northern cities the issue of getting traffic up and down the country – and has in fact begun exploring solutions to this problem with them.
Size is the basic issue
Evidence elsewhere in Europe suggests that a population of between 7 and 10 million can be effectively self-sustaining in terms of producing all the requirements for modern society. But no U.K. city outside London is of this size – which means that English cities must necessarily be inter-dependent in some respects. For instance, (genuinely) Big Science can never happen just with the resources of one city, any more than can ‘Big Medicine / Technology’ and so forth. There are plenty of win-wins in inter-city collaboration for science and industry, just as there are endless reasons why the more ambitious aspects of tourism are often best promoted on at least a regional basis (see quote in New Start magazine from the English Regional Development Agencies).
But what the size issue doesn’t mean is that cities have to lose their identities, or that there must be ‘regional centre’ cities wicih will effectively dictate to all the other places in a region what they may and may not do. This maintenance of identity and self-determination provides one of the strongest cases for elected mayors or similar – provided always (a big proviso) that such leaders are well-informed, brave and sensible….
Unique identities, shared strengths
This is a rather optimistic view, but maybe there will come a time when people generally can see that there is indeed strength in commonality when it comes to the big things (massive inward investment, the knowledge economy, large-scale infrastructure etc.), but that with this does not need to come loss of identity for individual places and smaller areas within a geographical location such as a ‘region’ of England. Rather the opposite.
Perhaps it’s a matter of confidence. When we, smaller-city citizens across the nation, are confident that our own patch is well-recognised and well-defined, it will be easier to agree with our neighbours on shared strategies for the bigger things. But how to develop that confidence from where we’re at now is, however you look at it, a challenge and a half.
Christmas Round Robin Letters Round Off The Year
Christmas round robin letters evoke strong views; but they’re an excellent way to keep in touch, even if they often do ‘accentuate the positive’. We’re no longer in communities where we can just pop down the road to share our news.
Should one, or should one not, enclose with one’s festive greetings a newsletter-cum-salutation which brings the recipient up to speed on at least the more positive of one’s experiences over the past twelve months?
‘Round robins’, it is said, are so named because originally they were delivered in Victorian times by postmen wearing red uniforms, a cheery thought for this festive season. Which brings me to the crux of the matter. To round robin or not to round robin? Is it good form to put an annual ‘family newsletter’ addressed to ‘Dear All’ in with the Christmas card?
Keeping in touch
Here’s a question to which there is absolutely not a ‘right’ answer. The pro- and anti- camps are, each of them, both persuasive and unpersuadable.
It’s a question on which both ‘sides’ claim the high moral ground, and a situation in which faux pas is often the order of the day.
But for my money, the answer is Yes, please do send a newsy note with your Christmas card if you (a) can, and (b) would like to ….. providing always that what you are about to relate is mostly pleasant and / or necessary news, and that it will read as sharing rather than blaring.
And I will try to reciprocate in similar manner.
Change of context, change of comms.
Life for most people in the Western world has changed a great deal in the past several decades.
Almost no-one from my youth still lives where they grew up; in fact, few of them even live anywhere near where they studied or started their professional lives. And to this we can add likewise that few of our children now live anywhere near us.
In other words, for large numbers of people their ‘communities’ are many and varied. There are our initial reference points – family and school days; then there are college and early career friends; then we add in-laws or similar; and then our careers often take us in very different directions from those which we may have expected… and so it goes on.
Obviously, not everyone experiences such steadily shifting contextual arrangements, but for an ever-larger proportion of the population such, up to the present, has been life as we know it.
Hardly surprising then that for many of us the Christmas card list continues to grow, and the possibility of individual meaningful and handwritten seasonal letters becomes less and less feasible, despite our very good intentions. We’d have to start the Christmas cards in October, to achieve anything like a respectable output on a fully ‘individualised’ basis.
It’s the intention that counts
So I for one like to receive the annual round robin messages and notes which come through my letterbox during the festive season. We read and share them with others. It’s become a part of the Christmas ritual.
Newsletters make the saluations in the Christmas cards meaningful; these are not greetings from shadowy figures from my past, but from real people in the here-and-now.
The news and views I read from past colleagues and old friends are ever-interesting. The diaspora underpinning our modern lives continues to expand, but the community of interest and shared experience remains.
Shared meaning writ large
Another sense in which we use the term ’round robin’ is to describe the making of a patchwork quilt, sometimes by a number of friends and family together and often as a part of the tradition of American community life. (Though now there are even internet quilting groups!)
Like this simple shared craft activity, round robin letters are not meaningless. Enjoy, joke or even grimace if you must, but also please know that for most of those who write round robins they are a genuine attempt to show that you have not been forgotten. The spirit of Christmas letters reflects the basic commonality of meaning from which we have all emerged to go our separate and fascinating ways.
An Elected Mayor for Liverpool?
A new campaign has been launched by local figure Liam Fogarty today for an Elected Mayor in Liverpool. If nothing else, such a move will perhaps encourage a healthy debate about the democratic process and accountability, and perhaps more.
Today has seen the emergence of a campaign for Liverpool to have an Elected Mayor. The first step if this campaign is to succeed is to obtain enough signatures to trigger a referendum on the matter – no small challenge in itself.
The campaign, headed by ex-BBC presenter Liam Fogarty, claims that in Liverpool ‘too many decisions are taken by invisible committees and un-elected officials. Important projects fail to materialise, yet no-one takes responsibility.’
‘Only an Elected Mayor can provide the vision and leadership needs at this crucial time in the City’s history,’ we are told. This, of course, is a reference to the much-trumpeted events in Liverpool of 2007 and 2008, which certainly require great cultural leadership, skill and planning if they are to succeed.
The democratic deficit
But it is also claimed that an Elected Mayor would re-involve people in democratic process. They would be more likely to vote and become engaged in local decision-making if there were such a person. Perhaps this is true.
Whatever, there is a serious case for any sort of initiative which takes local political involvement more into the community. It would probably be worth a try – though interestingly, so far only 12 towns and cities of those which have considered having an Elected Mayor have actually gone along that option in the end.
Previous mayoral campaigns
This is not however the first time that there has been a campaign for an Elected Mayor. In 2000 the media group Aurora took up the cudgels, publishing with other organisations a book entitled Manifesto for a New Liverpool [see also ‘cultural leadership’, above], in which the case was made for such a civic leader.
Only time will tell whether this is an enduring and positive initiative. This time as far as I can see there is a strong pro-cities but anti-regional sentiment there too, and that second position (pro-cities is fine, anti-region in my books isn’t) convinces me less than does the case for democracy at grass roots.
But for the time being I suppose it’s enough to feel heartened that people are energised to do what they believe is best for Liverpool, putting heads above parapets and saying what they think. Now that really is democarcy in action.
Dreaming Realist 