Comments

'The cure for believing the House of Lords works is to visit them' – said my political hero Tony Benn - I love that and he is right :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 9, 2007 11:52 AM

You have to love that about China. Such a progressive economy in many aspects. An economy which has the whole world's attention... including the US markets.

Then they announce, people will now be able to own their own land, and you realise how far they have come, and how much further they have to go.

Posted by Steve at March 11, 2007 5:40 AM

There is a lot to be said against the heriditary principle and I am not about to defend it, BUT... The House of Lords up to recently worked. It may not have been the best chamber in the world but it executed it's function as a revising chamber and to curb the worst Government excesses. We can all criticise Lords who don't turn up or fall asleep but then look in most chambers, elected or otherwise, and you see the same! And one good thing about it: by and large, people were there because they cared about the issues and because they had an insight into them that they wanted to contribute. Unlike some ex-PR and career politicians who get elected...

What Mr. Blair discovered on becoming PM was that by personally appointing Lords (and remember he has appointed about 50% of the current crop - some reformist Mr. Blair, eh?) he can get his legislation through. By opening it to elections, he risks the public voting in a "balancing chamber" of a different political hue to his own government. This is fundamentally why no PM has seriously grasped this issue before. Interesting that Mr. Blair's sudden burst of reform coincides with his departure and the arrival of a man he is alledged to be barely on speaking terms with. The words "chalice" and "poisoned" spring to mind.

However, Prime Minister Blair's botched reforms of the House of Lords teach / remind us of one thing: as it was, it was far from ideal (i.e. enelected and by appointment) but it pretty much worked; when Mr. Blair started to tweak and fiddle with it, it became awful. So: if you're going to reform something, don't pussyfoot around the problem but adress it fully, wholeheartedly and decisively.

Posted by Mark JF at March 12, 2007 4:16 AM

Hi Mark – I agree with you totally it has been handled terribly by the Labour Government and they should have got rid of the Lords on Day 1 after they were elected in ‘97. I’m afraid however I don’t share your view of the ‘success’ of unaccountable, unelected people controlling my future. Mr Blair may not be a great leader according to many but at least he is awake most of the time he is at work.

You say quite rightly ‘if you're going to reform something, don't pussyfoot around the problem but address it fully, wholeheartedly and decisively’ - I agree with you 100% about that in business and organisations ….but I’m not so sure in politics.

Take for instance …. Mrs Thatcher and the introduction of the ill fated poll tax

Mrs Thatcher’s ideas fitted perfectly with your scenario ‘if you're going to reform something, don't pussyfoot around the problem but address it fully, wholeheartedly and decisively’

However it was doomed to miserable failure because the woman was simply too arrogant; refused to listen to reason and more importantly to the voice of ordinary people.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 12, 2007 7:26 AM

The daffs look great, I have three in my garden, so the SW of the Uk is warming slightly quicker than us in the North! Tom, I was reminded of the quote, "When looking to stars don't forget the flowers at your feet" it applies as well here as it did to the lecture in Manchester!

STill in search of reducing your carbon foot print and still implore you to do something on line especially since the did you know, that maybe you'll get to 100,000's in one hit? Have you tried this yet?

Kind regards as always

Patrick

Posted by patrick at March 12, 2007 9:15 AM

Trevor - leaving aside politics (although I'd sooner be governed by a half-awake House of Lords than an, "awake most of the time" Mr. Blair) I disagree with your point about politics and boldness. Mr. Blair has said several times - as he ends his Premiership! - that he regrets being too cautious and not bold enough. I agree.

Look at your example of the Poll Tax: bold idea, decisively implemented and publicly hated; withdrawn promptly and replaced. Given that all politicians will make mistakes, would you rather have a couple of years of actively disliking something or many, many years of slide and compromise and tweaks and half-heartedness? Give me decisiveness any day.

(Which, BTW, is why history in 200 years time will write a full page about Mrs. T and and a small para about Mr. Blair: you knew where you stood with the former while the latter vacillated and didn't stand for anything.)

Posted by Mark JF at March 12, 2007 9:56 AM

Hi Mark – good discussion – thanks for feedback as always. Excuse lengthy reply!

Yes we certainly did know where we stood with Mrs Thatcher – wasn’t she the woman who said ‘there is no such thing as society – only individuals’ if my memory serves me correctly. That says it all about an egomaniac.

Sadly I suspect I may not be around in 200 years time – despite my daily run – but I don’t share your view about how much will be written about the two. I have said before that I think Tony Blair is a modern leader for modern times. I think history will be kinder to him than you say.

When Mrs T was in charge the population simply did not have access to anywhere near the amount of information that we have access to now. As a result she had more power and we all know information is power. That balance has shifted to where nowadays more information (power) is in the hands of ordinary people who will rightly challenge leaders.

Any leader nowadays who lives by your strap line ‘you knew where you stood’ and ignores what is going on around them is asking for trouble. Nowadays it is about facilitation as much as leadership. It is about flexibility as much as it is about ‘I am right;’ It is as much about ‘what do you think as “I know best;’ – Maggie would not have got away with that style in 2007.

Tony Blair has had to develop a new leadership model in my view reflecting modern time and not 1979. Things have changed dramatically and despite your view of the ‘macho Maggie’ I just don’t buy that her style would work in 2007.

Many look back at Mrs T with rose tinted glasses and those same folks might do well to listen to some of the thousands of families such as mining communities that were left alone, abandoned and forgotten by the Iron lady who - by her own words - was ‘not for turning’ when all she wanted to do was to prove a political power point over Trade Unions. The people who suffered along the way were disregarded by her. Anyone who has watched the film 'Brassed Off' will see the only authentic record of the effects of Maggie's leadership style and her declaration of war on the mining communities.

Leaders who bury their head in the sand when everyone else can see they are wrong are equally as bad as those you call ‘vacillated and didn't stand for anything’

Perhaps the greatest proof of that point is how Mrs T had to be dragged screaming out of Number 10 simply because she refused to accept she was past it.

And come on Mark you have to be joking about the Poll Tax – how can anyone put a positive spin on the worst political cock up in the last 50 years?

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 12, 2007 12:44 PM

Trevor: I can't help but feel you're letting your views about the Poll Tax cloud the management issues and you're fundamentally missing the point: would you rather have a couple of years of actively disliking something or many, many years of slide and compromise and tweaks and half-heartedness?

BTW1, I happened to like the Poll Tax: an individual tax paid by individuals in return for local services; much better that an arbitrary figure based on the size of your house, irrespective of how many people live in it. BTW2: you don't think they're having to drag Mr. Blair out of 10 Downing Street...?!

Posted by Mark JF at March 12, 2007 1:05 PM

Hi Mark - I proudly admit the thing that is 'clouding the management issues' in my eyes is Mrs Thatcher’s total intransigence - there is a world of difference between focused leadership and not listening - she was in the latter camp

And no I don't like the idea of a Poll-Tax that is the same amount for my 78 year old Mum living alone in her bungalow and a Multi Billionaire in his/her mansion but I would expect Mrs Thatcher to support that because as she said she did not believe in society – only in in individuals.

I’m alright Jack on other words

Great banter Mark – thanks for my Monday stimulation

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 12, 2007 1:51 PM

And Mr. Blair listened to us all about Iraq? Wasn't totally intransigent? Was listenening? And when he leaves Downing Street to move into his £4m London house and join the £100k a go lecture circuit there won't be just the faintest whiff of, "I'm all right jack" about him? Hmmm... If Mr. Blair actually does something useful with the rest of his life then I'll be at the front of the queue to say I was wrong but, Trevor, I suspect and hope that in 20 years time you'll be looking at far better examples of leadership than Mr. Blair (and indeed Mrs. T) and saying what a disappointment he was.

Posted by Mark JF at March 13, 2007 3:16 AM

Hi Mark - At the time of the Iraq decision I believe the majority of the public in the UK were in fact in support of the decision. My recollection is that the decision had all party support and overwhelming pubic support. I agree public opinion has changed. viagra in usa

I'm also delighted we supported America as our great friend. That is something I am proud of despite the tragedy of what has subsequently unfolded in Iraq. I like to think we Brits remember what we owe our American friends when we needed their help so desperately in World War 2. Call me old fashioned if you like but loyalty is not blind obedience and we still ‘owe’ America.

Whilst on the subject of war, I am not a Mrs T fan - as you will gather - but I was 100% supportive of her decision about the Falklands war even though that was even crazier than the Iraq decision if you apply objective ‘management issues’ thinking you mentioned earlier. At times of war we must support our PM regardless of political persuasion.

I am sure you are right that in 20 years time new leadership role models will have emerged. Even nowadays if I am looking for excellence in leadership I would NEVER look at any politician with one exception. I would rather look up to leaders like Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Junior, Bill Hybels, Nicky Gumbel and Tony Benn (my one political ‘exception’– who sadly never became leader of the Labour Party)

These people and others like them display qualities that most politicians - including the exalted Mrs T – NEVER display … that is humility; respect for their followers; and empathy for people not as fortunate as themselves.

I wrote a short book called ‘The Nine fruits of Leadership’ and these nine fruits are ones which all leaders should be judged on in my opinion - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control

These are of course the’ softer side’ of management but to me they sound more like leadership than their opposites. Most people from the ‘hard side’ of objective management disagree with me completely - but hey ho - there’s nothing new about me being in the vast minority Mark :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 13, 2007 4:03 AM