Cherie's Place

This week I managed to lose the 1.5lb that I put on last week. *Phew*

I have had a bit of a hassely day with my brother who was trying to set up some new technology for me.  It should have been fairly simple but there was a need to call customer services and those call centres don’t work very well when the person calling them (my brother) knows more than they do! Anyway the new technology seems terminally ill and will have to be returned. Why is nothing ever simple?

My brother visiting also led to a meal out and another weight loss challenge. I decided to go back to The Gate which I visited recently.  This time I was able to choose a very healthy option; chicken breast with spring onion mash accompanied by seasonal vegetables, it was delicious.

At this years annual conference the Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) launched a booklet that provides information on the threats and consequences of privatising public services.  The document builds on  a series of forums that took place during 2009/10.

These forums examined and exposed many past failures of the privatisation of public services and made a case for well funded public services delivered by the public sector.  Although taking this stance the booklet is primarily a discussion document designed to be thought provoking and challenging, seeking to provide further debate on the topics covered.

PCS National Vice President John McInally speaking in his keynote speech:

Those who advocate privatisation forget history:  We must not.  The public services were won, in some cases, by generations of trade union and working class struggle in an effort to establish the basis of civilised existence in a society run for profit not people.  The private sector either could not or would not, or simply failed to provide effective and efficient public sector provision.  The broad mass of people in society, particularly working people, need the public services – generally speaking, the rich don’t.

The establishment of public services represent reforms that the profiteers despise and which they want to destroy or exploit for profit, yet the record of the private sector in delivering privatised services is lamentable.  The presentations by our Research Officers strip bare the political agendas and the performance failures of privatisation in health, transport, justice and other sectors.

The profiteers and the government have created what they shamelessly described as a “public services industry”, currently estimated at £79 bn per annum.  Big business have used the so-called Third Sector, i.e., the charitable and voluntary sectors as a Trojan horse, their words not mine, in order to gain access to government contracts.

John then goes on to say:

The reconfiguration or “reform”, as it is misnamed, of public service is about preparing for eventual privatisation.  Face-to-face contact is discouraged:  it is old-fashioned apparently.  consultants have sold to ministers ans senior civil servants the idea that call centres, telephony and electronic communication can deliver it all.

Of course there is a place for these new methods and technologies, but they can never be a replacement or substitute for the public service ethos of well-trained committed staff dealing with and resolving the complex problems of real people.  Poorly paid and trained staff working from a “one-size-fits-all” script simply cannot deliver an effective service to those who require them.

The proliferation of call centres in recent years has been based on an attempt to establish regimented, factory-style conditions, a remorseless target driven environment, preferably with a transient workforce that is young, inexperienced, non-unionised and compliant.  The strategic aim is to establish as few discrete units as possible to “deliver” the service at the lowest possible cost in order to hand over for privatisation so that profits can be maximised.

The booklet traces the history and origins of privatisation right back to the rise of industrial power:

The roots of privatisations also go back to the early 20th century and ruling class fears that universal suffrage in western societies would mean the erosion of their power and wealth.  As trade unions and mass labour parties looked like achieving the power to place control of natural resources and the “commanding heights” of the economy under democratic control, the business elite mobilised on several fronts to protect themselves.

They responded in two ways – organisationally and ideologically.  Organisationally, employers’ associations such as Aims of Industry combined to counter the rise of democratic socialism.  The goal of Aims of Industry was to “defend private interest against democratic reform with the explicit aim of countering the emerging pressure for nationalisation of industry”.  these days, powerful and influential bodies such as the Bilderburg Group and the Trilateral Commission bring together business and political leaders to develop long-term strategic plans to protect corporate power, destroy trade union influence, liberalise markets, privatise public services and to remove social protections created by national governments and labour movements.

After addressing the history of privatisation the booklet moves on to the application of the privatisation model in the UK and the use of Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

Why PFI?  After the big State Owned Enterprises were sold off by the Tories in the 1980s and 90s, New Labour needed a different method to transfer public services and utilities to the private sector, even thought there was little evidence of better private sector performance.  In thrall to a “private-good, public-bad” mythology, and (more importantly) eager to direct lucrative public sector work to their friends in business and the city, Labour decided to enlarge the fledging PFI scheme.

PFI has many short-term advantages to government, but many disadvantages to wider society:

The public deficit is now £165 billion and the major political parties and most commentators consider this requires huge spending cuts:

Yet this deficit does not include over £200 billion of PFI debt repayment. Thus even where the government(s) speak of “ring fenced” budgets in health and education, this will still mean savage cuts in those areas as massive and mandatory PFI repayments are hidden within that ring-fence.  the media seldom reports this as it does not conform to their propaganda about feather-bedded public servants needing to tighten their belts, and raises awkward questions about private sector provision of public services.

Surprisingly the 1997-2008 labour governments privatised more civil service jobs than the Thatcher and Major governments combined.  In 2004 labour announced 100,000 job cuts in the civil service leading to increased outsourcing to fill in the gaps that had been left in service delivery:

Initially it was delivered through a massive programme of outsourcing government department’s facilities, IT and security functions, through which staff were TUPE transferred to private firms.  Much of this went on under the radar, usually only registering with the media when, for example, a national institution like the British Museum had so few security guards that it had to close important galleries to visitors.

The privatisation of the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) is perhaps the most glaring example of dubious privatisation.  although DERA was performing will, in 2003 the government decided to privatise part of it, and Private-Public partnership called “QinetiQ” was created, after which the 10 senior civil servants responsible for taking the company into the private sector saw their total personal investment of £540,000 transformed into £107 million.  Graham Love, the company’s CEO, saw his £110,000 investment turn into £21 million.  Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary, called this “obscene”, but the UK Minister for Defence Procurement described it as “a model for future privatisations“.

The booklet then moves on to privatisation and the media:

The modern idea of objective reporting is little more than a century old.  There was little concern that newspapers were partisan so long as the public was free to choose from a side range of opinions.  Newspapers dependent on advertisers for 75% of their revenues, such as the Guardian and Independent, would not have been regarded as independent by previous generations of radicals, trade unionists and socialists.  Balance was instead provided by a thriving working class-based press.  Early last century, however, the industrialisation of the press, and the associated higher cost of newspaper production, meant that wealthy private industrialist backed by advertisers achieved dominance in the mass media.  Unable to compete on price and outreach, the previously flourishing working class press was brushed to the margins.

Finally the booklet moves onto  Trade Unions and the media:

Trade Unions and the public sector do not enjoy good media coverage.  This makes it much easier to dismiss our arguments against the outsourcing and privatisation of public services.

The media’s subservience to power is demonstrated through the manner in which it selects headline stories, frames the order of discussion, and chooses (or excludes) specific interviewees.  Viewers of Sky, CNN and most other channels receive the latest data fro the Stock Markets with their breakfast – the FTSE 100’s statistics will scroll past on ticker tape keeping viewers up to date on industrial accidents, or the daily devastation of the rain forest.

The media’s response to the 2008 financial crash and the credit crunch is a case in point.  The very people who caused the disaster – bankers, stock brokers and hedge-fund managers – where wheeled into studios to explain it.  Trade Unionist, and those who long predicted that financial deregulation would produce this result, were excluded.  this media consensus made it much easier to forge a political consensus whereby, token noises aside, City bankers are left unmolested to reap huge bonuses from taxpayer funded banks whilst ordinary people relying on public services will suffer for many years to come.

As public services come under increasing attack from spending cuts and increased privatisation it is important to challenge the view that privatisation and cuts are the only way forward and to take every opportunity to promote the alternatives.

• The complete booklet can be viewed here.

The 6th Duke collected sculptures, which were modern art at the time he collected them. Last year all his sculptures were returned from their various resting places around Chatsworth and placed back in their original positions within his commissioned top-lit sculpture gallery.

He was a compulsive collector of sculptures and during his visits to Italy he met some of the best artists of the time and befriended the famous sculptor Antonio Canova. These two lions are copies of sculptures that Canova had made for the tomb of Pope Clement XIII at St peter’s in Rome. Unusually Canova carved his own sculptures rather than employing teams of other carvers to work on the stone. *

*Information taken from Chatsworth guidebook 2010

The heirlooms and treasures  of Chatsworth are currently on display for the first time and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this beautiful bejewelled Hawk.  It is a ceremonial drinking cup that was made in Germany in 1697 and bought by the 6th Duke in 1819.  It stands over 1ft tall and is covered with hundreds of precious and semi-precious stones.

I still don’t know where all those years went…

But today family and friends  celebrated with a birthday tea (absent friends were fondly missed) (no alcohol honest )

The future?  Big D got the right grades to get into the University of his choice, so he will be embarking on a great journey of discovery…

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf and take an insect view of its plain.
Henry David Thoreau

Sometimes visiting ruins can be a bit of an adventure! Especially when a church service is about to start and cars are arriving and blocking your exit from the car park.

A Bit of an Adventure, originally uploaded by KirscheTortschen.

Enjoying some peace and quiet in a lovely setting.

Dodging Raindrops, originally uploaded by KirscheTortschen.

The guidebook tells me that the first dinner to be held in ‘The Great Dining Room’ at Chatsworth was for the 13-year old Princess Victoria:

It was her first adult dinner and there was a cooked rehearsal the day before. The 6th Duke wrote, “it is like dining in a giant trunk and you expect the lid to open”.

He brought portraits by van Dyck from his other houses to hang on the walls. In 1996-2001, Chatsworth’s textile team replaced the damaged silk on the walls and made new window curtains, exact copies of the 6th Duke’s.

The current Duke and Duchess still use the room to  host dinners on very special occasions.

As you can see there are several frames in the dining room.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.

I thought it would be a nice change to pop up to the local town centre during lunchtime today so that I could get something interesting for my lunch and also dinner this evening.  I specifically remembered not to take the route where the roadworks were so that I didn’t get delayed.  I was able to park easily and make my way to M&S where I chose my lunch quite quickly.  It took me a little longer to choose and evening meal but that is because I was trying to combine healthy with interesting and the meals were in two separate places.  Eventually I plumped, made my way to the till and paid.

I was doing quite well for time until I got to the ticket machine.  I was struggling with my bags and purse and the ticket didn’t go in the machine properly the first time.  I tried again and the machine gobbled the ticket just as I looked up and noticed on the visual display ‘machine out of order please use another machine‘.  The ticket was stuck and the intercom line engaged!  Eventually I got to talk to someone  who told me that the machine was jammed and that someone was already on the way to sort it out.  I waited and told several other shoppers who came to use the machine what was going on.  I was also able to direct them to the nearest ticket machine, which is actually right back by the shops.  I waited a little more and told more shoppers what was going on…

Suddenly the intercom buzzed at me, I was told that the person who was coming to assist had got delayed and that I should get into my car and make my way to the exit, then ring the intercom from there!  Which I did and was let out of the car park.

Phew I had escaped eventually.  Perhaps the moral of the story is I should have stayed at work and read my book as usual?

The title is a bit of a misnomer this week, the scales tell me I have put on 1.5lb although I am not quite sure where. Perhaps all that eating out is catching up with me… I am not to worried though and I have warned the scales to be on their best behaviour next week.

This fountain is powered by the pressure of the water dropping 122 metres, through a 40 centimetre iron pipe made from a man-made lake. The fountain can reach a height of 90 metres although it is usually to half that height to conserve water. In the summer when water is scarce the hours that the fountain is displayed are sometimes limited for the same reason.

I know it is a bit of a cheat and I should have made the effort to get a photo of a real butterfly, but I do rather like the effect of the sun glinting off this sculpture.

Since my last post about the search for the Towton Rose there have been some fresh leads but the Rose has still not been located and the search continues.  In a recent Blog post George Algar notes that all the roses that have been identified as being taken from the battlefield are of the same species:

it was interesting to discover as a result of the Radio York appeal, that of all the roses we have identified as being removed from the battlefield, these were the same species – the Rosa Mundi. There is the possibility, of course, that they were planted there as a hoax. We know that enterprising Saxton villagers sold souvenir rose plants for half a crown at the turn of the last century. This does not necessarily explain why these Rosa Mundi’s were still found there in the 1940’s. This is a striking rose with beautiful colouring and a heady perfume – you would not plant it out in the middle of as field for fear of someone taking it, if you were so commercially minded. The writer, a romantic soul at heart, prefers to think of them being planted out by generations of descendants of those fallen on the field. It is surely no coincidence that the Rosa Mundi is also known as the York & Lancaster rose and it is bred from that most ancient of roses, Rosa Gallica.

Although the legendary Towton Rose has still not been found there are still hopes that someone might have a photograph or drawing of it tucked away somewhere without knowing it’s importance:

It is possible that someone has a photograph, drawing or painting of the rose without realising its significance. Edmund Bogg, who wrote about it and penned a poem on The Towton Rose in the early 1900’s was a prolific photographer. Unfortunately, he did not include a photo of the rose in his book – I guess it was not in bloom when he visited. He also had an art and picture framing shop in Leeds. Maybe one of his students painted the rose? It would be wonderful if someone reading this blog has such a painting.

Some more sculptures from the ‘Beyond Limits‘ exhibition:

Engine of Evolution by Mark Quinn

Stairs by Lynn Chadwick

Butterflies by Manolo Valdes

I am not quite sure why but I really like this photo. I was trying to take it quickly to avoid the two children being in the photo. As you can see it didn’t quite focus on anything and the shutter speed was rather slow so the children made it into the photo as well.

Recently I sent my Points Pedometer back because it had developed a fault and I couldn’t reset it.  I received a parcel on Saturday  which should have been my pedometer.  I was looking forward to using the pedometer because my temporary one rattles rather loudly and makes it sound like I have a few loose nuts and bolts inside me.  When I opened the parcel I noticed the letter was addressing a different problem than the one I had mentioned.  On closer inspection it looked very much like I have received someone else’s pedometer in error, mostly because it had the packaging with it and I sent mine back without.  It also had the wrong returns number written on the paperwork.  But the pedometer does seem to have the fault that I returned mine with…

I tried ringing customer services and did get to speak to a very helpful lady but the department I need is only open on weekdays.  I will have to call again today and see what they say.

I have used the above photo to add a link to my weight loss posts in my sidebar. The photo reminds me of how long I kept my weight off last time, so I know it is possible and I can do it again.

You are quaffing drink from a hundred fountains: whenever any of these hundred yields less, your pleasure is diminished. But when the sublime fountain gushes from within you, no longer need you steal from the other fountains.

Jalal ad-Din Rumi