I have just returned from Wembley! It took a while to get home. But it was time well spent. After all - Gabon vs S Korea! The country with the highest Human Development Index in Sub-Saharan Africa against a country with the word's most strongly-defended border - it is a statistician's dream! Although the nil-nil scoreline was not so statistically interesting.
However I had a concern. We were allowed to take empty bottles into the stadium to fill with drinking water - but we could not take water in with us as "it might not be water".
Which may be true. But how do they know that what is in an "empty" bottle is air?
Is that a rant or an ironic comment?
ReplyDeleteThe whole concept of Olympics security was shot down when a volunteer was able to step out of role and join the Indian Olympic Team for their parade.
I would love to know what event she eventually competed in? Probably cell hopping.
But, 4GS formerly Securicor and G4 Security hold a huge chunk of Public Sector money, in terms of the various contracts with government to run prisons etc, providing intelligence arrangements for certain police forces. Providing security at a number of Government sites, including defence.
There was a particularly disgraceful incident at one Olympic site, where a 4GS security guard made inflammatory remarks to one of the armed forces personnel, there to pull the companies fat out of the fire. The guard is still apparently working at the site, with no visible disciplinary action having been taken.
4GS have demonstrated their incompetence, but so far, no heads have rolled to my knowledge. We are promised an Inquiry with the government clawing back many millions, pre-paid to the company. Why should they be pre-paid for services not yet rendered?
It's about time that the government got wise to the fact that incompetence is not just a skill held within the public sector - many businesses also suffer from it, but mask it as they are not subject to the same freedom of information requirements that the public sector is held to.
We need a robust procurement service, with punitive penalty clauses which hold commercial contractors to account, if necessary, upto 100% of fees paid being clawed back.
4GS in my and many others minds will always be held up in the future as 'how not to do it' and the failure of the ideal of privatisation at any cost.
...just wondering, is Eton Dorney one of the Beaker Folk?
ReplyDeleteIf he is not, he probably will be soon. The sin of plagiarism is not unknown to Eileen.
DeleteCan I put in a word for Charnock Richard, who is much beloved by the friends of the M6?
ReplyDelete