Posts Tagged ‘disaster’
Tony Hayward, BP And The Oil Spill
Good Job
I am really very impressed with BP’s Chief Executive. He is doing the best possible job for his company – and probably for all concerned. His appearance on the Andrew Marr show this morning was an object lesson in how to handle such a crisis. He is suitably contrite. He is direct, honest, loyal, everything that any board of directors or committee of shareholders could ask for. Crucially, in the TV age, he looks right. His appearance is an exact match for his message.
Here is a man who is worth every penny of a salary I would expect to run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
I’m no fan or friend of big oil companies. There’s little doubt in my mind that BP and Esso/Exxon, the world’s biggest, operate an effective cartel on fuel prices. They’re so big that no government can do anything about it.
I don’t think you can blame BP for the disaster although obviously it is responsible. Clearly, you have to ensure that all possible safety standards and procedures are complied with but, given that, it could have happened to any oil company, anywhere. There’s no more greed in BP than anywhere else. It’s just a business trying to make a profit like any other.
I deplore the oil spill just as I approve of motherhood and apple pie. I understand that Obama has to give BP an appropriate amount of flak but the important point is how it is dealing with the disaster and all its consequences. From what I see I think we should all be grateful that Tony Hayward is the man in charge.
Wenlock Mandeville Disaster
Child's Play
The most obvious explanation is that someone at the Olympics Committee has been horizontal jogging with someone at the design company.
What else?
There has to be a rational explanation for one of most ridiculous, badly-judged communications campaigns I have ever seen. The Wenlock and Mandeville mascot idea is third-rate, junior (bad) art school nonsense.
I first worked on ideas like this more than 30 years ago. I stake all my experience on this, I stand by every ounce of this assertion – it is NONSENSE, shocking NONSENSE and I am dismayed to see it. If it gains any traction then it will only be because of the money spent on it. Almost anything else would be better!
Lord Coe and other talented individuals on the Olympics Committee have made a mistake here. This is a serious error of judgement.
There Can Only Be One Choice For Clegg
If Nick Clegg chooses Labour then he will be consigning this country to disaster and his own reputation and integrity to the dustbin.
Stop Dithering!
There can be no other choice than the Conservatives. David Cameron is clearly the prime minister that the country wants. The country has rejected Labour and the mathematics of a Lib Dem/Labour coalition simply do not work.
Clegg now needs to stop dithering, push back the sandals and socks soft socialists in his own party and choose the future that the country needs.
A Terrible Result
This is exactly what we didn’t need. It is a disaster. Overwhelmingly I am dismayed that so many Britons have voted for the tired, dishonest, discredited Labour party. I’m really not sure that I want to live in a country where there are eight million people who can behave like this.
Congratulations to Richard Drax for trouncing Jim Knight here in Dorset South and turning a Labour majority of 1800 into a Tory majority of 7500. That was exactly the result the whole country needed. Congratulations also to Caroline Lucas for winning the first ever Green seat.
Two of the blackest, bleakest events: Ed Balls retaining his seat, Harriet Harman back on the TV spouting her usual nonsense.
I feel sorry for the Lib Dems. It is a gross injustice and we are all diminished by their failure to gain more influence.
A terrible result.
I Agree With Nick But I’m Voting For Dave
In the last general election I wrote “no suitable candidate” across my ballot paper. In the European elections I voted UKIP.
Fundamentally I’m a Tory but if I became prime minister tomorrow, I’d implement the following policies on Friday:
- Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan
- Nationalise electricity, gas, water, telephone and broadband provision
- Introduce the Lib Dem’s £10,000 tax policy
- Introduce the Lib Dem’s policy on the separation of retail and investment banks
- Start a phased withdrawal from the EU retaining a free trade policy.
- Legalise all drugs. Introduce strict regulation and taxation
- Break off diplomatic relations with Israel until it ends the Gaza blockade and stops new settlements.
It is sad but true that a Lib Dem vote is a wasted vote. Not only that but it is extremely dangerous. It could result in the very worst possible outcome to this election if there is no overall majority but Labour has the most seats and Gordon Brown remains prime minister. This would be an unmitigated disaster of horrendous proportions. If this happens then I predict at least as much chaos as is happening in Greece. In fact we could well be in for riots in the streets whoever wins.
The only hope for the future, far from perfect that it will be, is a Conservative government.
Foolish Staff Unite To Destroy BA
The BA cabin crew strike over Christmas is a huge mistake by the staff and the union. It’s a disaster for the company.
Crashing
The union “Unite” is just about all that’s left of the entire trade union movement anyway. There’s not much else left that has any power. It looks like some latter day Scargill is behind this idiotic strike. If Unite hoped to gain some public sympathy by destroying a million passengers’ Christmas plans then it has made a grave miscalculation.
As for the staff, we no longer have any remaining affection for this strange group of people. Once, of course, they were central to the glamour of air travel. Now, the fact that nearly all the men are homosexual has gone beyond a joke and become oppressive. The girls are no longer sweet and delightful. Now they are like severe school mistresses, more concerned with monitoring your alcohol consumption than being appropriately deferential and making you feel special.
It’s not BA’s fault that all the glamour has gone and that air travel is now an ordeal rather than a pleasure. That is down to Easyjet and the appalling Ryanair and vulgar Michael O’Leary.
This is dreadful news for all concerned but the public will punish BA severely. Any loyalty or talk of “favourite” is all gone now. There will be long term, severe and well-deserved consequences for the staff.
Peter Reynolds 