Shop Direct is a blow Montgomeryshire can't afford

Just back from South Africa to learn of the terrible news regarding the closure of Shop Direct's Newtown call centre and the loss of 187 jobs. The loss of so many jobs would be a blow to any county, of course it would. However to a mainly rural county like Montgomeryshire, it is a catastrophic development.

Every avenue of enquiry must be considered to ensure that the centre in Newtown, previously known to be a top performer, could be sold as a ready made and highly trained asset.


nick

Wandering off to the Wanderers.....

Okay, so I may have suggested to Julie that we visit her brother for his birthday, knowing that the 4th Test starts the day after we arrive and that he lives 10 minutes from the ground, but my conscience is clear. I bought my tickets after she agreed to go!


nick

If we're going to do this, let's do it right

I guess most of us who travel around by aeroplane can quote similar type experiences as this whilst going through the rigmarole of airport security. Last September at Liverpool airport for instance, I casually enquired of the female security guard that made me remove my shoes “Why are the people in the next line not taking theirs off?”
“The security for that line are not doing the job properly” was her reply! She looked annoyed when I stated that I didn’t find that reassuring in the slightest, bearing in mind that I could be sitting next to someone who hadn’t been properly checked. “Shouldn’t you be telling a supervisor then?” was my next line and she simply turned her back on me. It was only as I collected my belongings from the plastic tray that I realised I had genuinely forgotten to remove my belt and the buckle had failed to activate the metal detector.

A few years ago a mutual friend introduced me to a Deputy Manager of a very large international airport which shall remain nameless for the purposes of this blog. He told me that in his view the philosophy was, ‘if we inconvenience the passenger they will think we’re doing a good job’. I couldn’t agree more. It’s all so hit and miss that it is impossible to do the job properly. We changed planes at Terminal 5, Heathrow. A fellow passenger was made to hand over a small bottle of water given to her on our previous BA flight, yet we’d simply walked through the terminal and had not left the secure part of the building. The security guard was aware of that, yet still wouldn’t allow her through with it. It all helps to frustrate passengers, but achieves absolutely nothing especially now we know a real life terrorist can saunter undetected through Schipol airport with deadly explosive chemicals secreted upon his person.

If we are ever going to deal with this problem properly, we need to urgently get back to the drawing board and re-think our whole policy of airport security. The present one was brought in as a knee jerk reaction post 9-11. We’ve had more than long enough to review it and we need to prioritise what is being sought here. It is to detect and identify those who seek to kill on a devastating level. It is not to alienate those who are travelling for business or pleasure grounds or have simply neglected to put their toothpaste in a clear, secure bag!


nick

Jack touches a raw nerve

Jack Straw may have started something of a furore with his comments concerning his scepticism over whether some Police Officers are hard working, but I have to support him in some of his views.

I knew some officers who were desperate to get promoted because they saw that as their ticket to no longer deal with the public. Thankfully they were in the tiny minority, but it is foolish to pretend that they didn’t exist. For some, promotion meant Monday to Friday 9-5 and as far as they cared World War 3 could break out on Saturday with 3 or 4 officers to deal with it. ‘Esso’ was the nickname used, Every Saturday & Sunday Off. Having said that, there were many who led by example and were respected by those they supervised, but there was always the desk jockeys. One area of irritation for me was the individuals who had identified the smoking ban as a skivers charter. The policy clearly stated that there would be no more smoking in Police buildings. It didn’t decree that those who wished to smoke could now congregate in little groups several times a day for a smoking break, but that’s what happened. I know one sergeant who switched from cigarettes to smoking cigars because they gave him at least 15 minutes outside. He did that at least 3 times a day giving himself nearly half a shift off during a ‘working’ week, before returning to his desk with its coloured felt pens and charts. Of course that little scam isn’t just confined to the Police service, but we all know it rankles with those who continue working while the scam is practised.

ACPO President Sir Hugh Orde had it nailed when he said the "overwhelming majority" of police officers went to work to do a good job and keep the public safe. Unfortunately like MPs, in the public’s eyes the bad apples ruin the whole barrel!



nick

It's official...Lembit is annoying!

It was a quiet New Year’s Eve for Julie and me, our first alone for 24 years as one daughter was in London and the other in the Lake District.

So we stayed at home, had a pleasant dinner and relaxed. The next few months will undoubtedly be challenging, but as we watched BBC3’s ‘Most Annoying People of 2009’ any shards of self doubt for the upcoming campaign quickly disappeared, for up popped the current MP for Montgomeryshire at number 33! More cringe worthy though, was his apparent delight at making the list as well as being an ‘annoying expert’ talking to camera giving his thoughts on other ‘annoying celebrities (sic)’ such as Katie Price. Bizarre behaviour indeed, all culminating in Lembit playing Auld Lang Syne on a harmonica through the closing credits.



nick