On a blog without a name » Britain

Losing Hart

Nicholas — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:53:31 +0000

Before there were Wallace and Gromit, there was Morph, who originally appeared on an art programme for children presented by Tony Hart, who died last week, and who has also appeared in other programmes. I never learned to draw anything, but I very much enjoyed Hart’s art programmes as a child.

Last week John Mortimer, one of my favourite writers and a famous QC, also died. He was something of a character – the kind of rebel-within-the-establishment that the British produce from time to time and which make the world a cheerful place.

New Prime Minister, New Reporting

Nicholas — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:54:26 +0000

I watched the transfer of power in the company of a few friends. It was quite clear that the journalists had little to say, and were trying to play up what was in the event quite a down-beat occasion. One BBC commentator, tasked with providing commentary as the car transporting Brown from the Palace to Downing Street took a journey that even on roads that had not been closed would have been uninteresting, resorted to saying ‘Mr Brown now turns his formidable intellect to the daunting task of running the country’ or words of similar banality. Whether or not they were impartial I leave the reader to judge.

As it turned out the formidable intellect had produced no great speech, though I did hope, as Brown said that there were some words that had always moved him, that he was about to use the words of Francis of Assisi. It wouldn’t have been original, but it would have been so witty it would have had the press chortling with him for days. As it turned out, he instead quoted his old school motto and promised to try his utmost. Personally, I’m more interested in results and achievement when it comes to my politicians. I’d much rather have a Bill that was a doddle for them to work out but that does its job well than one they sat up all night to work on and still couldn’t get right.

Still, he left the journalists at rather a loss. Nick Robinson, not usually one to write copy when he has nothing to say but feeling the pressure on this of all days to say something, resorted to writing absolute nonsense:

He delivered his words with confidence, but his nervousness was very, very evident.

According to the BBC, then, Brown was both confident and nervous. Well that, at least, is balanced ~~reporting~~ writing. Perhaps it is a quantum universe after all.

Regime Change

Nicholas — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:32:02 +0000

For a little over an hour today, the United Kingdom was governed by Her Majesty and the Civil Service. I think it went very smoothly indeed.

I hear from the Today Programme that President Bush thinks that History will judge Blair kindly. Well it is possible, I suppose. Though I know some of the people who’ll have a hand in actually writing the first, second and third drafts of it, and many of them will have quite a lot of sympathy with this sort of list.

If anyone ever tries to tell me that impartial narration of facts is possible, I think I shall point them at that list – it’s a rather fine example of a gloriously, knowingly impartial list. Which is not to say that it is ‘wrong’ or should be discounted out of hand. ‘Biased’ does not, contrary to what GCSE History tries to tell you, mean ‘ignorable’. See also something like An Inconvenient Truth for another example.