Fighting the flab or fooling us twice?

Government spin or genuine intent? The Times is reporting today that Boris Johnson is determined to improve the health of the country post Covid having had an epiphany during his own brush with death ™, attributable to his BMI.

With rates of diabetes on the increase in the western world, and moving into the new burgeoning economies as traditional diets fall to western marketing and corporations, this should be welcome.

But, I can’t ignore a lingering doubt. IF the government were genuinely minded to do this why have they, over years in place, swerved sugar taxes, ripped up playing fields, allowed fast food sponsorship of sporting events, cosied up to the industrial food industry? Epiphanies are by their nature sudden changes in tack and this may well be one but, to use a suitable idiom, the proof of this particular pudding will be in the eating.

There is a whiff of triangulation about this. That wonderful modern political idea that says you take a problem, work out all the responses and sit in the middle. Current public pre-occupation with health plus evidence that obesity and diabetes are major factors in Covid deaths has pushed the Overton window on this one in a definite direction and a cynic would see the story as a political response, not a policy response, to this.

A similar game is going on with environmental policy. Let’s not forget that this year was to be COP 26 in Glasgow, trailed by many as the last chance to drive meaningful action on the climate emergency. Let us also not forget that the preparations for COP were a mess. Leaderless, directionless, the UK was all set to fumble their big moment. Covid does have some upsides for our Government it would seem….

The climate Overton window has also moved. Experiencing cleaner air, seeing local environments up close without the hurry of work and commuting and ‘normal’ lives, timelines are full of photos of nature reborn or rediscovered. Yet triangulation here also applies, bailouts for polluters continue alongside commitments to green change.

The two are linked. Health of the individual and health of the climate are inextricably bound together. Headline grabbing factory farming and the globalisation of food production is suspect number one for the genesis of the pandemic. Encroachment into the natural word to fuel more industrial farming the first horseman of a coming apocalypse that may already be upon us. Sedentary lifestyles plus growth economics plus rampant consumer acquisition creates a perfect storm that is poised to get us whether by pestilence through novel viruses, famine through land degradation, war for the scarce productive land and water leading to death.

So, what seems a positive could be a harbinger of the darker inaction that plagues the UK (and many other governments) over the necessary massive systemic changes needed to ensure life on earth. I just hope I’m the cynic.

Arts in Collapse - How Government intervention must save the cultural sector

Another Covid-19 morning, another slew of warnings from the cultural sector that it is about to collapse. 92% of UK festivals face ruinous cancellation costs, The Old Vic is on the brink, Southampton’s respected Nuffield Theatre has already gone. The cultural wasteland is on the horizon.

We are in danger of losing the entire UK cultural sector. This is no exaggeration, warning signals are being beamed daily from music, theatre and arts organisations. Why should this matter? Culture isn’t food, housing, power. It’s not essential.

Now think what has got you through lockdown to this point. The TV shows, the Spotify playlists, the deep dive into videos on Youtube of your favouite comedy clips, old TV shows, music TV from your childhood, National Theatre live, Radio 4 comedy, BBC 3 comedy. Check on your kids. What are they doing online? Streaming music, sharing Tik Toks, spreading culture in its widest sense.

Culture is more than entertainment. Culture is how a nation, how people, explain themselves, define themselves, create the future and understand the past. It is the expression of ourselves. It can be done through song, through dance, through storytelling or visual art but it must be done. Without culture we are nothing.

The UK cultural sector has always been starved of investment and exploited for its soft power by government. Even the Blair govt, which pretty much rode on the Cool Britannia wave, didn't invest properly or thoughtfully in the sector, merely invited it to Number 10 for a photocall.

Partly this is down to a Government focus on ‘proper’ industry, from traditional Labour’s obsession with outmoded industries that continue to contribute to our carbon emissions problem or Conservative adoration of finance, who invest in the industries abroad that continue to contribute to….you know the rest.

Sure, the Minister for Culture (and media and sport, we are so far down the pecking order we don’t warrant a dedicated Minister despite collectively contributing over £100 billion in 2019) will show up at The BRITS  to have their picture taken with the glitterati of our world but you don’t hear them talk about the importance of Southampton Joiners to the cultural ecosystem.  Such lip service applies across the entire spectrum. Yes to visits to the Royal Opera House, no to focus on regional opera, yes to talking about the RSC, no mention of local and regional theatre groups and so on. Through The Arts Councils and lottery grants the wolf is kept from the door but charity is not centrality. And culture deserves more prominence and recognition.

As with much UK govt thinking, short termism reigns. If UK music is posting huge profits, if Tate Modern visitor numbers are up, if the West End sells out most of its show months in advance, where’s the problem?

Here’s the problem that is about to hit.

Losing the bottom end of any structure that relies on talent coming through from the grass roots withers the potential power of that structure. We got away with it in the 80s because unemployment and housing benefit, those 60s relics, covered the gap and allowed that whole generation of UK musicians, comedians and actors to prosper globally, delivering political and economic benefit for the country alongside The Young Ones, The Smiths, Phil Redmond;’s TV work and a huge list of now cultural icons that determine what the UK is to an extent.

We don't have any safety nets left this time, so we won't get a repeat. The venues and spaces will go, likely to become more flats for more foreign investors in high profile locations, more boarded up wastelands in the new Tory heartlands in the North. More young people will be denied the opportunity to learn music, to develop acting skills. to practice and exhibit their art, to use their imaginations to create something meaningful, beautiful and worthwhile that speaks to how they, and we, are. No more heroes, just workers for Mike Ashley as they are forced into zero hours contracts by Universal Credit,  We will all be the poorer for it, both economically and culturally. The UK will be the poorer for it on the world stage. Whilst Germany pours funding into their arts sector, we stand by and watch ours collapse.

The UK needs a proper investment plan for culture, backed by real people (not the usual intelligensia with their dislike of 'low' culture and picked for their political ties), tied to local regeneration and sustainable economic practice. The cultural sector can deliver both a new narrative for the UK post Covid and lead an economic regeneration by continuing to produce content that has, for decades, allowed us to punch way above our weight globally, but also, through conditions of that investment, lead the green revolution that is needed to avoid the greater crisis around the corner.

That means genuine investment capital administered at a local and regional level to regenerate grassroots arts.

That means genuine cross sector representation on the bodies awarding the funding.

That means defined and quantified sustainability targets attached to funding.

That means grants for UK produced and exhibited work, not money to fly artists around the world to spurious industry showcases.

That means a cross sector and cross-party commitment to placing arts, the expression of the UK in all its forms, at the centre of regeneration.

That means a change of heart from those in power, starting now.  

A very large 5% - Why help for the self employed isn’t the good news you think

We had been promised help for days. Across the UK, self-employed people looked at the deal for the salaried and wondered when it would be their turn. We knew it was complex and we waited.

Last night’s announcement undoubtedly eased the worry for millions. The government said it covered 95% of self-employed people. But, as with everything political, that would depend on how you define self-employed. 

Immediately my timeline began filling with friends that were left out. By far, the largest number were those who pay themselves through their business. They all shared the same complaint. The scheme excluded them as they were not self-employed but employed by themselves.  A nice twist if you are a fan of dark humour.

The suggestion was that they should access the PAYE furlough scheme, yet that is also barred.

Why?

In most cases they pay themselves a low PAYE wage and dividends according to earned profit - a standard practice in small business as it allows you to adjust earnings month on month according to income. The furlough scheme would not get close to their real annual earnings, or 80% thereof. Even those who follow a standard PAYE scheme may be excluded because, as directors, how do you furlough yourself? Someone must keep the business open in case of new clients.

Was this intentional? Well, HMRC have the data, they know from Corporation Tax and individual returns how much is paid in dividends, the government supposedly consulted on this scheme with representatives from the Small Business Federation and the TUC. Did no one in the room raise this issue?

What does it mean? In my industry, music, it will no doubt mean some smaller businesses, one or two person operations where there are only ‘directors’, will go to the wall. It will mean hardship for many more. In a wider context, those excluded will still be asked to repair the damage through higher tax takes, a definition of unfairness and a likely source of ill feeling in years to come. In a time when we are supposed to stand together, it will mean a section of ‘us’ is left out and feels neglected by the rest. It could mean that those left out need to break self-isolation driving further contagion and making this whole nightmare last longer.

This needs to be looked at again. Businesses that have been solid for years will go under, causing further economic damage and contraction. The scheme may be a start, but it is far from a solution.

The Parliament of Fools

Five wannabes pitching half considered solutions to specifically personalised problems with no basis in fact on either side of the conversation seems to me a perfect metaphor for the current level of political thought within the UK.

We heard from two Conservative deserters, a party political opening in which the candidates outbid each other to offer olive branches to, well, whatever it was that the men from wherever wanted. We sat through platitudes thrown to a foster mother asking where the safety net for those in her care had gone, witnessed a 15 year old being patronised over climate change and an Imam rendered nameless by Boris. A contributor from Northern Ireland was told bombs can be neutralised by untested technology. After an hour of vague assertion punctuated by wild claims and shifting alliances nothing was resolved. Emily Maitlis, the moderator, wrapped things up with a weariness that echoed my own.

In the course of the hour billions were spent, trickle down economics, (that thoroughly disproven 80’s re-release), was reborn without comment and the statements and legal decisions of a host of European countries were tossed into a bin marked ‘bovvered’. Casual racism was blustered over with the now pat apology to anyone offended, not for offending.

Rory Stewart, the ghost of Conservative future, attempted to ground the debate from time to time but without success. All ended the debate on the bummest note, denying that an unelected PM would represent anything other than the shining democratic model that they purported to idealise. The subtext of party before country broke through in several responses.

This is not solely the fault of those in the studio. Whether Blair and Cameron’s triangulation, May’s direct appeals to the ‘ordinary people’ or Corbyn’s sheaf of letter at PMQs. British politics is now in a vice of its own making. Trapped within the disconnect marked ‘elites’ that began with the expenses scandal and has rumbled on ever since, politicians are now so scared of the court of public opinion that difficult answers are removed from the process. A public so distrustful of politicians that any rejection of their demands constitutes 'elitism' is a perversion of democracy that ends in tragedy.

Brexit is the logical endgame of this, the ultimate expression of the ‘will of the people’ that, when considered sensibly, is devoid of meaning. Leave how? To what extent? For what purpose? The idea of a binary vote being capable of expressing the desire of 17.4 million, let alone 53 million is a nonsense. Yet it is a nonsense that is now enshrined as the driving principle of government and the sole consideration of the Conservative Party.

Media coverage perpetuates this. Roaming the country to find angry voices, a cacophony of ‘what about us?’ screeches through everything, drowning out reason whilst allowing the levels of farce displayed last night to continue.

Previous moments in our history that bear comparison offer no happy solutions to this impasse.

The convulsions of the English Civil War, in reality a British civil war, resonate to this day and only saw a partial resolution with the imposition of a new royal line pliant to a rewriting of the concept of monarchy allied to an imperial expansion that drove up living standards and replaced internal anger with external might. The 1920’s and 30’s of left and right, of Cable Street and General Strike were finally subsumed by the emergence of a greater threat, a bogeyman we could all believe in. The Soviets served a similar purpose in the post war period.

Anyone wishing to continue to see some light in all this requires both immense faith and much fortitude. To return to a place where reality drives decision making, compromise is at the heart of policy and the subjugation of individual will to collective good is accepted by all seems as illusory as a seamless no deal exit or an increase in public spending allied to tax cuts. Yet the former is a force for good, the latter a chimera whose failure will only fuel further resentment and drive more to the arms of extremists. For those who genuinely believe in a democratic future the road will be long and winding.

One two.....

Mic Check......By Dope Demand

Stand by

Boris Johnson and The Reading Festival Paradox

Division is seemingly the current state of play in the UK. As hard as some try to homogenise our culture and identity into handy packages, reality has a nasty habit of atomising their efforts back into messy parcels of tendentially related groupings, a Rorschach blot test of overlapping bubbles. This is as true of the howling of Reading and Leeds fans at the temerity of booking Dua Lipa and Kendrick Lammar as it is of Boris Johnson’s current speech on Brexit; the latest salvo in an increasingly pointless exercise to seek consensus where there is none to be found. 

Leaving aside the former case for the moment; the politics of Reading and Leeds bills being, as I know from painful personal experience of a decade, a minefield of fiery passions and entrenched opinion on the validity of artists and genres to spend a day in a field in Berkshire and a field in West Yorkshire, Johnson’s speech is a doozy. Combining a contrarian desire to both soothe the ‘remainer’ faction whilst telling them, ostensibly, to get over it and a continuing reliance on not listening to any of the expert opinions on offer, it essentially boils down to an appeal to being ‘British’; a flawed thinking that drives so much of national discourse containing, as it does, no quantifiable or identifiable fact on which to hinge its arguments. Given his track record there is an overwhelming sense of plus ca change so at least he is consistent. Set against this is the usual Johnson tactic of throwing in something that isn’t real, in this case the undeniable march towards a United States of Europe, presumably with Turkey still involved.

A conception of British subjects as a unified whole is an idea that has been on perpetual drift. It doesn’t take a PHD in British history to identify that the idea of ‘Britishness’, itself a construct of a Stuart (and then Hanoverian) monarchy forging two disparate kingdoms and a couple of acquired landmasses stripped of their power structures into one whole via politics, bribery and war over the best part of a century, has been on shaky ground throughout. Close reading of the public mood even in times of crisis reveals that the myths that ground the nation are just that – it is easy to cite many moments at which this nation state has teetered on the edge of becoming a very different entity from the Peterloo massacre and the Corn Law Riots to the General Strike and the Winter of Discontent. At essence, the very idea of the nation state is a wobbly thing, full of contradictions and, in a continuously expanding globalised world, a concept whose time is long past.

The purpose of the nation grouping is both political and economic. With the decline of religious authority, the growth of intra cultural experience and settlement and the imposition of flawed democracy – that limited franchise that allows a direction but not a direct input into the political road map – its remaining purpose is to gather a group of people under a banner to allow them to trade and (theoretically prosper) under a set of agreed laws and relations to other groupings of people based on geographical location and guarantee security in exchange for money. Johnson would have us believe that there is more; that at heart there is some mystical shared experience owing to our place of birth that binds us together in an unspoken shared purpose. That is hogwash. If the nation state remains as anything in the modern world, it is a very vague set of cultural values that cover shades of opinion with the majority holding sway whilst accepting all but the most extreme objections to a myriad of issues and adjusting our outlook accordingly. This is our liberal democracy.

It makes sense that it is the more reactionary cultural (though economically radical in the worst sense of the word) wing of the Conservative party that is leading this charge. Forever blessed with a tin ear when it comes to questions of popular culture, the right wing of the Conservative party has been on the wrong side of the debate over every cultural change of the post war years. Anti- gay and openly racist in the 50’s, pro-apartheid South Africa in the 70’s and 80’s, anti-EU in the 90’s and 00’s.

So, a call to ‘unite about what we all believe in’ is meaningless. I don’t believe in what they believe in. They don’t believe in what I believe in. The gulf between those two positions is so vast that it is untenable. Debate requires shared ground, Beyond the Ten Commandments (or most of them) there is nothing to share here.

The perpetual mantra of the ‘will of the people’ is itself proof positive of this schism. The will of a slight majority of those who voted, less than 50% of those eligible to vote and containing none of those under 18 who the vote will most affect has proven once and for all that the entire ideal of representative democracy is a failure when it comes to leading people in a determined direction. Leaving aside the much-discussed warnings from history about using such phrases (always deployed to strongarm objectors into compliance) Johnson’s new iteration of the phrase is the soft power arm to the Mail and Telegraph’s talk of ‘Saboteurs’ and ‘traitors’, a mask across the ugly reality of his true message.

 

What Brexit risks in its current hazy, shambolic creation is far more than an economic disaster designed by chance or deliberation to hit those with the least the hardest. Behind the reports from experts lies a far deeper cultural timebomb primed to explode. 

My cohort of the Thatcher generation and those who came after having grown up in an individualist, global culture. We take our sense of belonging from multiplicitous sources that have no grounding in national identity. We are variously Northern, Lancastrian, Southern, Cornish, white, black, Asian, gay, straight, internationalist, ecological, European, global, regional, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, British etc etc. Our identity is grounded in our experience, not our locality. The same is true of those unlike us within our generation. This was always the case, but the seams are coming undone. The binding weave of nationhood has unravelled in the opportunity (or lack thereof) experienced by us. 

Experience and outcome is now so diverse depending on a variety of factors that the idea that we all share some common experience is a nonsense. I have nothing in common with most of the people I went to school with, let alone strangers in other parts of the UK. Such is true throughout the West. Somewhere in here is a delicious irony that the very project that claims as its ultimate goal the ‘taking back of control’ over our nationhood is the very thing that we do not care about. We see fellow feeling with like minds, not blue passports. Little wonder that the loudest new voice in the debate, ‘Our Future, Our Choice’, is the remainer youth.

To return to my original parallel, old rock fans complaining about Kendrick Lammar at Reading isn’t the end of the world but comes from the same place. Appealing to the populous to come together under a meaningless banner is as futile as asking Kings of Leon fans to try listening to a new genre of music. Telling them that Kendrick is as revolutionary as Nirvana is to attempt to import a heap of cultural experience that they simply do not have, likewise with Leavers and Remainers. 

At Reading the worst expression of this will be bottles hurled towards a stage, in the UK it will be far darker. Deepening a schism between future generations and aging generations cannot end well. That is one of the coming battles that Brexit has exposed, and it is now very live and growing. The only way to lance the boil is to return to first principles about what is, after all, membership of a trade area.

The EU debate should have always been about the cost and the benefit. The reality of the position as it is and the realities possible as they are perceived. That is now the only sensible political position to pursue. Experts, ironically, are exactly what we need. The decision as to how to trade with other countries is not a cultural exposition. It is an economic decision based on analysis and fact. 

A best first step would be to silence Johnson. Then some sense may reign.

2017 - Lists

One from each category rather than 10 / 20 / 50 that seem to be the rage these days with honourable mentions to some other stuff.
Here is what has kept me sane this year. As ever Loudhailer artists are not included, obviously I think they are great.

BAND OF THE YEAR

IDLES


With thanks to Jeremy at Coda for first introducing me to them, this lot lit up my year and made me believe more than any other band that there is a future for that old guitar / bass / drums thing. The album, 'Brutalism', is easily my most played of 2017 and gets better with each listen. I'm scratching my head a little as to why they aren't all over every end of year but that's how media works now, the compartmentalism means no one can really get that clean sweep from a standing start.

By next year I fully expect 'Brutalism' to be regarded in the same way as 'Modern Life Is Rubbish', an album that kick starts a new expression for UK music and sweeps away a lot of the stuff that has been hanging around for too long waiting for someone (anyone) to pronounce it dead.

Were I not inclined to share the spoils this lot would also be Single Of The Year, Gig Of The Year and Album Of The Year. That's how much I love em.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Given it can't be the above then its a bit of a fight between some very different records. Stormzy's 'Gang Signs and Prayers' and Sampha's 'Process' are up there, Arcade Fire's 'Everything Now' reconnected me to a band I had once loved and drifted away from but, for sheer charm and because I am a sucker for a duet it is Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile's 'Lotta Sea Lice' for reminding me how much I love music that feels like it is on the verge of falling over.

GIG OF THE YEAR

Justice at Brixton Academy narrowly pips Stormzy at the same venue. In both cases, shows that realised a sympathy between production and performance that characterises the best shows and which has been my obsession since working with Gus Gus and trying to achieve the impossible (at the time) over 20 years ago. A roaring, beat heavy journey through versions of their catalogue that combined the deftness of the best dance DJ with the showmanship of the greatest rock bands. Chapeau.

TRACK OF THE YEAR

Reading BTL comments on a recent piece on Dua Lipa on The Guardian was one of the most depressing things I have done of late. The tired old 'doesn't write the songs', 'just pop music' cliches betray a misunderstanding of the history of pop music as a whole. These people would no doubt have greeted Aretha's 'Respect' with similar disdain as they would have been stuck in jazz world. So nuts to them, 'New Rules' is a wonderful piece of feminist expressionist pop up there with 'Independent Woman' and 'No Scrubs' and a ton of other FU songs from women to men (and other women) that deserves the blanket airplay and the massive streaming and all that whoever wrote it plus it's a tune that understands the transition of dance music(s) over the last two decades and brings a touch of much of them to the table. 

FAVOURITE RANDOM THING OF THE YEAR

Teen Titans Go! futbol episode if the perfect explanation for why, if you have kids, sometimes what they watch can be as good as the thing you want to watch instead