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Yesterday in Parliament....

Friday, October 17, 2008
Faced with all that happening at the moment, there are number of things that our parliamentarians might be concerning themselves with. The economy perhaps? Law and order? Our various wars?

However, our man in Wellingborough has his mind on something else:

"Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will hold discussions with university authorities on the provision of toilet facilities in universities.

Mr. Lammy: We have no plans for any specific discussions with university authorities on this subject. Universities are independent and autonomous bodies and how they choose to designate their facilities is a matter for them".

Now I could make a facetious comment or two about the mute testimony that walls, pavements , waste bins, phone boxes etc give to the ingenuity of inconvenienced students, but what on earth possessed him to ask the question? I am bewildered. Meanwhile, let it be noted that Lammy has said something sensible. For once.

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posted by Croydonian

The Smith Institute and the ippr on the public teat

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
One would think that the left wonk establishment would keep its collective head well below the parapet, but no.

I have found the following in Hansard written answers from yesterday:

"Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding the British Library has provided to the IPPR or IPPR Trading Ltd. in each year since May 1997; and what the purpose was of such funding. [123896]

Mr. Lammy: The only record of a payment to IPPR made by the British Library is one of £10,000 in 2005-06. This was a contribution to the cost of a study on intellectual property rights"


Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money from the public purse (a) her Department and (b) its agencies gave to (i) the Smith Institute and (ii) its subsidiary SI Events Limited in each year since 1997; and for what purpose each payment was made. [123106]

Mr. Lammy: On the basis of available information the Department has made the following three payments to the Smith Institute during the period in question relating to a new technology seminar and a cultural research project:


 Amount (£)

25 August1999

1,000.00

30 July 1999

1,000.00

7 March 2000

2,937.50


Source


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the sprawling metropolis:

"Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the timetable is for the Charity Commission investigation into the Smith Institute; and if she will make a statement. [120689]
26 Feb 2007 : Column 1017W

Edward Miliband: This is a matter for the Charity Commission as the non-ministerial Government Department responsible for the regulation of charities in England and Wales. The chief executive of the Charity Commission will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library for the reference of Members". Source


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posted by Croydonian

Where our money goes...

Friday, February 09, 2007
To send artists to Antarctica:

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the purpose was of the grant in aid arts award of £10,000 to the British Antarctic Survey; and if she will make a statement. [120222]

Mr. Lammy: Arts Council England provides a grant of £10,000 (which increased to £12,000 this year) annually to the British Antarctic Survey to cover a stipend award to the artists participating in the Artists and Writers in Antarctica Programme. The aim of this BAS programme is to raise awareness and understanding of the extensive scientific research it undertakes in Antarctica. This award covers the costs of travel to and from the Falklands, accommodation, medical examinations and support for the artists towards exhibitions and outreach work.

Erm, what is an artist likely to be able to do to advance understanding of scientific research? I do feel sorry for the scientists suffering the company of any artists who make it out there. Quite apart from the inevitable moaning and endless anecdotage, there might be outbreaks of performance art, difficulties in finding a use for anything other than white oil paint and grossly contrived rhymes for Antarctica.

Meanwhile, at the risk of making life for the good people at
Rothera quite unbearable, I nominate Harold Pinter as a suitable candidate - long pause - for the next jaunt.

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posted by Croydonian

Someone at the DCMS's press office thinks he's /she's a tabloid sub-editor

Wednesday, January 24, 2007
How else to explain this headline:

"Government accepts Nazi loot panel's advice that drawings seized by Gestapo in 1939 but currently in UK museum must be returned to heirs".

Nazi loot panel? The body of the text makes it plain it is really called the Spoliation Advisory Panel. The tale involves David Lammy, but I've had enough of him for one month. And how different from the almost Wodehouseian prose of the Maritime And Coastguard Agency.

Note to over-enthusiastic DCMS bod - throwing in a bit of slang does not a Sun sub-editor make. Does anyone feel that they can improve on the DCMS's headline?

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posted by Croydonian

Who cares if a building has failed - as long as it wins architectural prizes...

Monday, January 22, 2007
My old sparring partner David 'I nationalise old things' Lammy has done it again: he has given a grade II* listing to Newcastle's Byker Estate. I cannot pretend to be enormously au fait with all things Novocastrian, so this calls for a little digging.

Lammy reckons: "The Byker estate is an extraordinary and outstanding piece of architecture which has won awards and attracted attention throughout its life. Its influence, both on design and the way we involve communities in the planning process, has been profound".

Carol Pyrah of English heritage, about whom I could uncover nothing of note comments, "English Heritage is delighted that the Byker Estate, one of the nation's most important 20th century housing schemes, has been listed. The Estate's groundbreaking design has been influential across Europe and has proved a pioneering model for its approach to public participation. Residents of the Estate and Newcastle City Council have long recognised the architectural value of Byker".

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Although one would expect architectural merit, however defined to be the key issue in a discussion of listed status, there is not a mumbling word to be said about what it is like living there. So....


"Byker has suffered the kinds of the social problems common to other inner-city urban housing areas, including juvenile crime and vandalism. In parts of Byker turnover of tenancies is high and limits on the money available for maintenance and repairs has led to further deterioration. Neighbourliness has been undermined as families have moved away - particularly those in employment. Some shops and services have been abandoned and boarded up. Open landscaping invites vandalism and youth crime includes break-ins and muggings. In the mid-1990s it has been estimated one in three of Byker's adult inhabitants was unemployed.

The demand for rented accommodation in Byker is depressed. There has been a general decline in demand to rent council housing across Newcastle upon Tyne city. In some parts of the Byker estate it may be possible to convert dwellings into family homes with defined gardens for which there is greater demand. It should be noted that house prices in Newcastle are lower than many other British cities and there is a good supply of rented housing in 'upmarket' areas such as Heaton and Jesmond where there has been considerable gentrification". Source


It was also the home of 'Ratboy': "The six-year criminal career of a youth known nationwide as Ratboy was halted yesterday when he was locked up for four years. Kennedy was nicknamed Ratboy because, when frequently on the run after absconding from council care, he used to hide in central-heating ducts in the Byker Wall flats complex. He generally targeted old people and was finally caught by police as he climbed from the window of the home of an 84-year-old man". Source

I have a vague race memory of another prize winner, James Stirling, having designed public housing which also proved hellish to live in.

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posted by Croydonian

What about that? We have a government that can stop accidents through designation orders

Thursday, January 18, 2007
David 'I'm a bit out of my depth' Lammy, the under minister for nationalising antiques and so forth, has signed an order protecting the wreck of a ship 'believed to be that of the Dutch East India Company vessel Rooswijk'. I cannot get especially fired up about that, and I'm even prepared to accept on trust that it lies within British territorial waters.

Howewer, here is the silly bit: "The Order laid in Parliament will protect the newly discovered remains - and the 150m area around them - and will prevent accidental damage". Erm, accidents are accidents. If a supertanker is sinking somewhere near the wreck, will LammyMan emerge from the DCMS, flying faster than speeding bullet to protect the wreck?

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posted by Croydonian

Art export bans

Monday, November 13, 2006
Another old hobby horse I'm returning to. I had always assumed that it was only the likes of Turner paintings, Shakespeare First Folios and the like that got 'nationalised', but it also seems to apply to 'felt patchwork and applique coverlets'. Note the succession of modifiers in this sentence, "making it the earliest known surviving example in Britain of an applique figurative coverlet in wool made by a lady". I make it five. Given that David Lammy has signed the blocking order, presumably the reason why he is so abject at the dispatch box is because he whiles away his evenings reading up on patchwork, or possibly patchworking himself.

The gushing press release does not deign to say who, or what, is having its property rights interfered with by the government, but the seller will have to make do with a suspiciously exact £34,450 (excluding VAT) , rather than be allowed to test its value in the global marketplace. For the record, I disapprove of all export bans on works of art and so forth.

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posted by Croydonian