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Russell Brand – the other litigation

bruceandholly
Royal Courts of Justice building with people, taxis, and Union Jack
People gather outside London’s ornate Royal Courts of Justice beneath a Union Jack.

I have never enjoyed watching Russell Brand. I have never found him funny. And his appearance BBC’s Question Time has always been a turn off for me. But I was interested to hear about the non-harassment inunction which he and Jemima Goldsmith obtained in 2015 against Szilva Berki after she had posted repeated allegations about Brand on social media. Apparently she had already gone to the police but they insuficient evidence to pursue matters further. So the case was closed. Berki then posted her allegations online and in doing so fell into a trap. The end result was that Brand and Goldsmith obtained summary judgment for an injunction preventing Berki from repeating her allegations to anyone save her own lawyer or a medical professional. What was worse for Berki, who was representing herself in the proceedings, was that she was ordered to pay all the costs of the case.

I have searched the internet to try find a transcript of these proceedings but all I could find was the actual 2015 injunction itself, which I had been able to download courtesy of Tax Policy Associates, a not-for-profit investigative organization.

Posting allegations about anyone on social media is always dangerous, unless it is already a matter of record. It might have been better for Berki if she had considered pursuing a civil claim against Brand founded on the same allegations and with a lower burden of proof. She might even have got a settlement. Maybe she had taken advice on that option. We will never know. Just as we will never know what her allegations were. Because that information has been suppressed.

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Will Freedom of movement help the NEETS?

bruceandholly
Teacher leading a French lesson with students in a classroom
Students practice beginner French while their teacher explains first-group verbs.

If Andy Burnham is serious about freedom of movement for young people across Europe, it’s got to work both ways. If it was introduced tomorrow, would it actually help our 1 million young people not in employment, education, or training, get jobs in Europe? I’m not sure that it would. Just because most are not linguistically equipped to work in other parts of Europe. So what is Andy going to do about that?

For as long as I can remember, there has always been a complacency about language learning in the UK. Where the only people linguistically fluent are those born and brought up in bilingual families. Where we expect everyone else in the world to accommodate us.

If you want to learn another language, it is easy enough to put on your headphones and log onto Duolingo. It’s free and it will show you the structure of any language. But it can only take you so far. Language learning is a social activity. What you have learned with your headphones will quickly fade if you’re not using it day in and day out. As a young man I once joined a Spanish evening class at a local secondary school. It folded after one term. And -yes – I know this in every major town there are language circles. But they are primarily for people who already have a working knowledge of other languages and who want to polish their skills. Not for someone starting out from scratch

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Andy Burnham on Gogglebox? I’d rather watch YouTube.

bruceandholly
Man playing piano for seniors beneath a “COMMUNITY TEA DANCE – WELCOME” sign
A pianist performs as older adults applaud at a welcoming community tea dance.

I’m sorry but I didn’t watch Andy Burnham on Gogglebox. Nothing personal. It’s just that I don’t watch Gogglebox. Why do I want to watch people sitting on a sofa watching television? It’s the same reason that I don’t watch endless episodes of Love Island, or Big Brother; Celebrity Traitors; or I’m a Celebrity: Get me out of here. Is it just me? I don’t want to watch disgraced former politicians like Matt Hancock being funny. But I did watch 20 minutes of Prince William on the Graham Norton show. Isn’t he tall? And isn’t he a nice guy? While his father is so short? But eventually I got bored and went to the kitchen to do the washing up. For those of us old enough to remember, one of TV’s most cringe making moments was a clip of the late Dennis Healey MP thumping the piano and singing “Maybe it’s Because I’m a Londoner” to a group of pensioners. Was he trying to win votes? It’s because mainstream TV is now so awful that in our house we have taken to watching YouTube

With YouTube, you get entertainment from around the world. You flick through until something catches your eye. Much of it is privately posted, like footage from somebody’s wedding. And aren’t some of them lavish? And most of this World entertainment is so much better than the smug nonsense and endless repeats which we get on our hundreds of Freeview Channels. Why is it all so samey? Is someone trying to dumb us down? Maybe Putin? It doesn’t matter to me that so much of YouTube content is in a different language. You don’t have to speak fluent Italian to enjoy watching Puccini. Plus the fact that Farida, my partner, understands so much of that footage So I might get a running commentary. Not always. I might even pick up a few words of Urdu along the way. Never enough to hold a conversation. And I’m sure that I’m not alone. Like so many British men, I seem to have a mental block when it comes to learning languages. I think it goes back to the French I was taught at secondary school. The thing I most remember from those dismal lessons was that I never actually met anybody who was French. You were more likely to be taught by the woodwork teacher. And I don’t think that anything’s really changed.

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Why internet dating is like an arranged marriage

bruceandholly

How I wish that I had internet dating when I was in my late teens and early twenties. So much better than looking for love in a crowded disco. Shouting above the noise,

” Ello Luv! Wanna dance?”

With internet dating, I could have taken my pick from the World. And from the comfort of my living room table. Instead of squeezing past bouncers. Of course it wasn’t always like that. Before the Great War, many artisan marriages were within trades. For example, the dressmaker’s daughter marrying the tailor’s cutter. I guess it was quite transactional. And if you were wondering about tailor’s cutters? They were people who made shirts. In the days before every shirt was imported from China. And there are also similarities with modern internet dating.

When you log onto your dating site, your internet platform steps into the role of ‘kaaj lady’ or marriage broker. Like a kaaj lady, it will show you pictures of prospective dates. Klick on one of those pictures and she will give you a little more information about their job and social standing. Then is over to you

business, career, culture, emotional intelligence, job; career; money; raise; pay; increase, relationships, self improvement, society

How to get a ‘radio voice’

bruceandholly

I am with Education Secretary Lucy Powell when it comes to teaching young people how to be better communicators.

How you speak defines who you are. It defines how everyone else in the world will react to you. I’m sorry if I’m sounding a little old-fashioned. Perhaps a little too much of the ‘My Fair Lady’. But it’s the truth.

Yes I know that it’s cool to speak like Ali G. 20 years ago every young person in the UK aspired to speak like Ali G. Even some radio and TV presenters spoke like Ali G. But I’m sorry to tell you that Ali G is a pretend character. Sacha Baron Cohen doesn’t talk like Ali G when he is speaking to his agent. And speaking like Ali G is never going to get you that job in the City

It’s also why being ‘well spoken’ was so important to my parents when I was growing up in Essex. Particularly to Lilian, my late mother. Perhaps it was something to do with London’s East End, where she grew up and where any affected accent was deemed ‘la di da’. It was all to do with social mobility. But being well spoken isn’t about being la di da. It is about being clear, articulate and grammatically correct. Pronouncing the ends of your words. Not the Tony Blair glottal stop. In other words ‘sounding educated’.

Many years ago, a former line manager told me that my accent was ‘neutral’. He said it as a compliment. That it would be accepted anywhere. Years later, someone commented that I had a ‘radio voice’. Again, it was said as a compliment. So how do you get that elusive ‘radio voice’. Here are my tips:

  • Listen to yourself. I guarantee you’ll be shocked. I certainly was when I heard my 999 telephone call to the police being broadcast to Uxbridge Magistrates, when I was appearing as I witness for the prosecution in a case where I had seen a woman being attacked in the street. Did I really sound like that?
  • Get in the habit of using voice dictation in your work. Just as I am using voice dictation in the writing of this article. Voice dictation is fickle. If it can’t understand what you are sayng, it will just refuse to transcribe. It might even respond to you with a mouthful of abuse. When you use voice dictation you have to emphasize every vowel and consonant.
  • Look for every opportunity to speak in public. Learn the art of public speaking. Read my article ‘How to be a Great Speaker’. Join a speaker’s club where you can practice your skill week in and week out. Learn to think on your feet. Not like Trump’s new press secretary. If you can communicate well you will gain self-confidence. It will change your life