Ertblog

Irish eyes are smiling

For 15 minutes, Wales seemed set to prove the doomsayers wrong. The national rugby team started today's Six Nations international in Dublin in rampant mood, enjoying some 75% of the possession. An early try for Mark Jones suggested that Wales might avoid their usual torrid time at Lansdowne Road.

It was not to be. Nagging fears that the early possession should have produced more than 5 points soon proved accurate. Wales faded - not helped by Stephen Jones' injury - and Ireland romped to a 31-5 victory.

Had Wales won, the outrage against the Welsh Rugby Union's decision to oust our most successful coach since the Seventies glory days might have been silenced. Defeat means that that extraordinary decision is once again under the spotlight. So much for new coach Scott Johnson's supposed special relationship with the Welsh squad. After that initial 15 minute push, Wales looked totally lacking in inspiration or hwyl. Mike Ruddock? Our sympathy for the way the WRU tossed him aside grows by the day.

Unless the WRU changes, it could be a lot more than 27 years before Wales wins another Grand Slam.

A sad day for democracy

Ken Livingstone has been suspended as Mayor of London.

A democratically elected mayor - a rare beast in Britain - has been deprived of office for a month by the Adjudication Panel for England.

It's a racing certainty that no-one had heard of this body until it suspended Ken. It's an unelected quango. It has absolutely no legitimacy in its astonishing decision to overturn a democratic election.

Livingstone deserved to be reprimanded for his outrageous comments to a Jewish reporter (see below). It's hard to imagine the mayor making such insensitive comments to a Muslim. But it is surely up to the electorate - or, when laws have been broken, the courts - to give Ken a red card.   

Ken Livingstone was recorded asking reporter Oliver Finegold if he is a "German war criminal".

Mr Finegold replies: "No, I'm Jewish, I wasn't a German war criminal. I'm quite offended by that."

The mayor then says: "Ah right, well you might be, but actually you are just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?"

BBC news website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4746016.stm

Don't panic!

Don't panic, Corporal Jones famously cried in Dad's Army.

The irony, of course, was that Jones tended to panic at the slightest scare.

He'd have done well as a journalist or columnist in the British media in 2006. One wonders how Britain would have fought the second world war had today's Daily Mail been on the scene.

The fuss about avian flu captures the mood perfectly. Not a single chicken has died in Europe. But judging by the tabloid hysteria you'd think human bodies were piling up in the streets of Berlin, Paris and Prague.

Simon Jenkins' column in today's Guardian is a breath of fresh air. ('The flap over bird flu shouldn't turn us into headless chickens'.) He praises secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs Margaret Beckett for keeping her head while others panic a la Corporal Jones.

The farce over foot and mouth disease in 2001 should be a salutary lesson. Great swathes of the British countryside were cordoned off, because government pandered to the farming lobby and destroyed thousands of tourist businesses as a result.

Simon Jenkins: see http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1716776,00.html   

Blackberry season in the US

It may not have the iPod's street cred, but the Blackberry has become a symbol of today's professional in the way that the Filofax was the accessory of choice for the Eighties yuppy.

But Blackberry users in America have been living on the edge in recent months, as Blackberry has fought a legal challenge that could force it to close down its service in the United States.

Today, the company won a stay of execution. Blackberry addicts can breath again. For the moment. 

But if the decision goes against the device, all is not lost.

Blackberries are not the only fruit. There's always the Filofax.

The poll tax on wheels, ten years on

Ten years on, the scandal of rail privatisation still takes the breath away.

Britain's privatised rail companies are coining it, with subsidies from the taxpayer of a staggering £6 billion a year. That's enough to build six new Wembley stadiums every 12 months - even at the inflated cost of that grossly mismanaged enterprise. And five times the subsidy the government paid British Rail.

But aren't we getting a better service? No. There are more late trains now than under BR, which was getting its act together as the profiteers moved in.

Hapless John Major was determined to out-Thatcher the iron lady, and pushed through the privatisation Maggie wisely saw could not work. As Major's government descended into chaos, it sacrificed Britain's railways on the altar of dogma. Tony Blair's new Labour government has compounded the disaster.

A new book by Christian Wolmar (On the Wrong Line) tells the sorry story in unsparing detail. Read it and weep. And vow that politicians should never again be allowed to play trains...

www.christianwolmar.co.uk

Little Britain, 8,000 miles away

By Bob Skinner

It must be the best organised, best run place in the world. Just look at the high flyers in charge...

Topping the list is His Excellency the Governor operating, naturally, from Government House.

The real power lies with the Legislative Council, whose work emulates that of the mother of parliaments at Westminster: three readings and a committee stage for all bills.

Scrutiny is the responsibility of the Attorney General and committees including Finance - headed not by a chancellor but the Financial Secretary - the Planning Committee, Historic Buildings Planning Committee and even the Wrecks and Hulks Committee.

To assist is the Internal Government Computer Department, Principal Crown Counsel, Director of Education, Annual Budget Select Committee, Director of Mineral Resources, Port and Storage Systems Working Group and the Agriculture Department.

Military support is critical, with the commander of the forces, his aide de camp and team of officers. Meanwhile, civilian safety is overseen by the head of police.

The chief organiser and pen pusher is the Honourable Chief Executive. Not surprisingly, crime is low and the people are generally happy.

All is not idyllic, however, in this meticulously governed land.

It can be inhospitable and lonely. Britain, the homeland, is 8,000 miles away while potential enemies are just 300 miles away.

Yes, it's our very own Falkland islands, snatched from Argentinian invaders back in the 1980s.

And to stop any other unfriendly invasion there are 2,200 service personnel to guard sheep, penguins and 2,200 islanders - 'a soldier for every human'.

The cost of this well oiled mechanism of government?

No one seems to know... or want to ask.

Wembley: into extra time

The worst-kept secret in sport has been confirmed. The new Wembley stadium will not be ready in time to host the FA Cup final. England's most famous soccer trophy will once again be presented in Wales's national stadium.

Multiplex, the company building the new English stadium, must be wishing the FA had never decided to replace the twin towers. Delays to the project have already cost the Australian company £183 million. Today's Guardian reported that a statement from Multiplex said that the FA Cup final would now be held at the Millennium Dome in Cardiff. Oops - the kind of attention to detail that has dogged the project from the word go!

250 miles for dinner?

Would you travel 250 miles for dinner?

We would! Not every week, and only for something special.

But we found that something special in 2001. A hotel called Barclay House in Looe, Cornwall. Just four hours' drive from south east England. Dinner for just £30. Service to die for. The beauty of England's far west. Why wouldn't you?

A month ago, we discovered that Barclay House was about to stop doing dinner. No more relaxing candle-lit meals, savouring the sunset view across the east Looe river. But it was for the best of reasons: as a family hotel, Nick and Kelli wanted to spend more time with their children. What better reason could there be?

We booked for one last weekend visit, and relished Nick's signature dish, cod and bubble and squeek, followed by the best fish in Britain. Something special.

We'll return to enjoy lunch and the Barclays' superb personal touch. But dinner? It was special!

See www.barclayhouse.co.uk

Stone the Crow, part 2

Bob Crow will never win a popularity award.

He'd say popularity isn't in his job description. His challenge is to get the best deal for his members on the railways and in the merchant navy.

So I was intrigued by his comments in today's Guardian. He named his father as his mentor. His father told him to be truthful. Good advice. But he added: "Sometimes the interests of railway workers and seafarers interests' clash with what the travelling public wants. But looking after my members doesn't mean treading on others to get better conditions. It is about looking after the interests of people you represent but also having the responsibility that is wider than the people you are looking after. And that's what my father has passed on to me."

Shame Crow totally ignored what his father taught him when he brought London to a standstill on New Year's Eve. Has he reached a Faustian pact with David Cameron to bring down the Labour government? He wouldn't be the first union leader to destroy the dreams of their members. Remember the winter of discontent!

Sorry to be Blunt

Years ago, a friend told me I was the man who disproved the rule that the Welsh can sing.

I remembered that insult this week, when James Blunt won best male solo artist and best pop act at the Brit awards.

I'm terrible. But Blunt is worse.

I'd settle for his small change, mind.