Sir Brian Souter; For Services to Homophobia and Union Bashing

Sir Brian of Stagecoach

After the awards yesterday of the Queen’s Birthday Honours we have to proclaim “Arise Sir Brian Souter of Stagecoach in the County of Perthshire; For Services to Homophobia, predatory approach to competitors and Union Bashing! “ Indeed there is no truth to the rumour that Sir Brian earned his gong for services to the carrier bag industry as in the past he has been famous for turning up to meetings with stuffed shirt bankers open necked and with paperwork in a carrier bag. In fact the official citation on his being granted a Knighthood yesterday actually says:

“ Brian Souter. Chief executive, Stagecoach Group plc. For services to Transport and to the Voluntary Sector. (Perth, Perth and Kinross)”

Now I am (to say the least) not a fan of the British Honours System but even by the strange standards of such things Brian Souter’s Noble Elevation is what Mark Twain would have called a “bit of a stretcher.”

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-dishonour.html

In 2000 Brian Souter spent £1 million bankrolling Keep The Clause, a campaign to stop the repeal of Section 28 in Scotland. So who fixed it for Mr Souter to get a gong this time round? Could it be connected to his recent £500,000 donation to the Scottish National Party?



Scotland has been subjected to a dirty gay-bashing campaign on a level not seen since the tabloid hysteria over so called 'loony left' councils in London in the late 1980s. Brian Souter, the multi-millionaire boss of the union-busting Stagecoach Transport Empire, and member of the deeply homophobic Christian fundamentalist sect the Church of the Nazarene, assembled a rag tag coalition of the religious right and other social reactionaries to oppose the repeal of anti-gay legislation by the Scottish Executive. The subsequent campaign of lies and misinformation by his Keep the Clause organisation has borne the hallmarks of the media frenzy which ushered in Margaret Thatcher's gay-basher's charter 12 years ago. Speakers appeared under banners declaring “protect our children.”



Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act (known as Section 2a in Scotland but commonly referred to as Section 28) was introduced by the Tories on the back of a series of lurid stories in the right wing tabloids about the supposedly 'politically correct' policies of London Labour councils. Council initiatives to address discrimination against lesbian and gay people, black people, and women were misrepresented and distorted out of all recognition. According to the tabloids, children were being force fed a diet of gay propaganda at school.



Stagecoach Group plc has operated buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her now ex-husband Robin Gloag with two buses in Perth. The Group benefited from the rapid privatisation (and cutbacks) The group is based in Perth, Scotland and has operations in the United Kingdom and has had operations in North America and New Zealand. Stagecoach has often found itself 'on the wrong side of the Competition Commission and faced sharp media criticism over its predatory approach to smaller operators.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach_Group

'Bitter "bus wars" broke out in towns and cities throughout Britain as Stagecoach took on the local competition, often forcing the competitor to abandon traditional markets and sometimes causing the collapse of smaller operators. 'This was through aggressive pricing and timing, often running more buses on a route than necessary and just a few minutes ahead of the competition.'



I am not alone in feeling that a person who has benefited from the scandal of Bus Privatisation which saw publicly owned assets flogged off at knockdown prices, has bankrolled Homophobia, been a consistent Union Basher and engaged in abusive competition should not be awarded a Knighthood effectively (despite what the citation says) for a political donation. I am not alone and there is now an online petition against his award which you can sign. The petition says;

“We the undersigned are deeply offended that Brian Souter has been awarded a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2011.

Mr. Souter ran a campaign of fear and misinformation which was deeply hurtful to the LGBT community in Scotland.

The Keep The Clause Campaign increased hatred towards an already victimised group and saw a corresponding increase in violence against LGBT people.

We believe that it is wrong for such a person to be given such a high honour by Her Majesty The Queen and call on HM Government to withdraw this award.”

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/notosoutersknighthood/

Here is the unintentionally hilarious press release from his hired PR help;

http://www.beattiegroup.com/prclients/pr-press-releases.aspx?news=31&id=10970

A Brucie Bonus at long last!

Brucie Bonus! Good game! Good game!

Today is Queen Elizabeth’s “Official Birthday.” She was 85 in April and her husband Prince Philip was 90 yesterday so between them they have clocked up some mileage and are not looking too bad on it. In the United Kingdom, the Queen's Official Birthday is now celebrated on the first, second, or third Saturday in June, although it is rarely the third. It is marked in London by the ceremony of Trooping the Colour, which is also known as the Queen's Birthday Parade. The Queen's Official Birthday does not coincide with when she was born. Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, and whose birthday was on 9 November, in autumn, moved the ceremony to summer in the hope of good weather. The Queen celebrates her actual birthday on 21st April. The Trooping of the Colour is an impressive display of pageantry and is carried out by her personal troops, the Household Division, on Horse Guards Parade, with the Queen herself attending and taking the salute.


Trooping the Colour, Horseguards Parade, London

Each year in the UK the tedium of half empty newsrooms is relived by the tiresome bi- annual ritual of the Honours List where the Crown grants “honours” at New Year and on the Queen’s official birthday. The honours are a sundry lot of Knighthoods and various grades of medals. Heading it up are a list of celebs - Actors, public figures, community representatives and so forth who have received an “Honour from her Majesty the Queen” for some outstanding “service” or other. As always the list includes the great, the good, the deserving and the frankly baffling. The”Honours” list is always something of a dog's dinner, a mixture of Buggin's turn and the cheapest populism, and you don’t even see the lists of people who have quietly declined honours which might help you make sense of it all.


Mr and Mrs Queen at the Trooping of the colour

Two of the most notable omissions have been the popular entertainer Bruce Forsyth and a certain Ringo Starkey from Liverpool, better known as Ringo Starr, the oldest of the Beatles. Well some amends have been made this time as Brucie, our much loved veteran TV entertainer, has been rewarded with a knighthood, after a populist campaign launched last year. A collective sigh of relief was heard across Britain, quickly followed by a suitably awful pun: "Knight to see you, to see you knight." At 83 the evergreen entertainer Bruce Forsyth has finally got his long-predicted knighthood.


Knight to see you, to see you knight!

The nod comes in the Queen's 2011 birthday honours list – one of 965 people whose diverse services to society, including David Cameron's "big society", are recognised on Saturday. It’s ruffled Piers’ Morgan’s feathers who when he was overlooked in the New Year Honours and he said on Twitter: “Utterly ridiculous that Bruce Forsyth still hasn’t been knighted. What more must he do than be a multi-talented star for SEVEN decades?” Well maybe at 83 Bruce is expecting too much too soon?

Entertainer Bruce Forsyth says he is "very proud" after being knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours. The recognition comes after years of campaigning by fans and a parliamentary Early Day Motion signed by 73 MPs. Sir Bruce's career has spanned almost 70 years, including presenting TV hits such as The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and, most recently, Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. He is known for greeting audiences with his catchphrase, "Nice to see you, to see you nice."


Bang the drum for Ringo!

He was made an OBE in 1998 and a CBE in 2005 and since then there has been considerable speculation about when he might be knighted. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office, which manages the honours system, said: "Generally speaking, committees like to see another four or five years' further achievement or service before they start to consider a further award."

Sir Bruce said;

"I feel very proud that my career hasn't been in vain. I just love getting out there and performing and this is a reward that I never expected and hope I'm worthy of."

Who else has been overlooked? He is the man who has touched the lives of three generations of music fans with his genius, the man who was one quarter of the greatest band ever to walk the Earth? And, last but not least, the man who provided the voice for Thomas the Tank Engine. And if dodgy singles are the criteria for a knighthood? Well, then he has certainly had a few of those in his solo career. That man is, of course, Ringo Starr, who will once again not arise as “Sir Ringo.”


Don't arise, Sir Ringo!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/arise-sir-ringo.html

So there you have the 2011 “Birthday Honours List” - a lot of Establishment flotsam with some celeb froth on top and a leavening of token Proles. Now I’m not against Civilian Honours but this Bastard Child of Empire is well past its sell by date in terms of titles, relevance and honesty and badly needs an overhaul – taking the awards for flunkeys (the Royal Victoria awards which are for “personal service” to the Sovereign) and for time serving Police, Civil servants and Military out of it would be a good start. A second good start would be to make the whole process transparent and above board, they should be given in OUR name and not the Queen’s, Gawd Bless ya M’aam!


Arise, Sir Flunkey!

Lastly but not leastly let us abandon the whole Empire Brand. It is surely not relevant now that it is a collection of Rocks and Tax Havens maintained for Great Tory Supporting British Patriots to avoid contributing to the Common Weal. On a personal level it would spare those who have achieved Membership of the British Empire the embarrassment of realising that there is no longer an MBE / CBE/ OBE Clubhouse and they have to buy their celebratory drinks in Wetherspoons instead!

For the full Birthday Honours list see (if you must!);

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/birthday-honours--full-list-2295957.html

Trooping the Colour

The Bare Tube

Well Flash Mobbing gets a whole new meaning with the second "No Trousers on the Tube" day which was held yesterday and is an import from New York (where else?) which has been holding a “No Pants on the Subway” day for the past ten years. Last year the organisers claimed over 30 Londoners took part. The 2nd Annual No Trousers Tube Ride in London took place on Sunday 9th January. 3,500 people participated in New York and thousands more in 50 cities across the globe.

Full details can be found on;

http://improveverywhere.com


Agent Eppink preaching for “Pro-Pants” in New York

The day originated in New York in 2002 as 'No Pants on the Subway' and has become a worldwide event in which travellers are invited to travel on the underground without trousers. The day of trouser-free travel was started by a group called Improv Everywhere in New York but it is now a global event. One of the places the event took place this year was Zurich, where scores of trouser less people were seen riding trams through the city's streets. For the third year in a row, there was a counter-contingent. The “Pro Pants” group was back once again to try to convert the trouser less to their pants-based religion. They went all out this year with pamphlets, sandwich boards, and free pairs of trousers.


London style

This year around 100 people braved the cold weather to ride the capital's underground system in their pants yesterday as part of the annual No Trousers Tube Ride: London. The thrill-seekers made the journey on the Bakerloo Line from Charing Cross to Paddington and back surrounded by bemused commuters who had no idea what was happening. The group event was a meticulously organised affair, with participants told to meet in front of the two fountains to the left of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square at 3pm sharp.


Justin Timberlake Tweets in support

Organisers then divided people into groups before everyone headed to Charing Cross Tube station. Once inside, they gathered on the northbound Bakerloo Line platform and got on the front carriage, where they removed their trousers and put them into a bag they had brought with them. They were instructed to pretend they didn't know each other and not to talk to other trouser less Tube passengers.


New York style

The two requirements for taking part in the event are a willingness to take your trousers off on the Tube and the ability to keep a straight face about it. Organisers say the bizarre spectacle is to promote more silliness in the world and give people something to laugh at.


New York's finest

I need hardly emphasise that this event is entirely unofficial, is not to be encouraged, probably breaches your conditions of carriage and if you meet a Police Officer on the Tube they would be fully entitled to take down your particulars.

http://www.flashmob.co.uk/index.php/site/page/no_trousers_tube_ride_london/

New Year Dishonour

Each year in the UK the tedium of half empty newsrooms is relived by the tiresome ritual of the “New Year’s Honours List.” Heading it up are a list of celebs - Actors, public figures, community representatives and so forth who have received an “Honour from her Majesty the Queen” for some outstanding “service” or other. As always this year's list includes the great, the good, the deserving and the frankly baffling. The ”Honours” list is always something of a dog's dinner, a mixture of Buggin's turn and the cheapest populism, and you don’t even see the lists of people who have quietly declined honours which might help you make sense of it all.

Well if only Her Maj actually drew up the list for what you have behind the showbiz froth and the pre-packaged spin at the top of this highly patronising and selective Imperial Awards system from the days of the King / Queen Emperors which in reality is drawn up by a secretive and opaque committee of Whitehall timeservers based on “Buggins Turn” nominations from “approved organisations.” So most of it is a roll call of time servers, Nabobs, Apparatchiks, Panjandrums and assorted flunkeys who are being “honoured” for actually just doing their jobs. Indeed many of them have been paid for every day they have worked and no doubt for many days they haven’t!

Personally I crack up just reading the bumptious detail of the New Year's Honours list! For instance reporter Sandy Gall gets an OBE for "Services to the People of Afghanistan"! Do they know about his services? Did the People of Afghanistan even notice? Other luminaries on the list include Mrs Carolyn Tracy Edwards. Grade C1, Ministry of Defence. (Chorleywood, Hertfordshire) - Hold me back! Mrs Elizabeth Barton. Grade B1, Ministry of Defence. (London, SW9) We can only imagine the great service she has given! How about David Kelly, Chief Constable, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Now there is a man sacrificing himself in the Sun for the Empire, a Chief Constable (with the salary and all the perks) for two British Army bases with a population of 15,000 people and a base prison on Cyprus! Indeed this man is so self sacrificing in the cause of Empire that he is double jobbing, already getting a full pension from his previous UK post before moving into his villa on Cyprus.


No Brucie Bonus? Bad Game! Bad Game!

But look at who has been left out of these “New Year Honours.” Commiserations once again to Bruce Forysyth, our much loved veteran TV entertainer, who has not been rewarded with a knighthood, despite a campaign launched earlier this year. It’s ruffled Piers’ Morgan’s feathers who said on Twitter: “Utterly ridiculous that Bruce Forsyth still hasn’t been knighted. What more must he do than be a multi-talented star for SEVEN decades?” Well maybe at 84 Bruce is expecting too much too soon?


Don't arise Sir Ringo?

Who else has been overlooked? He is the man who has touched the lives of three generations of music fans with his genius, the man who was one quarter of the greatest band ever to walk the Earth? And, last but not least, the man who provided the voice for Thomas The Tank Engine. And if dodgy singles are the criteria for a knighthood? Well, then he has certainly had a few of those in his solo career. That man is, of course, Ringo Starr, who will not arise as “Sir Ringo.”

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/arise-sir-ringo.html

But the thresholds for these knighthoods are high which is why they were awarded to “Sir Gas Bill” and the man who has presided over British Airways most disastrous period. Roger Carr, the tycoon who saw through the sale of the 200-year-old British company Cadbury to the US multinational Kraft in February, has been knighted for services to industry in the New Year Honours list. Sir Roger was praised by the City for getting a good deal for shareholders when the Cadbury sale went through in February. Since then Kraft has announced that it is moving the firm's headquarters to Switzerland to avoid UK tax, at a probable cost of thousands of UK jobs.


Arise Sir Gas Bill and destroyer of British Jobs! Roger Carr

The award is doubly controversial because Sir Roger also chairs Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, which recently announced a 7 per cent price hike. Soon after that announcement, Centrica raised its full year profit forecast to more than £2.2bn. The regulator, Ofgem, is holding an inquiry into whether major energy companies are "lining their pockets".

The other flying Knight Martin Broughton as chairman of British Airways has been at the centre of a bitter dispute with the airline's cabin crew, the disastrous opening of Terminal 5 and the wholesale abandoning of customers during the volcanic ash incident during the summer, not to mention various prosecutions for flouting Competition Law. This is probably why he is being knighted for “Services to Aviation” and not to Customer Services. It does beg the question, what does the Chairman of British Airways have to do not to get a knighthood?

Their appearance on the New Year Honours list runs counter to the Downing Street spin that the 2011 list principally recognises those who have contributed to David Cameron's idea of the Big Society. Fewer than three-quarters of the 997 people on the New Year’s list are said to be "local heroes who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities". Officials conceded that today's list contains the same proportion of local philanthropists as ever.



The list includes Kathleen White, who has worked at a Post Office in Claverley in the Black Country for 68 years and is awarded an MBE and there is the usual quota of School Dinner Ladies and Lollipop ladies. Some years ago the then Prime Minister, John Major, decided that the process should be made more open and the class bias in the honours list should be tackled. Previously upper class personages and Government flunkeys received an MBE (Member of the British Empire) but those who were of “insufficient station” (i.e. Working Class) received a BEM (British Empire Medal) – essentially the same award for the lower classes. However despite these stated good intentions the BEM is still retained on honours given to Caribbean and British Overseas Territories (What we used to call Colonies). Obviously Carlton of the FO decided equality was a step too far for the tinted folk? Indeed when John Major’s “classless” list was introduced a paper seller who had taken over a family pitch near my office and sold the Evening Standard for 35 years received an MBE for “services to Newspapers.” A fine person who inherited her family pitch and was always chatty to customers I’m sure but what did she do to deserve an MBE? A silly question as most of her customers were Home Office Civil Servants!

Among the OBEs are guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson, once of Fairport Convention but also a writer of lyrics for Robert Plant and Elvis Costello; veteran lyricist Herbert Kretzmer, whose career encompasses newspaper, television and theatre criticism, songs for That Was the Week That Was, and the lyrics for the long-running musical version of Les Misérables; and Manchester-born actor Burt Kwouk, the long-suffering manservant Cato in the Pink Panther movies, who is honoured for helping to pave the way for other actors from the Chinese community.


Arise Sir Flunkey!

The former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox receives an OBE, not for her musicianship, but for her services to Oxfam and Aids charities in Africa. She said: "As somewhat of a renegade, it either means I've done something terribly right – or they've done something terribly wrong.”

So there you have the 2011 “New Years Honours List” – a lot of Establishment flotsam with some celeb froth on top and a leavening of token Proles. Now I’m not against Civilian Honours but this Bastard Child of Empire is well past its sell by date in terms of titles, relevance and honesty and badly needs an overhaul – taking the awards for flunkeys (the Royal Victoria awards which are for “personal service” to the Sovereign) and for time serving Police, Civil servants and Military out of it would be a good start. A second good start would be to make the whole process transparent and above board, they should be given in OUR name and not the Queen’s, Gawd Bless ya M’aam! And lastly but not leastly let us abandon the whole Empire Brand. It is surely not relevant now that it is a collection of Rocks and Tax Havens maintained for Great Tory Supporting British Patriots to avoid contributing to the Common Weal. On a personal level it would spare those who have achieved Membership of the British Empire the embarrassment of realising that there is no longer an MBE / CBE/ OBE Clubhouse and they have to buy their celebratory drinks in Wetherspoons instead!

For the full 2011 list see;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/honours-list/8231975/New-Year-Honours-List-2011-in-full.html


Jenson Button - For Services to Tax Exile