Author: bruceandholly

Uncategorized

Saturation Coverage of Celebrity Death

bruceandholly
Photo by Michelle Leman on Pexels.com

Last Wednesday I woke up to breaking news about the death of a young celebrity. It was someone I’d never heard of. Someone who had fallen from a hotel balcony. There was film footage of a young reporter holding her microphone and standing in the street amongst a group of even younger women weeping and holding candles. So I switched channels from Sky to Grood Morning Britain. Same news. Same footage. So I switched again to BBC Breakfast. Guess What! Same news. Same footage. Was there really no other news to report? Nothing from the Middle East or Ukraine? Nothing happening in the US election? In desperation, I switched to BBC Parliament and watched Prime Minister’s Questions.

Then a couple of days ago another celebrity came on the scene, complaining about the way her former partner’s death had been reported. Would she have preferred that it had gone unreported? That would have been fine by me.

housing, Law

No plans to abolish Right-to-buy

bruceandholly

Noticeably absent from recent government announcements is any proposal to abolish statutory right-to-buy. To the contrary, Angela Rayner has signaled her commitment to keep the policy, Even if some of the crazy discounts are to be scaled back. Currently, around 40% of ex-right-to-buy properties are owned by private landlords, Meaning that councils have to rent back on their own estates just to meet their statutory housing obligations. And all paid from housing benefit. That’s you and me. No wonder first-time buyers and private renters are priced out of the market. But not everyone who has exercised their right-to-buy is a winner.

It is the high-rise leaseholders who have come off worst. They are the ones facing five figure service charge bills when their local council decides to replace windows. When everyone else living in a block gets it for nothing. But something has to give if you want to rebuild social housing stock and solve Britain’s housing crisis.

Law, politics

Starmergate

bruceandholly
Photo by Amar Saleem on Pexels.com

Starmer’s mistake was not that someone else paid for his wife’s clothes but that he did not follow protocol in declaring it. But wouldn’t you think that he would have known that?

Contrary to what many people think, there is no law which says that someone in public office cannot accept hospitality, in circumstances when it might be considered insulting to refuse. But there has to be transparency.

All public sector organisations have a hospitality book in which you can write in hospitality which is offered to you and you are minded to accept. It might be a pair of cuff-links. It might be an invitation to a ‘black-tie’ dinner. Take a few moments to look your organisation’s hospitality book to see what other people have written into it. You may be surprised,

Uncategorized

first class stamps to rise to Â£1.65

bruceandholly
Photo by John-Mark Smith on Pexels.com

What’s this I hear about the cost of first class stamps rising to £1.65? Do I care? My own experience is that it does not make any difference whether you post a letter first class or second class. It will get there when it gets there. Whether that’s next day or the next two days; or next week. So don’t be fooled. Back in the 80’s I posted a second class letter to my parents in Bournemouth, which they received the same afternoon. Years later, I posted a letter to India, which arrived almost the next day. How amazing was that? And what’s this about the Royal Mail saying that they are not going to deliver second class letters on Saturday? Are they being serious? I’m heartbroken.