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With Bio-Waste Spreader: "Post-Brexit, farming unions within Great Britain continue to lobby government that farmers must have ‘a level playing field’ with counterparts in foreign countries. But will simply insisting that imported food must meet domestic safety, environmental and farm animal welfare standards be enough to save farmers from the effects of food trade liberalisation? At the centre of what will happen is Tim ‘horse-burger-gate’ Smith, the recently appointed chief of the new Trade and Agriculture Commission…”
With Dr B Ching: "Some retail firms have seen demand and profits soar during the pandemic, but things work differently in transport, where Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has thrived on reduced demand and soaring subsidy. GTR won a management contract in 2014 for services between London and many counties to the north and south. Unlike profit-driven rail franchises, the contract paid GTR an agreed fee while the government took the revenue and covered costs…”
With Remote Controller: "Over the winter, British broadcasters had been quietly working on alternative versions of the same documentary. Peak-time slots were already booked around 10 June for 100th birthday tributes to the Queen’s husband; but as his health failed, obituary films were also being prepared. Contributors report being asked to record their insights in both present and past tense, lounge and funeral suits…”
With Old Sparky: "More about the boom in domestic wood-burning (Eye 1542), which, distressingly for many, emits vastly more harmful particulates than other types of heating that are ready alternatives for most homes. The trend is encouraged by the government’s own deeply flawed Renewable Heat Incentive; but mostly it’s down to fashion. And it’s promoted not just by glossy ‘lifestyle’ advertising: this thriving sector benefits from a vigorous lobby, cosy relationships between industry and government, and an apparent determination by politicians to ignore the resultant air quality problem…”
With Lunchtime O’Boulez: "It was inevitable that the government’s £1.87bn cultural recovery fund (CRF) payouts would generate hostility between the gets and get-nots. The latest handouts have been criticised over the large sums given to classical music artists’ agencies. Askonas Holt received £441,000, while £375,000 went to Harrison Parrott and £109,000 to Rayfield Allied. Why, people ask, should these industries pocket CRF support when so many makers and deliverers of cultural activity have been turned down or given token sums?…”
With Slicker: "Ever louder echoes of the 2008 banking meltdown reverberate from the failure of shadow bank Greensill Capital and the implosion at (possibly now ex-) billionaire Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management. Four aspects of these otherwise unconnected events go back to the causes of the financial crisis which was supposed to have changed behaviour in the City and on Wall Street. Consider first ‘future accounts receivable’ (or what might unkindly be described as pretend, or very unkindly, as fabricated invoices) issued in the name of real companies for potential (ie imagined) future sales…”
Letter from Maputo
From Our Own Correspondent: "Something is surely amiss when an elected government entrusts a private company with combating insurgency in a region that is home to a multi-billion-dollar investment. It becomes even more disturbing when it turns out that the company concerned is headed by one of Africa’s more notorious mercenaries – or ‘security consultants’, as they prefer to be known. But who is this pricey saviour of Mozambique in southern Africa?…”