Have a good Christmas

It will be a busy few days and then a welcome break. Happy Christmas everyone.

Black country nativity

Fat Prophet sums up the Christmas story for my Black Country neighbours.

"I've had my fill of blogging, and here's why"

I was fascinated to read Tory blogger Iain Dale's article in today's London Evening Standard. It follows his announcement that he has had enough of blogging and will now be working more in mainstream journalism.

Dale reminds that blogs can be a force for good, but he does believe there is a dark side. What he says certainly chimes with my experience:

But while the blogosphere has generally been a force for good, it can also be a very ugly place. It's certainly not for the faint-hearted. If you stick your head above the parapet you have to expect that people will want to shoot it off, but the abuse you can attract is way beyond what normal people would regard as acceptable.


Sadly this chimes with my own experience here on the Methodist mircro-blogsphere. I shadowed one of the few methodist blogs for a few months before having a go myself. I was quite appalled with what I read.

When I challenged what I read I was astonished at the sheer nastiness of what confronted me. How dare a new blogger upset the cosy consensus of the "official" bloggers.

Nevertheless over the years I've attracted a few "followers" and I know that the blog is read and appreciated within British Methodism and beyond. On a couple of occasions I believe the blog had a direct impact on the Methodist Church.

My only regret is that I don't have the time and resources to spend more time and effort working on it. Better researched articles, more reflective pieces and the time to respond in detail to comments could make all the differences. However I have to fit blogging around  activities - I hope this helps keep my feet on the ground.

Today, as it happens, I had a demonstration of a new web tool which enables large organisations to track their profile day by day on social media - everything from the comment board of mumsnet to our obscure blogs. Big business understands the threats and opportunities of blogging and other social media.

I sympathise with Dale. I know that my good friend Bob Piper has had some difficult times, but I believe the world is a better place because we are now able to blog, network, share information and express our views. I still think those who have power, be they in government, large corporations or even our own Methodist church, don't really yet appreciate how fast social media is changing things.

We need a general election and a clear mandate

Thinking about the events of the last week I fear that we are in for a very difficult time in British politics. If a few thousand students can create the current panic, what will happen when the coalition start closing down our public services?

Sometimes those of us active in politics think that we have our finger on the public pulse, only to find that we have got it wrong. I remember being invited to address a small meeting about the poll tax in the late 1980s. The organisers, a branch Labour Party, had booked a school room. They had distributed a few hundred leaflets and put an announcement in the local papers. We would have been delighted to get an audience of thirty. In fact about two hundred people turned up and we had to move into the main hall.

My advice on these occasions, always well meant, is that individuals should not get themselves into debt by refusing the pay a tax, I've always discouraged local authority rent strikes. Sooner or later the strikers find themselves in court.. I was booed. Both myself and the Labour Party at that point had completely underestimated the strength of feeling.

I now suspect that a similar movement is underway.

In May it was clear that the general election had been inconclusive. Whoever formed the government should have taken the country back to the ballot box for a second general election and a clear mandate.

Instead we were treated to the unedifying spectacle of the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives hatching a binding five year coalition on a programme that had never been put before the electorate. The absolute dishonesty of the Lib Dems over student fees has been breathtaking. As a permanent opposition party they have always been quick to play the straight honest broker. Now we see them for what they are.

Basically we now have a completely illegitimate government. It has no mandate and a rapidly diminishing basis of support. That means that those who protest on the street - though I would urge them not to use violence - are perfectly within their rights to do so. Tactics like "kettling" and talk of water cannons demonstrate weakness, not strength, on the part of the authorities.

Spending cuts have really yet to find their way through the system. The government talks about protecting front line services but what really is a "front line" service? Basically the Tories are doing what they always want to do - justifying a low wage, low tax economy.

But they did not win an election on that basis, nor did their Liberal Democrat allies. It is time for a general election to clear the air and deliver a government with a clear mandate.

Idols with feet of clay

Thank goodness we're booked up tonight and won't be among the estimated 20,000,000 Britons who will be watching the final of the X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing on television.

One of the drawbacks of being a professional PR person is that you are expected to be at least on nodding terms with current front page stories. For the last few weeks the popular press has been full of drivel about the contestants for these TV programmes.

We seem to live in a world that manufactures idols are an increasingly fast rate. Fame can literally come overnight. One "reality" programme was even called "Pop Idol". But when fame does come it seems that  it comes with a price. Once someone finds themselves in the public eye the media (sometimes literally) rummage through their dustbins. They are looking for the latest story that will bring the idol down.

A couple of weeks ago I was reading the fascinating story in Daniel of the idol that King Nebuchadnezzar had seen in a dream. We know it was colossal, had a terrifying appearance (have you notice how unpleasant idols look in non-Christian faiths),  but was made almost entirely of precious metals. Except for the feet, which were made of clay therefore making it vulnerable. Hence our expression of "having feet made of clay" to denote weakness underpinning belligerence.

In our mutli-faith society we must obviously respect those who practice other faiths but this should not blind us to the foolishness of idolatry either spiritually or in popular culture.In Psalm 135 we learn:

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
   made by human hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
   eyes, but cannot see.
¹⁷ They have ears, but cannot hear,
   nor is there breath in their mouths.

The Psalmist concludes that an idol is no cleverer that those who make them, so certainly not worthy of trust and honour.

¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
   and so will all who trust in them.

Student fees - I share the anger

 Yes I am angry. Like many parents I want the best for my children. I don't want them to start working life with a mountain of debt to climb.

Now, thanks to last nights parliamentary vote I'm going to have to find about £20,000 more than planned.

Fortunately  I continue to work.

Fortunately we will manage. The only major debt I incurred was the mortgage on my house. Our next generation will be paying off student loans and trying to save for a house at the same time. Their starting incomes will have to go in two directions at once.

Which brings me to other families. I more than most know how education can enhance job prospects. I know many families, some of them now sadly broken where there will just not be the ability to pull together the £27,000 per child needed to get them to the university gate. We've been fortunate but wind back ten years and £27,000 X 3 =  £81,000 and that would have been impossible.

Last night's decision is going to deny thousands of children the start in life that their parents had and now want for their children. The poorest families will just dismiss the prospect of their youngsters going to tertiary education. It breaks my heart to know very bright kids who are stuck in low paid jobs because they didn't have the extra helping hand that genuinely free education can provide.

Then we have the middle income families, these days defined as anyone earning over £25,000 per year. At the moment I know several public service workers in their late forties, early fifties fearing for their jobs. They have two or three children of school age. Their mortgages haven't yet been paid off. These are the people for whom last night's vote and the whole Tory hysteria over public service are going to hit hardest.

I don't share the tactics - I wouldn't be bothered to throw the Prince of Wales a kiss never mind a pot of paint - but I certainly share the anger.

And a Happy Hannakuh!

I know its a bit late, but my computer did break down. In recent weeks I have found that many Jewish friends old and new are following this blog.

Let me wish you a Happy Hannakuh.

I think that his year I will get a Menorah to integrate into our Christmas decorations.

Back online after a close shave

Wow, that was close. Last week my computer crashed. Went dead. Thought I'd be offline for weeks.

The excellent firm I bought it from, Evesham, has very sadly gone out of business. I really did dread taking it to PC World and joining the anxious huddle around the "Tech Guys" counter and leaving it with them for three weeks. Then probably getting a message that they have returned to factory settings and lost all my data.

But local councillor Bob Piper came to the rescue and said he'd heard good things about a new place in Bearwood called Laptop Aid on Sandon Road. I took the desktop in at eleven this morning and Ahmed the engineer rang me at just after three to say he had got it working. Now its back in my office at home and everything seems to be here - including the church accounts spreadsheet that I need auditting.

Being offline did have some advantages. There are these amazing things made of paper and card called "books". It has been a revelation to rediscover the joy of reading.

Then there are Christmas cards. These I usually write on the 22 December and post on the 23 December with a first class stamp. This year they have all gone out on the 3 December, except for the local ones that we hand deliver.

So I'm back online and will soon be posting as usual. After I've finished that book.