General News

All Your Base Are Belong To Serco

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Train

Serco is, according to Guardian journalist Jane Martinson, “the biggest company you’ve never heard of“. Though the chances are that you’ve come across their services several times before, maybe without even knowing.

If you’ve ever been on the Docklands Light Railway, or most of the commuter trains in northern England, you’ve been on a train run by Serco. Together with Abellio, owned by the Dutch government, they operate Northern Rail and Merseyrail as a joint venture. Prefer to drive? Then you may have been caught by a Serco speed camera, or seen a message on a matrix display operated by Serco.

You may find that your local hospital’s facilities are managed by Serco, or that your local education authority (which looks after schools) is run by them – this was the case in Bradford until recently. And if you’ve been really naughty, you may have spent time in a Serco prison or young offender’s institute. Or you may have had to wear a Serco electronic tag as part of a curfew order.

Wikipedia has a big list of Serco’s operations, which include some businesses outside the UK. But many of the services that Serco provides are ones formerly provided by the state and civil servants.

Today, our prime minister David Cameron announced that more private companies should be allowed to run almost any kind of public service. I would suggest buying shares in Serco, if I were you.

In July 2013, The Guardian published another article about Serco and the in-roads that it is making to the NHS. In particular, there are some worrying allegations that the company is failing in its duties and yet still being rewarded bonuses for good performance.

I’m backing the Liberal Democrats

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A note: this was written in 2010. As of 2017, I became a paid-up member of the Labour Party, and remain so as of the beginning of 2025.

I was intending to delay this announcement until closer to the election on May 5th, but recent events have inspired me to post this entry much earlier than planned.

It probably comes as only a minor surprise that I will be voting LibDem two weeks on Thursday. Thus far I have voted LibDem in every election since I reached 18, bar the previous general election when I voted for the Green Party due to dissatisfaction with the local LibDem parliamentary candidate. This time I have no such issue, and believe more than ever that voting for the LibDems is worth it.

There are several reasons why I will vote this way:

1. Policies

The party is the one I agree with the most (or, disagree with the least). As someone who works in higher education, I get to see first-hand some of the financial hardship that students have to go through to get a degree. Years ago, university was free for UK students; now, most students will borrow an average of over £20,000 to fund their education. It’s meant more students staying at home with their parents, rather than getting their first taste of independence at age 18. Further limits have meant that those with degrees already, who want to do a second degree in a new subject, have to pay eye-watering fees of at least £6,000 per year with many charging over £10,000 per year – and that just covers tuition; books, accommodation, printing, food etc. all have to be paid for as well, and you can’t get a student loan to cover it. This has stopped many people with degrees in less employable subjects going back to University to be tomorrow’s doctors, pharmacists, civil engineers, researchers and other professions where a relevant degree is necessary. This country needs graduates, yet only the LibDems are committed to abolishing tuition fees.

Not one Liberal Democrat MP voted in favour of the Digital Economy Act, which has now been passed into law and puts in place a number of potentially draconian new rules for dealing with illegal file sharing, and the party stated that it will repeal it if elected. As it happens, the act was passed due to support from the other two parties. It may just be one act, but for me this was a deciding issue for this election. While some high-profile Labour MPs did oppose it, such as Tom Watson, it was clear that the Labour whip was in favour of it.

The Liberal Democrats opposed the war in Iraq, which, admittedly, did free the country of the tyranny of Saddam Hussain but also lead to a war which was started without a United Nations mandate, probably illegal under UK law, has caused a significant amount of destabilisation in the country and the wider middle-east region and resulted in the deaths of a large number of our serving armed forces. The LibDems are also against the renewal of our Trident nuclear missile arsenal, which would be incredibly expensive and would come at a time when both the USA and Russia have agreed to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Vince Cable warned before the global economic meltdown started that the economy was in trouble and that banks were taking too much risk. While we’ll never know what could have happened if the LibDems were in power at the time, I trust Cable to manage the economy better than it has been.

I also respect Dr Evan Harris, the LibDem’s science spokesperson, who backs evidence-based approaches to science (i.e. what every other scientist does) rather than be guided by the media and public opinion. The recent spats between the government and its drugs advisory committee show that scientific evidence should drive policy, not political witch-hunts and media pressure.

2. People

The first leaders’ debate showed that Nick Clegg can stand above his rivals and not to stoop to their levels of back-biting. It was telling that ‘I agree with Nick’ was used by both other candidates several times during the debate, and Clegg was a much more confident speaker. There are also some people in Labour and the Conservatives that I really don’t like – Lord Mandleson, who just needs a black helmet and cape to complete the transformation into Darth Vader; and Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary who recently said that discriminating against gay couples was fine in some circumstances. There’s Philip Davies, previously MP for Shipley and seeking re-election, who won’t be opposed by UKIP because he’s sufficiently far-right for them – this is an MP who voted against legislation to combat climate change and gay rights. And there’s the 3 Labour MPs who are claiming legal aid to defend themselves against allegations that they claimed illegitimate expenses using taxpayers’ money. And my local Labour MP hasn’t exactly done much to win my vote of late, having neither acknowledged nor responded to my communications regarding the Digital Economy Act. I could go on, but I trust the people in the Liberal Democrat party more than their opposition.
Oh, and they have an MP called Lembit Opik, who dated one of the Cheeky Girls. That’s awesome.

3. Profile

I would bet a small amount of money that there are a number of people who would have voted for the Liberal Democrats previously had they had a realistic chance of being elected, but have instead voted tactically. After Thursday’s debate, the Liberal Democrats shot up in the polls due to Clegg’s admirable performance and have stayed equal or above Labour for a few days now, and so are in with a chance of winning the election (or at least putting up a very good showing). For too long, they have been seen as the ‘other’ party, or an ‘also-ran’, covered in the news and satire programmes purely for balance. Thursday’s Have I Got News For You, which was broadcast at the same time as the debates, was a prime example of this. Suddenly the election has become a definite three-horse race, and I think people will be surprised at the level of support the Liberal Democrats actually have.

4. The third way

The political systems in many countries has become polarised and the United States is a good example – there’s the Republicans, the Democrats, and then a handful of minor parties that very few people know or care about. In the UK we’re lucky that we have 3 viable parties, giving a wider spectrum of policies and views, and this needs to be preserved.

5. Socking it to Murdoch

This is a personal thing but the power that media barons, like Rupert Murdoch, have over public opinion is sometimes quite frightening. Murdoch owns two of our largest newspapers – The Sun and The Times – and has a large stake in the Sky News TV channel (and his son is Sky’s chief executive). I understand that Labour and the Conservatives have often tried hard to lobby Murdoch and his cronies to back their candidates and it seems that he’s backing the Tories this time around, based on The Sun’s absolutely fair and reasoned support for the party (yeah right…). If the Liberal Democrats do well, it would show Murdoch and the media elite that their powers over the electorate aren’t as strong as they’d like to think (see also this comment piece).

6. Real change

The Conservative campaign has all been about change, but personally I don’t think they have changed a huge amount since they were ousted in 1997. I also hold things like Section 28, the disastrous privatisation of the railways and subsequent Hatfield rail crash and lack of public service investment against them from their previous time in power. While I do concede that Britain has been better off under Labour (minimum wage, human rights act, economic growth, equal opportunities), there’s so much more that could be done and I don’t think Labour are capable of doing it. The Liberal Democrats have not been in power at a national level before, so they’re the only major party that, in my mind, can bring real change.

May 6th is 16 days away and a lot could change, but unless something horrific and unexpected happens, I’ll be voting for the Liberal Democrats. And I hope many of you will join me.

Bradford – things to see and do as a tourist

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This post is a retort to the news that Bradford has been named as Britain’s worst tourist city in a poll by Travelodge, whose ‘Bradford’ hotel is actually closer to New Pudsey.

Having lived in Bradford for over 7 years I wholeheartedly disagree that Bradford is ‘dangerous, ugly and boring’ as the survey suggests. It’s no less dangerous than any other major UK city and while Bradford has its fair share of 1960s monstrosities in architecture, there are some fine examples of stone-built Victorian buildings which have been faithfully restored and look rather splendid, all over the city.

As for boring, there are plenty of attractions for tourists to visit:

1. In the city centre:

  • National Media Museum – this is the UK’s most visited museum outside of London, and has a wide range of galleries focussing on film, photography, television, radio and new media such as the internet. Its latest addition is an arcade games gallery, where you can play a range of 1980s arcade machines. It’s also home to Yorkshire’s only Imax cinema. Best of all, it’s free to go in (bar the cinemas and some special exhibitions). It was influential in Bradford’s successful bid to become the world’s first UNESCO City of Film, which launches this weekend.
  • Peace Museum – one of Bradford’s lesser-known gems, this has a fantastic collection of items and records. It’s open on Wednesday and Fridays, and for pre-booked groups.
  • Bradford Sculpture Trail – around the turn of the millennium, a series of sculptures were commissioned across the city. This trial takes you around 27 different sculptures and statues, including those of JB Priestley, the famous Bradford-born author.
  • Curry houses – Bradford has a huge range of curry houses across the city and any visit isn’t complete without visiting at least one. There’s the world famous Mumtaz, the student favourite Omar’s, Markaz on Centenary Square and many more. What’s more is that they’re all very affordable.
  • Bradford Cathedral – being one of Britain’s newer cities (the Royal Charter was granted in 1897) the cathedral is quite small compared to the likes of York, Lancaster and Lincoln, however, it’s still an old building with parts dating from the 15th century. It holds regular events and sits in an area of Bradford known as ‘Little Germany’, full of well-preserved and renovated Victorian buildings.
  • Alhambra Theatre – one of several venues in Bradford (there’s also St George’s Hall, Bradford Playhouse and the Theatre in the Mill), the interior of this theatre has been thoroughly restored and looks magnificent. It hosts many major shows throughout the year.
  • The Wool Exchange – once the centre of Bradford’s wool trade, this fantastic piece of 19th century architecture has been restored and now hosts probably the nicest-looking branch of Waterstones in the country. There’s also a Starbucks on the mezzanine level.
  • Bradford 1 Gallery and the Impressions Gallery – these two new art galleries are in Centenary Square and host a number of exhibitions.

2: In the suburbs

  • Bradford Industrial Museum – located in late 19th century mill, this working museum has various examples of mill machinery, as well as a horse-drawn tram, worker’s houses and a transport exhibition. Entry is free and it’s open 7 days a week.
  • Lister Park – open to the public since 1870, this large park includes a boating lake, café, adventure playground, gardens and is also home to the Cartwright Hall art gallery which has recently been host to an exhibition of work by David Hockney, who originally came from the Bradford area. It was named Britain’s Best Park in 2006.
  • Peel Park – across the valley from Lister Park, this opened in 1850 and now plays host to the annual Bradford Mela which is one of the biggest festivals of British Asian culture in the UK.
  • Undercliffe Cemetery – Bradford was at the heart of the UK wool industry and many of the great and good from Bradford’s past have been buried here with some very elaborate and decorative memorials.
  • Bolling Hall – a mansion house which now houses exhibitions showing the life and times of Bradford families over the past few hundred years. Like many of Bradford’s other museums, entry is free.

3: Further afield:

  • Saltaire – a UNESCO world heritage site, and home to Salt’s Mill, which houses a permanent exhibition of art by David Hockney and a range of specialist shops and restaurants.
  • Keighley & Worth Valley Railway – a working steam railway that takes you through the pretty Worth Valley. Connects with the main line at Keighley station.
  • Haworth – a hillside village with a great range of independent shops and fine public houses.

While I think this list is pretty exhaustive I’m sure there’s bits I’ve missed. But there’s certainly no shortage of things to see and do as a tourist in Bradford and it’s well worth spending a day or two to look around. There’s also the City Park which is under construction and will be open by next summer.

(See also another take on the article and an article in our local newspaper)

Is public healthcare in Britain really that bad?

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This was originally a guest post at Stupid Evil Bastard, re-posted here following that site’s demise.

Obama’s plans for healthcare reform in the US are far from uncontroversial and many of those on the right side of the political spectrum have been coming up with various facts and figures to undermine his moves to widen access. One of the (perhaps unintended) targets of this has been Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), a ‘socialised’ health care system, and many claims have been made about its supposed failings. But are these claims really true? British newspaper The Guardian investigated the claims and came up with the facts:

The claim: Ted Kennedy, 77, would not be treated for his brain tumour if he was in Britain because he is too old – Charles Grassley, Republican senator from Iowa.

The response: Untrue, says the Department of Health. “There is no ban on anyone of any age receiving any treatment, ” said a spokesman. “Whether to prescribe drugs or recommend surgery is rightly a clinical decision taken on a case by case basis.”

The claim: In England, anyone over 59 years of age cannot receive heart repairs, stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too expensive and not needed – an anonymously authored, but widely circulated, email, largely sent to older voters

The response: Totally untrue. Growing numbers of patients over 65 with heart conditions are having surgery, including valve repairs and heart bypass surgery, says Professor Peter Weissberg, the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) medical director. For example, the average age at which people have a bypass operation has risen from 58 in 1991 to 66 in 2008.

There are several more which reveal the true facts. It’s true that survival rates for breast and prostate cancers are lower in Britain than in the US, but whether that is due to the standard of treatment or care, or down to other factors (such as diet, exercise or genetic variations) isn’t explored. In any case, not one of the major British political parties promotes the abolition of the NHS, and barely any of the minor ones would abolish it either. While most Brits, politicians or otherwise, would happily spend half an hour telling you about how the NHS could be improved, you would find it hard to find anyone who would want to get rid of it altogether.

Archbishop of York gives the Pope a bottle of beer

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This was originally a guest post at Stupid Evil Bastard, re-posted here following that site’s demise.

On official visits to meet the Pope, it is customary to provide a gift. Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister and recent Catholic convert, gave a painting of Cardinal Newman. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah presented him with a jewelled scimitar. So what did John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York (one of the highest ranking positions in the Anglican Church) give him? Beer.

When the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, met the pontiff he gave him the Holy Grail, a beer brewed in Masham, North Yorkshire.

It was the highlight of the archbishop’s first trip to Rome to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and to cement cordial relations between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.

Following their 15-minute chat in the Basilica di San Paolo Fuori le Mura, believed to be the burial place of St Paul, Sentamu said: “I told the brewery I was meeting the Pope and they made a special brew for him. I heard he’d been given some Black Sheep ale and liked it. So I brought that and the Holy Grail.”

The gifts pleased the Pope, who is Bavarian by birth and prefers beer to wine and water. That the tipple was a one-off would have also suited a pontiff with designer flourishes. During a two-hour service, which was peppered with incense, chanting, coughing and ringtones, his ruby-red Prada loafers peeped out from under his ivory robes.

It’s perhaps slightly ironic that the beer is inspired by the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as it was another of the Python films, Life of Brian, that brought out much angst from the Anglican and Catholic churches over claims of blasphemy. Holy Grail is produced by the Black Sheep Brewery not far from York and is available for mail order.

Father puts pins in son’s tongues because of God

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This was originally a guest post at Stupid Evil Bastard, re-posted here following that site’s demise.

A Nigerian-born father of two boys, living in the UK, felt that since God had his tongue cut off in the Bible, he must inflict similar injuries on his sons. He put pins in their tongues and through their lips, cut their mouths with scalpel blades, and pressing one of the boy’s tongue with sharp pliers until it swelled and bled.

It went to court, and he was found guilty of three counts of child cruelty. He pleaded not guilty; his wife also pleaded not guilty to essentially turning a blind eye to the cruelty. They await sentencing and a verdict on further charges.

New British political leader doesn’t believe in God

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This was originally a guest post at Stupid Evil Bastard, re-posted here following that site’s demise.

The Liberal Democrats, who are a left-wing party in the United Kingdom and rank third after the Conservatives and incumbent Labour Party, have elected a new leader named Nick Clegg. And, in a radio interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, he said that he didn’t believe in God:

New Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has answered “no” when asked on BBC radio if he believed in God.

The rapid-fire question and answer format on 5 Live meant the 40-year-old did not have the chance to elaborate.

He later said he had “enormous respect for people who have religious faith”, that his wife is Catholic and that his children are being brought up Catholic.

“However, I myself am not an active believer, but the last thing I would do when talking or thinking about religion is approach it with a closed heart or a closed mind.”

Both the current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the previous PM Tony Blair are Christian but they have said little about how their religion affects their roles as leader. Based on my personal knowledge it is rare for a politician to be an outspoken non-believer, especially a leader of a party, though some politicians are outspoken about their beliefs. There are a number of non-Christian members of parliament, including Jews, Muslims and Hindus.

Richard Dawkins says he’s a ‘cultural Christian’

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his was originally a guest post at Stupid Evil Bastard, re-posted here following that site’s demise.

Professor Richard Dawkins, author of the book ‘The God Delusion’ and one of Britain’s most well-known atheists, has described himself as a ‘cultural Christian’. The comments come about after Mark Pritchard, an opposition member of Parliament, accused politically correct people of undermining Christmas and other Christian festivals.

Dawkin’s response was thus:

“I’m not one of those who wants to stop Christian traditions.

“This is historically a Christian country. I’m a cultural Christian in the same way many of my friends call themselves cultural Jews or cultural Muslims.

“So, yes, I like singing carols along with everybody else. I’m not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history.

“If there’s any threat these sorts of things, I think you will find it comes from rival religions and not from atheists.”

Pritchard, meanwhile wants a parliamentary debate on “Christianophobia” and is complaining that ‘Christian heritage was being undermined by secular officials and public figures’.

Hindu gods get summons from court

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This was originally a guest post at Stupid Evil Bastard, re-posted here following that site’s demise.

It’s not easy being a God. You’re omnipotent, so you have to be everywhere at once, and answering everyone’s prayers 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, with no rest. And just when it couldn’t get worse – you get summoned to a court in India:

A judge in India has summoned two Hindu gods, Ram and Hanuman, to help resolve a property dispute.

Judge Sunil Kumar Singh in the eastern state of Jharkhand has issued adverts in newspapers asking the gods to “appear before the court personally”. The gods have been asked to appear before the court on Tuesday, after the judge said that letters addressed to them had gone unanswered.

Apparently two temples have been built on land that is claimed to be owned by the temple priest, but the locals claim that the land belongs to the two gods.

We’ll have to see whether they show up in court or not.

Islamists call for the death of a British teacher over a teddy bear

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This was originally a guest post at Stupid Evil Bastard, re-posted here following that site’s demise.

One of the big news stories over here in Britain at the moment is the jailing of a British schoolteacher in Sudan for ‘insulting Islam’. Her crime is that, during a classroom exercise, she asked her pupils to name a teddy bear, and the children chose the name ‘Muhammad’. As well as being the name of one of the pupils, Muhammad is also the name of the Muslim prophet and in Islam it is frowned upon (to say the least) to create idols or images of Muhammad – you may remember the furore surrounding the cartoons that some European newspapers published last year which depicted the prophet as a suicide bomber.

Though it’s obvious to most sane people that the teacher didn’t intend to cause offence when the bear was named (and she has apologised), complaints were made, she was arrested, and has now been jailed for 15 days and will be deported upon release.

That’s bad enough, but now at least a thousand of Sudanese people have demanded a tougher punishment – some going as far as demanding death by firing squad.

The reaction in the UK has been of almost universal condemnation – from Muslim leaders to politicians – and the government is trying to intervene where possible. But should the Sudanese judiciary give into the protesters’ demands, we could see a woman shot to death, over a teddy bear.