Comments on: The Audit Explosion http://nickcohen.net/2009/04/19/comment-is-free-while-we-suffer-the-box-tickers-will-continue-to-prosper-even-if-alistair-darling-offers-an-austerity-budget-one-level-of-bureaucracy-will-emerge-unscathed-comments-22/ Journalism from London. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:30:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Ross http://nickcohen.net/2009/04/19/comment-is-free-while-we-suffer-the-box-tickers-will-continue-to-prosper-even-if-alistair-darling-offers-an-austerity-budget-one-level-of-bureaucracy-will-emerge-unscathed-comments-22/#comment-1035 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:05:13 +0000 http://nickcohen.net/?p=682#comment-1035 Alistair Darling at least kept a straight face throughout his 2009 Bagehot day for the cameras, early on filmed having breakfast and then later in the day at the despatch box. Why write such a thing? Well, when a grin covers much of the face when it logically shouldn’t, it is not good, because you’re either a psycho in some film or other (!) or not very well. Whatever the outcome from last Wednesday, going about it, Darling was as you would like him to be.
But Gordon Brown? Shortly after the beginning of his premiership he had to take on some sort of advisor who was to keep him out of embarrassing situations, photograph’s, etc. But this Youtube thing, for whom was is it delivered like that? This advisor is on a lot of money. Surely she could say to him after a year: ‘no, no smiles, Gordon, no grinning, it looks bad. Keep the delivery plain, quite solemn – as you did when talking about the terrorist attacks a year ago.’ In short, authoritatively. But then again, maybe she asked him to smile a bit?
He needs to cut this nonsense out for the remainder of the term, so we don’t have a Prime Minister who will only end up doing these crazy videos for stoners to get high to. Sounds daft, but I’ve already seen some lads mimicking him. I find it regrettable. If the advisor has no cut with Gordon Brown over matters like these or is responsible for them, then she should do some good for the public purse and hand in her notice. Going down fighting is far better than going down grinning.

]]> By: Ross http://nickcohen.net/2009/04/19/comment-is-free-while-we-suffer-the-box-tickers-will-continue-to-prosper-even-if-alistair-darling-offers-an-austerity-budget-one-level-of-bureaucracy-will-emerge-unscathed-comments-22/#comment-1031 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:11:03 +0000 http://nickcohen.net/?p=682#comment-1031 In this economic storm unemployment has crossed over the 2 million mark and is likely to go up to or beyond three million at sometime. What sort of numbers would the jobless be if the present was less technological?

]]> By: gaw http://nickcohen.net/2009/04/19/comment-is-free-while-we-suffer-the-box-tickers-will-continue-to-prosper-even-if-alistair-darling-offers-an-austerity-budget-one-level-of-bureaucracy-will-emerge-unscathed-comments-22/#comment-1018 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:21:44 +0000 http://nickcohen.net/?p=682#comment-1018 Strange how British managerialists adopted this system of targets shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union had proven decisively that this just doesn’t work.

I wonder which outdated bit of academic work will be vulgarised next by business ‘intellectuals’?

]]> By: Ross http://nickcohen.net/2009/04/19/comment-is-free-while-we-suffer-the-box-tickers-will-continue-to-prosper-even-if-alistair-darling-offers-an-austerity-budget-one-level-of-bureaucracy-will-emerge-unscathed-comments-22/#comment-1017 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:14:57 +0000 http://nickcohen.net/?p=682#comment-1017 The call went out from the Prime Minister that there should be ‘no rewards for failure’ for the individuals who had a hand in the leaving the economy on a cliff’s edge. One would wish this axiom would apply generally rather than just being solely directed at the bankers. But it seems not to be the case.
A re-reading of The Silence of the Docs will explain all.
Cynthia Bowers’ promotion (including a wage higher than Gordon Brown’s) is inexplicable. I genuinely mean that. Also, I cannot see how the health secretary can go round the hospital visits he makes, shaking hands with staff or chatting with patients, and not shrink in his suit down into a shoe.

]]> By: Fabio P.Barbieri http://nickcohen.net/2009/04/19/comment-is-free-while-we-suffer-the-box-tickers-will-continue-to-prosper-even-if-alistair-darling-offers-an-austerity-budget-one-level-of-bureaucracy-will-emerge-unscathed-comments-22/#comment-1016 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:35:33 +0000 http://nickcohen.net/?p=682#comment-1016 Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth century built the largest empire the world had ever seen AND became the workshop of the world, with a decentralized system in which local government (and, in the empire, the man-on-the-spot, governor, resident, colonel or merchant) made most decisions. The only attempt at centralizing decision-making ended with the heart of the Empire, the thirteen colonies of North America, goin walkies. The British learned from that and made later colonies self-governing as soon as it was practical. Britain in the twentieth century was seized by a demon of centralization – imitating, badly, countries like Prussia and France where centralized government was a tradition – and lost both their empire and their economic prominence. That went to the former Thirteen Colonies – a decentralized federal Union. Meanwhile, France, Germany, Spain and Italy have all decided that their centralized governments do not suit modern conditions and have moved – Italy and Spain most spectacularly – towards federalism and broad local autonomy. Italy is giving, for the first time in its history, broad tax-raising powers to its local authorities, and expanding their range of powers. Someone should explain to New Labour what time of day it is.

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