Brilliant, as usual. I do wonder whether the fundamental weakness in Britain is the culture of avoiding conflict?
We simply will not confront people. THAT is why lobbying groups get away with robbery.
Jane Jacobs probably put her finger on it best in her masterwork, Systems of Survival. The language and culture of Government and public service is one of honour. That of business is rapacity. And ne’er the twain should meet. If they do, we have the abomination of the mafia (or now the corruption of the Trump leadership).
The effect of those two different systems, or cultures, is that bureaucrats believe that with enough calls to honour, the business community will fall in line. This is comic to the businessperson, who judges by the ability to duck and dive, to make a crafty buck. Ducking and diving is not scurrilous in the business world, it is the WHOLE POINT.
This culture-clash runs through everything in this country. It gives us the culture of avoidance that keeps us down.
For example, we have the embarrassment of Thames Water, where decades of cowardice at Offwat have enabled the fleecing of citizens who must wallow in filth. You cite the successful lobbying of venture capitalists. We have corruption in the insurance industry, where vehicle and domestic claims are routinely inflated to the enrichment of participants. In my own industry, property management, kick-backs to property managers were standard and in some cases institutionalised with ‘prompt payment discounts’. Planning officials here in Greenwich will not enforce their own specifications on new developments, and (unsurprisingly) developers regularly ‘bounce’ councils into over-development.
And this lack of assertion by Government pollutes the very most fundamental relationships: that between Government and Citizen, between HMRC and the taxpayer. No wonder people feel a lack of faith in Government. For example, now – at last – people see that their prison service is not fit for purpose. Prisoners must be released early, and yet there is an eruption of special-victim pleading. The correct response for Burnham, in my view, would be “The prison service has been run down because no-one cared enough to pay for a decent one under Austerity. If you don’t want your FELLOW citizens in future to have THEIR assailant released early, pay more tax.” As for the special pleading of Venture Capitalists…!
Another symptom of cowardice in England, if the point hasn’t yet landed, is the proliferation of the ‘licencing of the good’. It requires, for example, waste-disposal guys or landlords to sign up to idiotic and pointless licencing schemes. That is, the decent guys sign up. The guys that throw your fridge down the back of Sainsburys; or the landlords that pack eleven migrant workers into a two-bed flat; simple carry on as before. What has been gained, other than the appearance of doing something? And depressing costs on the good, passed on to customers and tenants? Confrontation is avoided, yes, but nothing changes. Rogue landlords are still a problem. Fly tipping is still a problem. You could call it pathetic. It is very English.
Business people are in it for the gamble, the cash, the game. Unless and until Government routinely sacks, bankrupts, renationalises and imprisons, it isn’t even on the field of play.
It is honourable to confront Russia over Ukraine, and this has been seen clearly. It is honourable to have fair play in football, and this has been a talking point during the world cup. It is honourable, too, to uncover those in business who take the mickey, grasp them by the wallet, and throw them into the sea. THAT, and only that, is what will release the ambitions you list.
It isn’t so much knowing what to do that holds us back. The Fairness Foundation seems pretty good on that. What holds us back is confusion about the role of business, which is both the funder and the enemy of the people. Listen to Jane Jacobs. Break some knuckles.
Brilliant, as usual. I do wonder whether the fundamental weakness in Britain is the culture of avoiding conflict?
We simply will not confront people. THAT is why lobbying groups get away with robbery.
Jane Jacobs probably put her finger on it best in her masterwork, Systems of Survival. The language and culture of Government and public service is one of honour. That of business is rapacity. And ne’er the twain should meet. If they do, we have the abomination of the mafia (or now the corruption of the Trump leadership).
The effect of those two different systems, or cultures, is that bureaucrats believe that with enough calls to honour, the business community will fall in line. This is comic to the businessperson, who judges by the ability to duck and dive, to make a crafty buck. Ducking and diving is not scurrilous in the business world, it is the WHOLE POINT.
This culture-clash runs through everything in this country. It gives us the culture of avoidance that keeps us down.
For example, we have the embarrassment of Thames Water, where decades of cowardice at Offwat have enabled the fleecing of citizens who must wallow in filth. You cite the successful lobbying of venture capitalists. We have corruption in the insurance industry, where vehicle and domestic claims are routinely inflated to the enrichment of participants. In my own industry, property management, kick-backs to property managers were standard and in some cases institutionalised with ‘prompt payment discounts’. Planning officials here in Greenwich will not enforce their own specifications on new developments, and (unsurprisingly) developers regularly ‘bounce’ councils into over-development.
And this lack of assertion by Government pollutes the very most fundamental relationships: that between Government and Citizen, between HMRC and the taxpayer. No wonder people feel a lack of faith in Government. For example, now – at last – people see that their prison service is not fit for purpose. Prisoners must be released early, and yet there is an eruption of special-victim pleading. The correct response for Burnham, in my view, would be “The prison service has been run down because no-one cared enough to pay for a decent one under Austerity. If you don’t want your FELLOW citizens in future to have THEIR assailant released early, pay more tax.” As for the special pleading of Venture Capitalists…!
Another symptom of cowardice in England, if the point hasn’t yet landed, is the proliferation of the ‘licencing of the good’. It requires, for example, waste-disposal guys or landlords to sign up to idiotic and pointless licencing schemes. That is, the decent guys sign up. The guys that throw your fridge down the back of Sainsburys; or the landlords that pack eleven migrant workers into a two-bed flat; simple carry on as before. What has been gained, other than the appearance of doing something? And depressing costs on the good, passed on to customers and tenants? Confrontation is avoided, yes, but nothing changes. Rogue landlords are still a problem. Fly tipping is still a problem. You could call it pathetic. It is very English.
Business people are in it for the gamble, the cash, the game. Unless and until Government routinely sacks, bankrupts, renationalises and imprisons, it isn’t even on the field of play.
It is honourable to confront Russia over Ukraine, and this has been seen clearly. It is honourable to have fair play in football, and this has been a talking point during the world cup. It is honourable, too, to uncover those in business who take the mickey, grasp them by the wallet, and throw them into the sea. THAT, and only that, is what will release the ambitions you list.
It isn’t so much knowing what to do that holds us back. The Fairness Foundation seems pretty good on that. What holds us back is confusion about the role of business, which is both the funder and the enemy of the people. Listen to Jane Jacobs. Break some knuckles.
Thanks Angus! I do agree that the culture of avoiding conflict has a lot to answer for...