Fox and Angel, Creative Partnership

Banks…

March 17th, 2010

I visited another of my banks on Saturday morning. The queue was ten deep and stretching out of the door and we were all held up by a customer who was complaining that this bank that was once a building society but is now a bank largely owned by us, (and the us of course includes Members of Parliament) had changed the terms of her agreement and type of account and even the way she was described on her account, without consulting her. Funny that, that banks can change their customer’s accounts without a bye your leave, but if you the individual wants to change anything, or fix up something new you have to take in several types of ID, make an appointment and endure monologues about products you don’t need, because banking is about selling not service. On this particular day I needed several cheques totalling over £1000 but because there was a queue the girl didn’t bother with security questions, so obviously money-laundering rules can be dispensed with when it suits the bank.

The new Metro bank which is being set up to offer old fashioned service cannot come a moment too soon…..

Posted in Politics | No Comments »

HERE WE GO AGAIN…..

March 8th, 2010

Here we go again…..banking: no change. Bonuses are back up, (did they ever go down?), working practises are no different…..everything is rolling along just as before; bankers are carrying on in just the same cavalier fashion.

The usual scams continue unabated. Members of Parliament could have done a lot more about the banking fiasco but they buried their heads and rolled over. They were too wrapped up in their own petty thieving of expenses to visualise the bigger picture and see their responsibilities.

I had a letter from Barclaycard this week telling me if I no longer had my new card I should ring a special number to request a replacement. As I’d never received a new card I dutifully called up. The call cost 5p a minute plus a 9.3p set-up fee. I had to listen to what seemed like hours of sales chat and product placement and unnecessary information before I got to option six and still none of the options applied to me. Then I had to wait ages for an operator while my telephone bill was mounting. I explained my problem to a man in a country far away and in a faint voice he said not to worry Barclaycard hadn’t actually sent out my new card yet so it wasn’t lost after all. Clever bankers…..get the punters to listen to sales chat after implying their card is lost or stolen, (i.e. capitalise on fear of fraud and identity theft to sell things nobody wants while phone companies in this double deal increase their revenue. “Marketing”, (dread word) no doubt designed this clever strategy to engineer a sales opportunity to a captive, nervous audience.

I hope the Conservative Party, if it gets in, is brave enough to look at these annoyances of modern life and makes sure that their Members of Parliament get a grip on all these dodgy practises that are allowed because they are in the rules….but only just.

More about banks next week. In the meantime for up to the minute political opinion order our book “WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THERE?”

Tags: Bank Bonuses, Expenses scandal
Posted in Politics | No Comments »

New Book – WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THERE?

March 1st, 2010

You will see from the recent addition to our site that our latest book WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THERE? will be out later this month in time for the General Election. Our first objective was to make this book entertaining and a rattling good read and we think we have succeeded in our mission. It was a natural progression for us after our speculative campaign for the Conservative Party, but this book is generally apolitical, we have swung between right and left according to the particular issues. This is not a campaigning book, it is political opinion designed to contribute to the national political debate. Many of our other projects have gone on hold while we concentrated our forensic minds on the current political situation and in particular that pertaining to the House of Commons.

Obviously MPs have been under scrutiny since the Expenses scandal, but we have taken the debate further and wider and have put the whole financial saga, (including the knock on effect of the credit crunch) into a historical and social context.

There are not many female political commentators and we have stepped up to the plate. We could see it was up to us to fill the gap. Our book looks not just at the House of Commons, but also the House of Lords and wider society. We ask which parties are the most effective in getting their message across and does such messaging have any substance, or, as we have long suspected, is it all spin? (Spin used to be called propaganda; it has been renamed so as to be more palatable to the electorate).

Writing this book has been a fascinating journey, (everything is a journey these days and now we know why!); it is a book for the young and old, male and female. It is essential reading for first time voters as well as the many people in the UK who, perhaps for the first time in their lives, are undecided where on the ballot paper to place their cross, or who are doubtful whether they will bother to vote at all. We hope our book will help to re-engage the whole electorate.

Should the Tories be allowed a chance, (do we simply need a change of face?). Or should we stick to what we know, however unpalatable? Is it time for the smaller parties to be given a voice? By the time you have reached the end of our book you will be better placed to make an informed decision.

The 2010 General Election is set to be one of the closest fought in modern times and we think we have answered the vital question: WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THERE?

ORDER YOUR BOOK TODAY!! THERE IS NOT A MOMENT TO BE LOST!!

Posted in New Books, Politics | No Comments »

BANKERS & BONUSES

December 9th, 2009

Sir: Could the bankers who seem determined to hang on to their huge bonuses do us a favour this Christmas…….re-inflate the economy by spending the lot?

Tags: BANKERS & BONUSES
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

FEMINISM & FAMILY

December 9th, 2009

Sir: I must take issue with Angela Elliott re “feminism & child rearing”. As a 70’s feminist I worked both before and after having a family but I was lucky to be able to stay home with my children when they were young and never thought this was incompatible with my feminist beliefs. Like many women of my generation I have always viewed feminism as a simple, (or not so simple) matter of “Liberty, Equality & Fraternity”. The struggle must still go on; (witness the reportage this week of an honour killing and blatant city misogyny); it is important as ever, but we do not hate men and these days not many of us wear dungarees.

Tags: FEMINISM & FAMILY
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

PLUMS, BADGERS & SWINE FLU

September 2nd, 2009

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

MY NEW CAR

July 13th, 2009

I have a new car in all senses of the word. It is brand new and straight from the showroom as well as new to me. I was told it had come from Germany although a man who helps in the garden told me it was made in Brazil which he deemed to be “a very bad thing”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

COMMONSENSE NOT ALLOWED

July 8th, 2009

As featured in The Independent, July 2009

Sir: Deborah Orr’s account of her day on South West Trains (June 27) rang a number of bells. I have had the same kind of experience dealing with railway officials, banks, shops and call centres. It seems in many organisations the “nyet” factor, (anyone visiting the USSR before 1989 will remember the frustrations), is positively fostered thus enabling small people hiding behind the rules to feel a misguided sense of importance. However the real culprits are the managers who set up the kind of directives that make no allowance for common sense. It is in fact an insult to their employees tantamount to saying they are incapable of exercising judgement, and the opposite of empowering.

read more stuff

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

RESPONSE TO DAVID GREEN (Letters May 25th)

July 2nd, 2009

As featured in The Times, May 2009

Sir: In response to David Green (Letters: May 25th) may I say that I believe lawyers and solicitors very much over value their services. My own experience of this profession is that they muddy clear waters, spin things out by making simple things complicated, cover ineptitude with jargon and expect you to do most of the donkey work yourself, yet still send out a huge bill. They almost always demand money up-front so by the time you realize their incompetence you are locked in. The average person has no means of knowing who is capable and who isn’t. Trial and error in this case is not only an expensive business but can have catastrophic consequences. Furthermore when recourse to the law is needed it is often when you are at your most vulnerable and it is all too easy to have the wool pulled over your eyes. There are no guarantees that by paying more you get a better service. Legal costs already make the law out of reach of the majority.

In addition this cartel has lead to a fear of litigation that has affected every section of society; over zealous health & safety procedures are not usually about risk management but the possibility of bankruptcy. This state of affairs is one of our least attractive American imports and has been enthusiastically waved in under the radar by the British justice system. Any measure that shakes up this self-satisfied and complacent group is to be encouraged.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Winter is over, spring has sprung, summer is on its way………

May 26th, 2009

It was a hard winter here in Sussex but the wild orchids, like so much else, seem to have come through. Every spring I check my known locations of early purple orchid; this year they are all present and correct and in about the same numbers. No decline; on one roadside they even seem to have increased. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off