well if you are following the blog at all - though odd thing to be doing since have not posted since November. Update that home page more often. This is just to let you know that I am leaving Defra on secondment to the Institute for Government - am going to tell people in the office tomorrow. Timing not quite clear - but will be making the move some time in September. Not clear how google will cope with both Jill Rutters working at think tanks.. maybe we are becoming the same person.
And that will mean that the blog will be open again for business.
Monday, 31 August 2009
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Election night
11.50 GMT -- sitting, killing time watching reruns of SNL's Palin (what on earth possessed McCain to do the QVC stunt?).... V Heavy polling in VA according to locals on the ground.... waiting for first results to come through .... Jeremy Vine playing with his graph again... we have to wait for 6.00 for Alaska ..don't think can stay up for that and still make it to my nine o'clock tomorrow...
11.57 -- three minutes to go - to something... .. JV running through obscure counties... David D trying to explain how networks forecast the results...claim that exit polls have Dem bias... laying off blame on ABC as BBC's affiliate.
midnight .. bonfire night in England... -- KY to McC; VT to BO....now cut to filler about Martin Luther King and I had better do some exercises....or revert to watching Tina Fey. Bizarre to think that BO was born six years before the Supreme Court struck down miscegenation laws. 12.10 more discussion on race.... Dem win VA Senate. does that mean BO will win VA? Eric reckons that would be very good news for him - and he is a politics professor. Short tutorial now on separation of powers. Cheney's ex press sec already discussing BO's first 100 days. and now we have Ricky Gervais from New York. They wouldn't do this in the UK.
1.00 am -- PA to Obama -- allegedly... so we finally have a result that appears to matter.. MC chances "pretty darn minimal"...and Jed Bartlett's NH has stayed blue...BO now ahead.... chancs of goign to bed at some point looking better...IL to BO -- and DC finally gets to matter..... plus MA... and DL...suddenly 67 votes ,,, but TN to Mc. Results in now... but so far BO has not taken any Bush states.
1.15 -- Liddy Dole out in NC -- Kathy will be pleased.... saying how much NC has changed ... Raleigh Durham just described as starbucks belt....
1.45 and while I was asleep the popular vote projection which Beeb pundit said could only go in ob direction has just narrowed down fto 50+50 -- that can't be true..better stay awake.
1.50 -- VA seems to have disappeared off the political map... no mention for a couple of hours...
2.05 -- final news that Fox has called OH for BO... finally a state might change from 2004....GA gone to McC - despite the fact that BC won it in 1992....they are saying v close ... DD has finally said that White House ha sliped form Republican grasp -- might be bedtime.
2.35 -- debating whether am going to go to bed or wait up for FL.... getting quite dopey now.
2.40 -- Simon Schama trying to get DavidD to call the election for Obama...Ben Wildavsky - my token republican friend - has told me its all over from McC with PA and OH gone... I think I am going to sign off.... but can't get as excited as I did over Bill C.... I wonder whether I would have done if Hillary had been running...
11.57 -- three minutes to go - to something... .. JV running through obscure counties... David D trying to explain how networks forecast the results...claim that exit polls have Dem bias... laying off blame on ABC as BBC's affiliate.
midnight .. bonfire night in England... -- KY to McC; VT to BO....now cut to filler about Martin Luther King and I had better do some exercises....or revert to watching Tina Fey. Bizarre to think that BO was born six years before the Supreme Court struck down miscegenation laws. 12.10 more discussion on race.... Dem win VA Senate. does that mean BO will win VA? Eric reckons that would be very good news for him - and he is a politics professor. Short tutorial now on separation of powers. Cheney's ex press sec already discussing BO's first 100 days. and now we have Ricky Gervais from New York. They wouldn't do this in the UK.
1.00 am -- PA to Obama -- allegedly... so we finally have a result that appears to matter.. MC chances "pretty darn minimal"...and Jed Bartlett's NH has stayed blue...BO now ahead.... chancs of goign to bed at some point looking better...IL to BO -- and DC finally gets to matter..... plus MA... and DL...suddenly 67 votes ,,, but TN to Mc. Results in now... but so far BO has not taken any Bush states.
1.15 -- Liddy Dole out in NC -- Kathy will be pleased.... saying how much NC has changed ... Raleigh Durham just described as starbucks belt....
1.45 and while I was asleep the popular vote projection which Beeb pundit said could only go in ob direction has just narrowed down fto 50+50 -- that can't be true..better stay awake.
1.50 -- VA seems to have disappeared off the political map... no mention for a couple of hours...
2.05 -- final news that Fox has called OH for BO... finally a state might change from 2004....GA gone to McC - despite the fact that BC won it in 1992....they are saying v close ... DD has finally said that White House ha sliped form Republican grasp -- might be bedtime.
2.35 -- debating whether am going to go to bed or wait up for FL.... getting quite dopey now.
2.40 -- Simon Schama trying to get DavidD to call the election for Obama...Ben Wildavsky - my token republican friend - has told me its all over from McC with PA and OH gone... I think I am going to sign off.... but can't get as excited as I did over Bill C.... I wonder whether I would have done if Hillary had been running...
Monday, 3 November 2008
Bad planning
You have 64 quarters of economic growth in which to open your mega-mall and then choose to open in the quarter when recession is likely to be confirmed... such is the fate of the vast new shopping centre at Shepherds Bush which I, along with most of West London visited on Saturday. As others have already commented, it already seems like a temple to a bygone age - so early 2000s - and an odd juxtaposition with Fiona Reynolds calling for people to reconnect with their simpler, non-consumerist selves on the radio that morning - by visiting the conspicuous consumption of the wealthy of an earlier age.
But good to know that, in a corner of W12 there is a place where, with no need to take more than five steps, you can buy Gucci, Prada, stock up with diamonds at Tiffany's (or is that a breakfast place). Notable that there were a lot of people in cafés; long lines to buy England shirts at £ 3.49 at Sports Direct (90% off - get donw there fast) - but not a single high end bag to be seen in the sticky paw of any of the thronging masses.
So is this completely misconceived? Quite possibly. Though once you have made it through the offputting designer village for people valet parking their Porsches and SUVs, there are some more normal stores where the tills may some day ring. And compared to Oxford Street, with about half the number of people, there would be more space to move about and no need to dodge between the lines of buses to get from one row to another. Time will tell whether this becomes a monumental folly. The verdict of a non-random sample at the tennis club in Sunday afternoon was that all had been and none would go back - to which I was the only possible exception (but at my rate of spend that won't make a decent return on £1.6bn this side of the next millennium).
But if not misconceived, it is stunningly badly planned. Not just because the tube station dumps you out by the bus station - not into the mall (the whole point is surely to avoid any risk of exposure to fresh air). Not just because the escalators inside the mall can't cope with people wanting to go both up and down. Not just that the refurbished Shepherds Bush tube has nice white tiles, but seems to have no increased access to cope with - duh - Monroe people. Not just because nothing has been done to make traffic move around Shepherds Bush green. Will any of the people who flocked there on Saturday to then be held in a queue outside the tube station closed for congestion in pouring rain - and who then could not get a bus either - ever bother to make it back?
Of course Saturday was exceptional. It was new. It was horrible weather. But there seems to be a complete mismatch between the assumptions on which Westfield was built -- vast numbers of people arriving from all over London - and the ability of the transport system to plan on anything like a comparable basis. But you wait 11 years for a mega-mall to be built (reassuring that these people are building the shopping mall for the Olympic village) and then you spend two hours in the rain trying to get away from it.
But that is not the only problem with the development... it is literally all shops and a few restaurants. No homes. No offices.
In short it is a monument to American suburban planning. Giant mall; inadequate public transport; single use. Disconnected from the local community. A potential blight on other local high streets. Jane Jacobs would be turning in her grave....
But good to know that, in a corner of W12 there is a place where, with no need to take more than five steps, you can buy Gucci, Prada, stock up with diamonds at Tiffany's (or is that a breakfast place). Notable that there were a lot of people in cafés; long lines to buy England shirts at £ 3.49 at Sports Direct (90% off - get donw there fast) - but not a single high end bag to be seen in the sticky paw of any of the thronging masses.
So is this completely misconceived? Quite possibly. Though once you have made it through the offputting designer village for people valet parking their Porsches and SUVs, there are some more normal stores where the tills may some day ring. And compared to Oxford Street, with about half the number of people, there would be more space to move about and no need to dodge between the lines of buses to get from one row to another. Time will tell whether this becomes a monumental folly. The verdict of a non-random sample at the tennis club in Sunday afternoon was that all had been and none would go back - to which I was the only possible exception (but at my rate of spend that won't make a decent return on £1.6bn this side of the next millennium).
But if not misconceived, it is stunningly badly planned. Not just because the tube station dumps you out by the bus station - not into the mall (the whole point is surely to avoid any risk of exposure to fresh air). Not just because the escalators inside the mall can't cope with people wanting to go both up and down. Not just that the refurbished Shepherds Bush tube has nice white tiles, but seems to have no increased access to cope with - duh - Monroe people. Not just because nothing has been done to make traffic move around Shepherds Bush green. Will any of the people who flocked there on Saturday to then be held in a queue outside the tube station closed for congestion in pouring rain - and who then could not get a bus either - ever bother to make it back?
Of course Saturday was exceptional. It was new. It was horrible weather. But there seems to be a complete mismatch between the assumptions on which Westfield was built -- vast numbers of people arriving from all over London - and the ability of the transport system to plan on anything like a comparable basis. But you wait 11 years for a mega-mall to be built (reassuring that these people are building the shopping mall for the Olympic village) and then you spend two hours in the rain trying to get away from it.
But that is not the only problem with the development... it is literally all shops and a few restaurants. No homes. No offices.
In short it is a monument to American suburban planning. Giant mall; inadequate public transport; single use. Disconnected from the local community. A potential blight on other local high streets. Jane Jacobs would be turning in her grave....
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Relative failure
It must be a sign of unsuccessful ageing that the airwaves seem to be dominated by friends. Just getting used to waking up to hear Evan Davis (ex-flatmate) interviewing Robert Peston (friend) about a rescue deal organised by Tom Scholar (ex-flatmate) with dire fiscal consequences predicted by Robert Chote (friend) with Michael Crick (friend) making political mayhem on Newsnight. They are all clearly having a great meltdown.
At least they are still on the top of their game. With the rise of David Cameron a few years ago, it became rather clear that my generation was going to miss out on political power (Damian, Theresa, Willetts all in the too old box - DG and DW don't make it into the pack for the Sky News Top trumps one of my team's husband brought back from the party conference and TM counts as a "veteran"). We seem to have gone to past it without ever being "it" at any point - I suppose there is still Alan Duncan...And my generation of Labour politicos seemed to go nowhere.... we know have a Cabinet of 60 year olds and 38 year olds with nothing in between. Whatever happened to Dave Brown? Gareth Daniel? The nearest we can offer is the official only clever person in the country -- simultaneously charged with sorting out climate change in the morning and systemic bank failure in the afternoon.... the eponymous Lord Turner...and he was at Cambridge.
But the two degrees of separation that is resonating most with those I know is that my cousin's son is a "celebrity" on Strictly Come Dancing (does that make him a second cousin? or something else?). And not just any celebrity, but one who seems to be quite a good dancer. Anyone who has seen me dance (or act) can testify to the power of genetics...
The only problem with basking in reflected fifteen minutes of fame is that I have never met him or my cousin...
At least they are still on the top of their game. With the rise of David Cameron a few years ago, it became rather clear that my generation was going to miss out on political power (Damian, Theresa, Willetts all in the too old box - DG and DW don't make it into the pack for the Sky News Top trumps one of my team's husband brought back from the party conference and TM counts as a "veteran"). We seem to have gone to past it without ever being "it" at any point - I suppose there is still Alan Duncan...And my generation of Labour politicos seemed to go nowhere.... we know have a Cabinet of 60 year olds and 38 year olds with nothing in between. Whatever happened to Dave Brown? Gareth Daniel? The nearest we can offer is the official only clever person in the country -- simultaneously charged with sorting out climate change in the morning and systemic bank failure in the afternoon.... the eponymous Lord Turner...and he was at Cambridge.
But the two degrees of separation that is resonating most with those I know is that my cousin's son is a "celebrity" on Strictly Come Dancing (does that make him a second cousin? or something else?). And not just any celebrity, but one who seems to be quite a good dancer. Anyone who has seen me dance (or act) can testify to the power of genetics...
The only problem with basking in reflected fifteen minutes of fame is that I have never met him or my cousin...
What a difference seven weeks make
Long time, no blog... seems hard to think that only seven weeks ago, PL (Pre-Lehman), we still wondered if recession might be avoided; I only had a couple of bank accounts and the government only owned a couple of banks; the Tories were leading the polls by miles, and Sarah Brown had yet to make a conference appearance; DECC sounded like a brand of 50s electronic goods or something John Prescott might do to a stroppy voter.
So all this has meant busy times...working out how to disentangle bits of climate change from what we do (and concluding that we need a better way of rearranging government to tackle cross-cutting problems, without having to occupy top departmental brains on merging IT systems, finding buildings and appointing even more HR directors). And meanwhile completely failing to book tickets to go over to the US to watch the coronation of King Obama which will make a lot of nine year olds very happy indeed and lose me $100 -- and that is now quite serious money in very feeble pounds.
Tempting to see everything as evidence of catalytic behaviour change towards more sustainable habits - and certainly an undercurrent in some of the press that there are silver linings in recessions- people will be nicer, have more time for each other - perhaps too much as they need not be troubled with the boring inconvenience of work, be weaned off debt-driven competitive consumption and rediscover quilting bees (not sure we ever had those in the UK) as sewing machine sales soar, people discover shoes can be mended and that they do not need a new plasma screen every week. There seem to be huge number fo cyclists in the morning at Hyde Park corner - but that may just be that - until tonight - the weather in October has made up in part for the sheer awfulness of the summer.
But perhaps, the responsible thing now - for people with semi-secure jobs and pensions - is to spend rather than wait for forecast deflation next year. So rather than save - and worry about where to put the cash, the time may have come for an out and out countercyclical consumption binge. But deep thrift is a hard habit to break - and not sure yet that I have yet been catalysed into action.
So all this has meant busy times...working out how to disentangle bits of climate change from what we do (and concluding that we need a better way of rearranging government to tackle cross-cutting problems, without having to occupy top departmental brains on merging IT systems, finding buildings and appointing even more HR directors). And meanwhile completely failing to book tickets to go over to the US to watch the coronation of King Obama which will make a lot of nine year olds very happy indeed and lose me $100 -- and that is now quite serious money in very feeble pounds.
Tempting to see everything as evidence of catalytic behaviour change towards more sustainable habits - and certainly an undercurrent in some of the press that there are silver linings in recessions- people will be nicer, have more time for each other - perhaps too much as they need not be troubled with the boring inconvenience of work, be weaned off debt-driven competitive consumption and rediscover quilting bees (not sure we ever had those in the UK) as sewing machine sales soar, people discover shoes can be mended and that they do not need a new plasma screen every week. There seem to be huge number fo cyclists in the morning at Hyde Park corner - but that may just be that - until tonight - the weather in October has made up in part for the sheer awfulness of the summer.
But perhaps, the responsible thing now - for people with semi-secure jobs and pensions - is to spend rather than wait for forecast deflation next year. So rather than save - and worry about where to put the cash, the time may have come for an out and out countercyclical consumption binge. But deep thrift is a hard habit to break - and not sure yet that I have yet been catalysed into action.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Nightmare on McKinsey street
Just returned from an excellent long weekend at a sixtieth birthday party in France (or was that fortieth?). Cracking event in the Ducal Palace at Uzes - putting non-bopping thirtysomethings to shame. Thank you Robin and Madeleine. Must post on the Full of Life website...
But also a very convenient opportunity to take stock of the state of the differences between the UK and the French economy.First experiences great - speeding through the French countryside on the TGV. great infrastructure. But shame about the customer service. The fondly imagined elegant dining car with haute cuisine served as we headed South at 200+km an hour turned into a Gallic shrug and a piece of Dundee cake and a toblerone.. il n'y avait rien a manger dans le train. And the lack of catering didn't even merit an announcement. C'est toujours come ca? You do better than that with the Southern train trolley to Bognor.
And so to Uzes. Gorgeous place. Beautiful soft glowing yellow stone; great squares; alleyways - and not a brand name or chain in sight. Ou etait le starbucks d'antan? le Pizza Express ou le Zizzi? Since there is hardly a Town in the UK that has escaped the onward march of the chains, it was very strange to discover that France really still is a nation of epiciers and boulangers - where everything still closes for lunch. Recommended places to stay were all quaint little hotels in the city centre full of character and charm - ni un Marriott ni un Premier Inn a voir.
I am sure that M Sarkozy has commissioned his own version of the notorious 1998 McKinsey report on the UK economy which will tell him that all this quaintness and inefficiency is costing the French economy. After all, that report said we needed to replicate the scale of Walmarts. realise the economies of scale on distribution of a chain economy and put an end to non-standardised country house hotels to achieve the same productive use of space as Travelodges if we were to close the productivity gap with the US.
The only problem with that analysis was that France also had higher productivity than the UK - without going the US route (of course, they could have even higher productivity....)But at what price? Would the Brits still be flocking to Uzes if it tuned into yet another mall? would the guests at the party have been so charmed with the choice between two identikit hotels? Perhaps, because the weather would still be great - and until all planning laws were relaxed (McKinsey did after all lead to the Barker review of planning), the views would still be stunning wandering between the newly industrialised vineyards. Not worth it - even if you could get a decent meal on the newly privatised TGV going down there
But I hope not. Any marginal increment in GDP would be at a very high price in terms of qualite de vie. So let us hope that there is no gallic McKinsey and Uzes remains its charming self. And we can let M Sarkozy proceed with his unusual ambition of turning the Paris banlieue into Croydon to draw people out of the centre of the town!
But also a very convenient opportunity to take stock of the state of the differences between the UK and the French economy.First experiences great - speeding through the French countryside on the TGV. great infrastructure. But shame about the customer service. The fondly imagined elegant dining car with haute cuisine served as we headed South at 200+km an hour turned into a Gallic shrug and a piece of Dundee cake and a toblerone.. il n'y avait rien a manger dans le train. And the lack of catering didn't even merit an announcement. C'est toujours come ca? You do better than that with the Southern train trolley to Bognor.
And so to Uzes. Gorgeous place. Beautiful soft glowing yellow stone; great squares; alleyways - and not a brand name or chain in sight. Ou etait le starbucks d'antan? le Pizza Express ou le Zizzi? Since there is hardly a Town in the UK that has escaped the onward march of the chains, it was very strange to discover that France really still is a nation of epiciers and boulangers - where everything still closes for lunch. Recommended places to stay were all quaint little hotels in the city centre full of character and charm - ni un Marriott ni un Premier Inn a voir.
I am sure that M Sarkozy has commissioned his own version of the notorious 1998 McKinsey report on the UK economy which will tell him that all this quaintness and inefficiency is costing the French economy. After all, that report said we needed to replicate the scale of Walmarts. realise the economies of scale on distribution of a chain economy and put an end to non-standardised country house hotels to achieve the same productive use of space as Travelodges if we were to close the productivity gap with the US.
The only problem with that analysis was that France also had higher productivity than the UK - without going the US route (of course, they could have even higher productivity....)But at what price? Would the Brits still be flocking to Uzes if it tuned into yet another mall? would the guests at the party have been so charmed with the choice between two identikit hotels? Perhaps, because the weather would still be great - and until all planning laws were relaxed (McKinsey did after all lead to the Barker review of planning), the views would still be stunning wandering between the newly industrialised vineyards. Not worth it - even if you could get a decent meal on the newly privatised TGV going down there
But I hope not. Any marginal increment in GDP would be at a very high price in terms of qualite de vie. So let us hope that there is no gallic McKinsey and Uzes remains its charming self. And we can let M Sarkozy proceed with his unusual ambition of turning the Paris banlieue into Croydon to draw people out of the centre of the town!
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Mind the Gap
its now 20 years since I went to America on my Harkness fellowship. Before we were allowed off to try our luck on our own, we had a three day induction session in New York - the general message of which was - you might think these people speak the same language as us - but they are really different.
I didn't really believe it at the time. And I found the Americans I met nice, bright easy to get on with and liked them a lot. So I thought this bit about culture shock was somewhat overdone. The biggest gaps I encountered were over spelling with "s"s instead of "z"s and the fact that to table something in Congress means to take it off the agenda rather than to put it on...
But the fact that Sarah Palin is even considered a candidate for elected office outside Wasalia (or Hartlepool) seems to be to be evidence that the culture gap is alive and well. I woke up this morning (4/9) to her convention speech playing on the World Service. Every word, every sentiment grated. On every issue she seems to represent all that is most alien about the ueberchristiansed obsessive American right -- and those of us who thought that Obama vs McCain mattered less than the fact that 2009 that there would be a new person - and some new thinking - in the White House have just been proved very wrong. McCain is now looking like a desperate old man - willing to sacrifice anything for his four years of fame - a prisoner of his party who will do anything to be a one term president - including leaving a legacy of a creationist global warming denier as President.
And what makes it even worse is I have a bet with an Obama fan that McC will win. Never will I be more relieved to write a cheque for $ 100.
But another thought.... how does Canada manage to be surrounded by bible belts to the north and south and stay so (relatively) sane? Is this the legacy of a longer heritage of empire and the Anglican church dulling all interest in religion?
I didn't really believe it at the time. And I found the Americans I met nice, bright easy to get on with and liked them a lot. So I thought this bit about culture shock was somewhat overdone. The biggest gaps I encountered were over spelling with "s"s instead of "z"s and the fact that to table something in Congress means to take it off the agenda rather than to put it on...
But the fact that Sarah Palin is even considered a candidate for elected office outside Wasalia (or Hartlepool) seems to be to be evidence that the culture gap is alive and well. I woke up this morning (4/9) to her convention speech playing on the World Service. Every word, every sentiment grated. On every issue she seems to represent all that is most alien about the ueberchristiansed obsessive American right -- and those of us who thought that Obama vs McCain mattered less than the fact that 2009 that there would be a new person - and some new thinking - in the White House have just been proved very wrong. McCain is now looking like a desperate old man - willing to sacrifice anything for his four years of fame - a prisoner of his party who will do anything to be a one term president - including leaving a legacy of a creationist global warming denier as President.
And what makes it even worse is I have a bet with an Obama fan that McC will win. Never will I be more relieved to write a cheque for $ 100.
But another thought.... how does Canada manage to be surrounded by bible belts to the north and south and stay so (relatively) sane? Is this the legacy of a longer heritage of empire and the Anglican church dulling all interest in religion?
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