We all love to castigate politicians for their shortcomings, occasional diversions from the straight-and-narrow and even plain old dishonesty. We’re lucky to be living in a democracy that allows us such freedom of comment (so long as it falls short of actual libel or slander, that is). There are many that do not enjoy the luxury of freedom-of-speech, and who would place themselves at great jeopardy if they pursued a course that set them in direct conflict with authority.
So, tempering our criticisms of those elected to govern over us, maybe occasionally we should think about the more positive aspects of a modern working democracy and parliamentary system. The quiet beavering away in committee rooms, constituencies, constituency surgeries and parliamentary lobbies where the real work of government takes place beyond the lofty confines of the cabinet room.
One way of showing an appreciation of the achievements of politicians – and it would be very churlish of anyone to suggest that no good at all comes from political activity – might be to recognise them for a job well done.
There are clearly many examples of the good works of politicians that we can draw upon; from the top of my head, I can think of one or two. The veteran MP and Labour peer, Jack Ashley (Lord Ashley of Stoke) continues to campaign tirelessly for the disabled; Neil Parish MEP, Conservative President of the European Parliament’s animal welfare intergroup, is a determined campaigner against live animal transport; Liberal peer, Paddy Ashdown (Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamden) played a key peace brokering role during the Balkans conflict.
Well, at least the Forum of Private Business is rising to the occasion by running its business-friendly MP/MEP awards for the third year running. Owner-managers across the country are being invited to put forward the names of MPs and MEPs they believe have championed small firms during the past year – whether influencing national and regional policies or supporting individual businesses in their own constituencies.
Now’s your chance. If you fall into the above category and want to place your favourite MP (or MEP) on a pedestal for their work to better the fortunes of the small business community, you should call 0845 130 1722 to request a voting form, or visit www.fpb.org/award before April 25.
Les Hunt
Editor
PS - Reader John Lee had a couple of points to raise following my comment in last week’s Newsletter (see http://www.dpaonthenet.net/channels/channel5editorial13795.aspx). They were most apposite and I thought it would be useful to reproduce them here:
“Your headline editorial of the 8th Feb overlooked a couple of points.
1. The speed of light and electricity.... Intercontinental link routings and especially digital by submarine cables incur substantially less distances than satellite hops and as such, transmission and response times are generally more acceptable where interactive voice is concerned.
For example, talking to Hong Kong from the UK via a Pacific cable requires a little old fashioned etiquette to avoid interrupting any response from a distant party and becomes automatic with practice. The same call routed by satellite with increased distances and delays would be difficult for day to day business and in many cases unacceptable to all except in emergencies.
2. In this digital age with incredible compression and processing techniques for global human to human and machine to machine communications, fibre optic submarine cables offer intercontinental channel capacities that could hardly be comprehended just fifteen or so years ago. Satellite wireless or radio links, on the other hand, even with mind boggling advancements are far more constrained with channel capacities.
Hence we inexorably move into the realms of high finance. The decision process to determine link routings between two distant points on the planet have to include, urgency, engineering, security, available local infrastructures, available carrier capacities, customer specifications and acceptability not forgetting costs.
You and I can chat to antipodean business colleagues whilst granny can reminisce with friends and relatives the other side of the world from a mobile phone for a few pence or even less. However, to call a VIP onboard a ship in the middle of an ocean, an aircraft in flight or a journalist at the site of a news event or disaster by satellite will cost substantially more provided there are available uplink and downlink slots available of course.
I was involved in the approval testing and supply of the first really big "microwave tropospheric scatter" long hop system for the Australian Perth-Adelaide system back in the mid-60s. Great for short hops but could you imagine the reliability and capacity issues for trans-global today? It might explain why skilled plumbers are paid so much these days and you can never get hold of one!”
My thanks to John for putting me in my place! LH