This week seems to have been a mighty one for squabbles – and not just in political circles. Maybe it’s something to do with the unrelenting misery of the weather that is shortening fuses – maybe not. There’s certainly something in the air though and it’s more than just the lack of warmth, unlike this time 12 months ago when shorts and T-shirts were the clothing of choice.
There’ll be little in the way of political squabbling covered in the media for the next few weeks – it may be going on but you won’t find it reported. That’s because with council elections on the way there is a blanket ban on any publicity-seeking by those putting themselves up for consideration.
AREn’T we all adults?
I must admit that I’ve always been somewhat bemused by this. Surely as adult voters we’re deemed adult enough to make up our own minds to vote as we wish. By the same token aren’t we also adult enough to spot when we’re being spun a sales pitch immediately before a vote? I find it ironic that a certain television profile was broadcast immediately before the election period began, the print media leading heavily with it before it went out.
reverse psychology
Then again, perhaps there’s a reverse psychology at work here, encouraging more of us as voters to turn out and exercise our mandates. If so, I support it wholeheartedly – I believe there’s way too much general apathy in how we - the public – decide how and by whom we want to be governed.
It is simply not good enough to utter some meaningless platitude about politicians being of equal value, be they local or national. If we don’t use our vote, we have no right to complain about the kind of government that we end up with – simple.
Sport is now seeing a mighty squabble, thanks to the antics of a young german called Sebastian Vettel. The current Formula 1 world champion, last weekend he demonstrated a singular lack of sportsmanlike behaviour when he muscled his way past Red Bull teammate Mark Webber to effectively steal a hugely unpopular win at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
driving gloves are off
After ignoring what appears to have been team orders from his employers and a prior agreement to run to a certain agenda, Vettel went on to offer a general apology after the race – by which stage his “professionalism” was all too clear and atonement way too late.
The driving gloves are clearly off now and it’ll be interesting to see how the Red Bull managers in Milton Keynes calm troubled waters there by the time the F1 circus reconvenes at the Chinese Grand Prix in a few weeks. Corporate as well as human politics will come into play and deft damage limitation is now needed.
If Red Bull is misfiring right now, there was a great example of teamwork getting it right on the night on Tuesday at Balestra as students of the University of Northampton put on a fundraising fashion show entitled “Sweet Dreams”. I went along as a guest expecting a degree of exuberant chaos – exuberance there was with live music, a catwalk show and an after-show party, but no chaos. Instead there was tremendous performance, hosting, professionalism and attention to detail. It all ran brilliantly to time and full credit to the 1st year models, 2nd year marketing gurus and 3rd year designers who put the show on in front of an appreciative audience. And the fashion on display? An abundance of pastel shades, men’s shirts on girl’s backs and the shortest of shorts. A lesson in people politics taught through future fashion.