demolish Parliament…
…well perhaps not…
In an interview with Thomas Kielinger, UK correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, Evan Davies on the Today program discusses the German perspective on coalition government. Thomas talks about the adversarial system of democracy, exemplified by the seating arrangement of the House of Commons, to which Evan Davies quipped about getting the interior designers in to make it more conducive to co-operation.
I like Germany, I lived there as a teenager. Even then the Germans were decades ahead of the UK. For those who are still sceptical of coalition government look at Germany, the strongest economy in Europe – coalition government since the war, and Greece who they are bailing out – one of the few European countries with single party government. And then think of the country the markets are talking about after Spain & Portugal… Britain with its single party adversarial system and it’s inability to escape the 19th century!
So why not demolish the House of Commons and… no that would be architectural vandalism. Turn it into a museum for the tourists, demolish, say the Millennium Dome, and get Richard Rogers or Norman Foster to build a 21st century Parliament where everyone sits in a circular arrangement like everywhere else.
posted in Architecture . Politics
brown, more pink and the first green MP ?
Our eldest was away at Brownie camp on the North Norfolk coast at the weekend. It was her first time away from home by herself apart from friend sleepovers. On our way to collect her we made a family day-out with her younger sisters to Felbrigg Hall where there’s a cool tree you can crawl into and climb up on the inside.
Stopping at traffic lights near Norwich airport we saw Chloe Smith MP chatting away on her phone in a rather nice looking shocking pink coat. It will be disappointing for her if she loses and will have been an MP for only a year but no doubt she’ll bounce back.
It’s the eve of election day and I’ve been tasked to deliver tellers to various polling stations for 7am in my vehicle – the irony! And all day I’ll be ‘knocking-up’ voters and fixing our toilet and being in for the washing machine repair guy – both of which decided not to work on the same day.
The eldest wants to vote with me. And unlike last time where I asked her view in the polling booth there will be no last-minute change off mind – it will be Adrian Ramsay!
Work Starts on Unthank Road Tesco Express
Work is now well underway on the Unthank Road Tesco Express.
I won’t pretend – I’m principally concerned about the architecture of the store. As previously mentioned I would much rather [read more...]
posted in Architecture . Norwich
The Future Should be Now !
posted in Architecture . Sustainability
It’s Official – Girls Can’t Help Liking Pink !
Well so says the BBC and a host of other websites that have picked up on this ‘news’. And just like the global warming debate, commentators add their own ’spin’ on the story and it’s becomes fact full stop with headlines like ‘Why girls are naturally drawn to dolls as soon as they can crawl’
OK so I haven’t seen the original study and maybe, perhaps, it’s been taken out of context and a crucial caveat has been left out from the reports but… [read more...]
posted in Life
Pink Stinks !
I have 3 daughters under 11.
Until starting school the first one didn’t wear pink. As a baby many people thought she was a boy.
But when she got to school it was suddenly pink & pink clothes, Barbies & fairy outfits and more pink. Before the first fairy outfit she was very imaginative with our collection of discarded fabrics (she still is very imaginative). [read more...]
posted in Life
Make History and Elect Adrian Ramsay to Parliament! – Part 2
I want to believe that, underneath, something different is happening here in Norwich South. Regardless of your politics the phenomenal success of the Norwich Green Party has to be admired and respected. For me if it were any other constituencey I wouldn’t neccessarily be supporting a Green Party candidate. In fact at the European elections last year at the last minute I voted for Animals Count ! (sorry Rupert). It’s the sort of off-the-wall thing that I sometimes do and if it weren’t for Adrian Ramsay I might probably do that again.
And that’s why I will be voting Green [read more...]
posted in Politics
Make History and Elect Adrian Ramsay to Parliament! – Part 1
Usually on election day voters will ignore their local voting history and vote completely differently when it comes to electing the Government – a popular incumbent re-elected regardless of local issues or a complete 180 degree change because the country wants to get rid of a tired and tainted Government. For the last 30 years it’s been Labour or Tory.
Is anything different this time? [read more...]
posted in Politics
billions upon billions!
I mostly listen to Radio 4 – music doesn’t seem to feature much in my life currently. But I do listen to Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone on Six Music on Sundays [read more...]
posted in Life
