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Diary: Maggie v Ted. The feud that endures beyond the grave Diary: Maggie v Ted. The feud that endures beyond the grave
(5 months later)
• It is said Baroness Thatcher delivered her final messages through her choice of hymns. Her selection, wrote Lord Bates in Thursday's Times, "gives as good an insight as any other into her outlook and character". But we prefer what we learn from her writings. And to that end, we note the recently released hardback release of Margaret Thatcher: the Autobiography. It contains abridged versions of her two volumes, The Path To Power and The Downing Street Years. It also reminds us of the affection she carried to the grave for her predecessor as Tory leader, Edward Heath. In a revamped index, we see: "Election defeat 1966, p89; announces three-day week, 143; strategic failure, 144-5; loses office in February 1974 election, 147-50; leadership questioned and challenged, 162-4, 166, 168, 170-2; declines MT's offer of shadow cabinet post, 175-7". And the final entry? "Loses three general elections, 708". Some feuds progress beyond the grave.• It is said Baroness Thatcher delivered her final messages through her choice of hymns. Her selection, wrote Lord Bates in Thursday's Times, "gives as good an insight as any other into her outlook and character". But we prefer what we learn from her writings. And to that end, we note the recently released hardback release of Margaret Thatcher: the Autobiography. It contains abridged versions of her two volumes, The Path To Power and The Downing Street Years. It also reminds us of the affection she carried to the grave for her predecessor as Tory leader, Edward Heath. In a revamped index, we see: "Election defeat 1966, p89; announces three-day week, 143; strategic failure, 144-5; loses office in February 1974 election, 147-50; leadership questioned and challenged, 162-4, 166, 168, 170-2; declines MT's offer of shadow cabinet post, 175-7". And the final entry? "Loses three general elections, 708". Some feuds progress beyond the grave.
• No arrests or seditious events marred the pomp and ceremony of Baroness Thatcher's funeral, but there was some police excitement the night before. "Three arrests made over graffiti," the headline said. Which is accurate as far as it goes but loses something through lack of detail. There is graffiti and then there is graffiti. Scotland Yard confirms three men have been released on police bail and it is understood that what lay behind the arrests was the appearance of an artwork in the style of the internationally renowned graffiti artist Bambi, whose creations have been bought by such as Adele, Robbie Williams and Brad Pitt. The artist is dubbed the female Banksy. As graffiti it was high grade. It depicted Baroness Thatcher in regal pose. The tagline? "It's Cool to Hate".• No arrests or seditious events marred the pomp and ceremony of Baroness Thatcher's funeral, but there was some police excitement the night before. "Three arrests made over graffiti," the headline said. Which is accurate as far as it goes but loses something through lack of detail. There is graffiti and then there is graffiti. Scotland Yard confirms three men have been released on police bail and it is understood that what lay behind the arrests was the appearance of an artwork in the style of the internationally renowned graffiti artist Bambi, whose creations have been bought by such as Adele, Robbie Williams and Brad Pitt. The artist is dubbed the female Banksy. As graffiti it was high grade. It depicted Baroness Thatcher in regal pose. The tagline? "It's Cool to Hate".
• Arguments rage about the government's "any qualified provider" policy for the provision of health services. It will massively enhance the service available to patients, says the coalition. No it won't, says Labour, who denounce it as the "biggest ever act of NHS privatisation". And so the propaganda battle is on, but you wouldn't know it from the breezy film posted by the Department of Health on its website. According to this, it all makes perfect sense. There are no downsides. The four-minute film, made "in partnership" with ITN, and presented by newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky in the style of one of its news programmes, is all very slick, as it should be. Because, thanks to a freedom of information request by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, we now know that Jeremy Hunt's cash-strapped department – charged with finding £20bn in efficiency savings by 2015 – shelled out £12,000 to make it. "This was a bespoke and one-off opportunity that only ITN could offer us to reach key target audiences for the Any Qualified Provider scheme," it says. The vid was first shown at the NHS Alliance conference last year. And why outsource? Well it's the trend, and the department's communications team "does not have in-house capacity to produce professional films". Which is obvious to anyone watching the Department of Health's own channel on YouTube.• Arguments rage about the government's "any qualified provider" policy for the provision of health services. It will massively enhance the service available to patients, says the coalition. No it won't, says Labour, who denounce it as the "biggest ever act of NHS privatisation". And so the propaganda battle is on, but you wouldn't know it from the breezy film posted by the Department of Health on its website. According to this, it all makes perfect sense. There are no downsides. The four-minute film, made "in partnership" with ITN, and presented by newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky in the style of one of its news programmes, is all very slick, as it should be. Because, thanks to a freedom of information request by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, we now know that Jeremy Hunt's cash-strapped department – charged with finding £20bn in efficiency savings by 2015 – shelled out £12,000 to make it. "This was a bespoke and one-off opportunity that only ITN could offer us to reach key target audiences for the Any Qualified Provider scheme," it says. The vid was first shown at the NHS Alliance conference last year. And why outsource? Well it's the trend, and the department's communications team "does not have in-house capacity to produce professional films". Which is obvious to anyone watching the Department of Health's own channel on YouTube.
• By contrast, only top professionals make it on to BBC Radio 2, home of television favourites such as Graham Norton, Chris Evans, Jeremy Vine and Dermot O'Leary. Radio types thrive there too, but it is easier by far for those who have carved a niche in front of the camera. What next? Controller Bob Shennan this week returned to Northampton, where he started as a lowly hack on Hereward Radio decades ago to talk to students at the local university and to reveal something of his thinking. Who is top of his wish list now? Ant and Dec. Oy vey!• By contrast, only top professionals make it on to BBC Radio 2, home of television favourites such as Graham Norton, Chris Evans, Jeremy Vine and Dermot O'Leary. Radio types thrive there too, but it is easier by far for those who have carved a niche in front of the camera. What next? Controller Bob Shennan this week returned to Northampton, where he started as a lowly hack on Hereward Radio decades ago to talk to students at the local university and to reveal something of his thinking. Who is top of his wish list now? Ant and Dec. Oy vey!
• Finally, congrats to EDF Energy. Not everyone green loves them. But here they are, recipients of a prestigious environmental leadership award for behavioural change. What kind of change could that be? Well, just recently, as reported by the Guardian, EDF quietly dropped a £5m lawsuit against the 21 activists who occupied its gas-fired power plants for a week in October 2012. The move was dubbed a "humiliating climbdown". That is the kind of change one likes to see. • Finally, congrats to EDF Energy. Not everyone green loves them. But here they are, recipients of a prestigious environmental leadership award for behavioural change. What kind of change could that be? Well, just recently, as reported by the Guardian, EDF quietly dropped a £5m lawsuit against the 21 activists who occupied its gas-fired power plants for a week in October 2012. The move was dubbed a "humiliating climbdown". That is the kind of change one likes to see.
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