Tuesday 27 July 2010


I'm getting fed up of people constantly blaming the state for society's woes. This might sound like a big push for the Big Society, but it is time for people to take some fucking responsibility.

The horrible case of this girl being starved to death is 100% the fault of those who were supposed to be caring for her, i.e. her parents. They are disgraceful people who should be locked up for the rest of their lives, without doubt, and that's the end of the pandering to the softy softy moral high ground.

We are so lucky in this country to have a welfare system, which picks up the majority of people when they fall down, whether it be the jobless, ill, poverty stricken, etc. We can't use that as a scapegoat when society gets lazy, pathetic and dependent on the state.

Monday 19 July 2010

Words I hate:

"Vino"
"Cute"
"Hun"
"Fancy"

Sunday 18 July 2010


Spent Friday night at Newmarket races with a select few. Awesome night.

Thursday 15 July 2010

Nice to know SOME important people read my blog



Hat tip to Vince Cable, who I get the train to Westminster with on some mornings.

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Some of the ideas on the Spending Challenge website are an absolute treat!


Tuesday 13 July 2010


Been quite serious of late so here's a pic of Holly Willoughby.

Monday 12 July 2010

The state of UK Universities...

Last year I heard Lord Patten speak on the future of British Universities. His opinion was that the elite universities can still pack their punch among the best in the world, with other world class institutions in the US, Continental Europe and some in developed pockets of Asia. What he was fearful of (and I share his view) is the decline in the all round quality of University education in the UK.

The Labour vision of seeing 50% of young people being 'university educated' has starved the country of skilled workers, flooded the education market with substandard - apparently academic - qualifications and left millions debted up to their eyeballs competing for the same number of jobs, albeit temporarily off the dole queue.

This is a con. The brutal fact is, exams and qualifications of any kind are separation mechanisms to sort society into broad paths. Supply and Demand does the rest and provides the jobs. The 50% target is fantasy, and people naively believe gaining a degree from any university will buy them a better life, when it could potentially set them back many years. Unfortunately, admirable crusades on social mobility by governments are expensive, and shamefully this cost has been pushed on to the young who don't know any better when at 17 they are confronted with a choice of the bright lights of university or the cold and unloving land of work.

Actually, the cost of education should be pushed on to the students themselves, but in exchange there must be value for money. Value for your debt. Currently, UK universities and students are caught in the no mans land of a lack of government funding and a drive to stay afloat from capped fees. The investment in students per head has reduced dramatically and with no free market to quench the thirst, there has been widespread cost cutting in the majority of universities. Only those extremely rich universities - namely Oxford and Cambridge - can afford to maintain what is a world class education for the same as those going to Bradford University or Liverpool John Moores.

So what prospect have you if you leave with a degree from a decent university? Well, luckily for you where you went and what you did still means something, and there will be jobs out there for your to throw your CV at. This whole farce has put more pressure on recruiters to separate the wheat from the chaff, and this is sometimes brutal, but it's just a nasty side-product of too many applicants from too many universities. In my opinion, whether hindered and stuttering at the beginning, cream will always rise to the top. Somehow, someday, the academic tend to align themselves where needed, the entrepreneurial will start their own venture from whatever position and the majority of those skilled workers will fine their role. Why then, is there a need for people to be indebted so early in their lives?

This is just another ingredient in a United Kingdom living on debt, and far beyond its means. The time has come to realise that a university degree is merely diluted when every other person holds one. There is a genuine need for those unsuited to a university education to skill up and seek alternative routes to success, without the unnecessary debt.

Lord Patten endorsed the opening of the UK higher education market, allowing universities to charge what they wanted for an education. This may not be necessary, although as he said, how long will it take for the UK to fall from providing the best education in the world, to the second, and maybe the third...?

Sunday 11 July 2010


The 2010 World Cup will, I'm sorry to say, go down as a massive let down for me. Putting England's woeful showing aside, the quality of the games in the majority were average to poor, with no lasting classics to come out of the tournament. Actually, the best thing was confirming that David Beckham just gets better and better with age.

Midnight. Poolside. Drinks. John Mayer album. Winning combination.

Wednesday 7 July 2010



Most films about sport fall short of the mark - way short of the mark. They're riddled with ridiculous stories of success and focus on thoroughbred stars who have no real connection with peoples memories. They fail to touch their audience with the genuine passion that can only be felt during the real, horrible, beautiful drama of sport.

As fans, there are always those characters who will remain forever fond in people's memories. Many of whom forge an immortal link with their following, long after they've sadly passed away. Brian Clough was one, Bobby Robson was most certainly another. Then there come eras in sport that are never forgotten; phrases like 'Golden generation' are sloshed around in pubs up and down the country and famous victories narrated over again. Rarely do these feature famous losses, and rarely do losses remain so fond in the land of 'what if?', but all of the above is crystalised in One Night in Turin.

Quite easily the best film about sport I've ever seen:

Monday 5 July 2010


I walked into a great Cambridge bar on Saturday night and this was playing. I'd forgotten what a great 'bar song' it is.

Thursday 1 July 2010


Following on from the below, I've just reminded myself how much I love The Thick of It, and how closely it actually mirrors real politics. The above clip is so close to the infamous Mrs Duffy case seen only a couple of months ago with Gordon Brown. Comedy stuff.
In case you were ever wondering about how many series' there actually are of The Thick of It (as I've been pondering why it seemed to leap from series one to series three)...

"The first series was only three episodes. It was successful enough for a second series of three episodes, six months later. All were originally aired on BBC4. All six were subsequently shown as a run on BBC2, then followed by a DVD, "The Complete First Series". Then the specials, followed by their dvd release, then series three (now 8 episodes), followed by its DVD release; and now this box set.
Perhaps here worth mentioning that an eight-episode series four has already been commissioned and is due for recording and broadcast later this year..."

Thanks for that Play.com