It was hard, driving on the Swiss motorway to work, to avoid shouting at the radio during the morning-after coverage on the BBC of the UK Budget.
So Chancellor George Osborne is going to pump prime the economy by stimulating the housing market. Is it really the government’s job to fund billions of pounds’ worth of mortgages, helping tens of thousands get into an already inflated and under supplied housing market? Continue reading
There was a deep irony in the massive congestion around Geneva airport in Switzerland last week. The heavy traffic and long delays for people trying to catch flights was due to the city’s annual motor show, described by pundits as the biggest and most important in Europe.
I arrived on time in the centre of Geneva for a series of unrelated meetings, thanks to the ever-efficient Swiss railway system. But navigating the city was difficult, due to the crowds and the increased traffic. The motor show takes place at the Palexpo centre out by the airport, some way from the centre of town. Yet tens of thousands of extra people swamped Geneva and its surrounds. Many, it seemed, eschewed the railways and came by car. Continue reading
Some say it’s akin to allowing a tabloid newspaper dictate the legislative agenda. Others that it’s true democracy at work. Whatever it is, Switzerland’s use of referenda produces quirky results at times. And it’s now given birth to a seemingly radical vote to let investors veto executive pay proposals and vet appointments to companies’ boards.
The direct democracy system lets voters have a popular vote – and the results have to be heeded by lawmakers. It means issues that would not get on to the public agenda elsewhere can get vigorously debated in Switzerland. With offbeat, even controversial results – three years ago the Swiss voted to ban the building of new minarets on mosques.
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There is growing evidence that some of the sports stars we were cheering on during the Olympic Games in London last year are in another race – for a job.
According to various media reports, many athletes have stopped competing and are now finding out that austerity Britain isn’t necessarily the best place to be looking for work.
Some say ’dozens’ of the 553 athletes who represented Team GB in London are job-hunting. At least 64 have quit their sports for a variety of reasons, while a further 24 are undecided about their futures, according to research published by the BBC. Continue reading
The public will forgive most things in the wake of a sincere apology – take any consumer scandal or public relations problem of recent years and it can be seen that in nearly all cases the transgression of the brand or person concerned was eventually forgotten.
There are exceptions, of course. If the offence was particularly grave or heinous, a recovery is not possible. The end of Gary Glitter’s pop career, the renaming of Gerald Ratner’s eponymous jewellery stores and the demise of the News of the World all testify to that. Continue reading
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