And now it's the Conservatives' Turn!

My previous post concerned a slip of the tongue by a Liberal-Democrat MP; this one concerns communicative incompetence by the Prime Minister.

Referring to what I suppose might be called a certain reluctance on the part of various multi-national companies and corporations to pay tax (quelle surprise) Mr Cameron announced at the World Economic Forum at Davos that they "must wake up and smell the coffee."

The giant multi-national that sells coffee-flavoured drinks, Starbuck's, has displayed a distressing degree of hyper-sensitivity to this comment, assuming that it was a "dig" at their organisation and in consequence has threatened to withhold a substantial investment (i.e. more look-alike near-coffee shops) in Britain.

I don't think that the P.M. intended to make a 'dig' at Starbuck's, though I suppose "wake up and smell the search engine" wouldn't work very well; no, I think he was being or rather trying to be, irritatingly 'modern' as perhaps he thought.  Horrible - and he was at Eton - the school that I wish I had attended!

However, given my recent experience at Starbuck's I am not inclined to be sympathetic to  managing director Mr Engskov's cries of anguish about what is simply a nasty piece of American business jargon.

But in future Mr Cameron might be better advised to say for example "In future, Her Majesty's Government intends to examine very closely the elaborate tax-avoidance schemes being practised by a number of multi-national business organisations."

There you are, Prime Minister, why not "Put it on the 5:15 and see if it gets off at Westchester" or perhaps a little more appositely, "Put it in your percolator and see if it comes out brown."

Until the next time.

UPDATE - UPDATE - UPDATE

27th January: The BBC reports that Starbuck's rejects suggestions that the company had reacted to the "smell the coffee" comment and that Friday's meeting with the PM had been scheduled for some time.  Perhaps the Sunday Telegraph allowed itself to get a little over-excited, though given the alleged proclivities of the Telegraph's proprietors I should have thought that the subject of tax avoidance was one to keep quiet about.  A storm in a (near) coffee-cup then perhaps?

Characters in Books

The title above may in future be modified to read "Characters in Books I" thereby denoting the existence of a series.  However I do not wish to claim any degree of prescience in this regard since there is always the possibility of boredom - in the worst case self boredom which is indeed, the very worst kind; the writer knows...

These days I spend probably 80 - 90% of my waking hours reading; the escape is very necessary and indeed makes existence bearable.  I make no claims as to any talent for literary criticism, so if my points are lightweight, well you know the reasons; and after all didn't someone once say that "A critic is someone with no ideas of his own and the ability to express them?"

Very well, with that out of the way I'll turn to my first character.  This fellow may be found in several of the novels in Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time series.  We meet him first at school (modeled on Eton) where we are perhaps struck by a kind of languid elegance (typical in fact of the Etonian manner in this writer's experience) and a ready and elegant though rather ruthless wit.  

As the years pass he becomes a selfish drunk (though nearly always witty) - a bit of a "victim" perhaps, and finally a "dry" casualty.  When in sympathetic mood, I feel a sense of waste and indeed pity, but the character strains my sympathies a little too much; he IS selfish undoubtedly. I have had experience of living in close association with hopeless drunks (not here in England in case anyone is wondering) and believe me there is nothing more boring than a drunk.

The character's name is Charles Stringham and he was the favourite in the Dance series of my ex-girlfriend ("ex" that is in her eyes). Ironic when I reflect on it that she should select a selfish drunk; must be the wit wot done it.

I think I'll order up a bottle of Champagne.

Until the next time.