News & Opinion - June 2010
Here you will find all our latest news, views and events.
Jump to: England's Glory? , VAT's all, folks , Cowell's Got Talent
Wed 30th Jun 10 England's Glory?
If England want to regain some dignity from their appalling performance during the World Cup then my advice is simple: give your fee to charity and publicly apologise for one of the worst achievements in recent tournaments.
This won't get them back into the competition but it would help atone for their dreadful behaviour when the team simply walked off the pitch without acknowledging the fans, which was more than worse than actually losing the match.
What we got was a childish reaction that it not becoming for anyone in an England shirt.
Shame on them.
Tue 22nd Jun 10 VAT's all, folks
When the would-be prime minister, David Cameron, stated publicly that: "We have no plans to raise VAT", we should have all been able to decode the political language, which essentially meant that they had every plan to raise VAT. Given that the new coalition government has inherited one of the worst budget deficits in the western world we all knew that Osborne's first budget would be the exact opposite of Labour's pre-elecion give-away: it was going to be painful.
The problem is that the Tories, who are historically against tax rises, had to reach a compromise with the Liberal Democrats (why did Gordon Brown always refer to them as the Liberal Party?), who are broadly in favour of higher government spending.
It is too early to know whether this budget will affect the future stability of the Con-Lib government, but one thing is for sure by next January the cost of living will go up. For businesses that can pass on the VAT to their customers the rise is largely irrelevant; the problem comes with the consumer who cannot pass on the increases to anyone and who will be faced with higher prices. If people start to rein in spending then this could undremine the future stability of the economy on which all our futures, public and private, depend.
From a communications perspective, the budget was clearly delivered with the Chancellor laying his cards on the table; the problem lies in the pre-election promise on VAT, which hasn't been simply stretched or bent, it has been well and truly shattered.
If VAT was high on the list of the in-coming government they would have been better not to have denied the possibility of a rise and Osborne would have been better to have increased VAT incrementally so that he had some "wriggle room" to delay the second half of the VAT rise.
The best advice is to always play things straight with your audience and you won't get bitten in the proverbial by spin (if that isn't a mixed metaphor too far).
On a lighter note, I can't get enough of Lady Gaga's latest hit, Alejandro, which is set to be Opera PR's song of the summer 2010. If you haven't heard it yet then simply click on this link (or paste into your browser) and turn up the volume:
Enjoy.
Mon 7th Jun 10 Cowell's Got Talent
With another season of Britain's Got Talent behind us, it is clear who is the real winner of this programme that has become the saviour of ITV: Simon Cowell.
The carrot of a £100,000 deal that is on offer to the hapless thousands who put themselves forward as having a talent, is but nothing compared to what the show generates for ITV, Cowell, his television production company, his record company, not to mention the hundred of thousands paid to the judges and the presenters of this money-spinning phenomenon.
For Cowell, who was worth an estimated £120m in 2009, being a judge on these shows must be like being a child in a sweetshop when show after show he is presented with possible signings for his record label. When we also consider the opportunities from X-Factor and American Idol then it is doubtful that he actually worries whether the shows discover winners that he likes or would wish to sign; there are more than enough acts that he will be exposed to during the audition and selection rounds; by the time we get to the live finals I am sure that he will have his eye on the next star.
Whilst Cowell has a rare ability for spotting talent it seems that he now has the power to influence the results. Although the winner of BGT Is apparently in the hands of the viewing public, as the final ten acts performed there was a very telling gesture that I feel was enough to lead the audience to choose the winner that he wanted.
In a display that Derren Brown would have been proud of Cowell crowned the winner even before the first vote was cast. He gave his only standing ovation after Spelbound's performance and that, in my opinion, was enough to tell the audience (or to tell enough of those open to suggestion, using the Derren Brown analogy) who they should vote for.
Of course, there's no evidence that his standing ovation resulted in Spelbound's success, but we know the power of influence from the world of celebrity and if you don't believe that then consider how many potential buyers of VW's Touareg cancelled orders following Jeremy Clarkson's review when in 2003 he stated that rather than buy a Touareg he would "rather eat £50,000".
So, before you pick up the telephone to support your favourite act during the next series of Britain's Got the Idol Factor just remember that it might not be an act of free will.