麻豆社

In the third edition of the latest series of Leader Conference, Andrew Rawnsley was joined by Phil Collins of the Times; Mary Riddell of the Daily Telegraph; David Seymour of the Sunday Mirror; Anne McElvoy of the Economist; and Torcuil Crichton of the Daily Record.

We debated: the Queen's Speech; Sir Alex Ferguson; and Virgin Trains' new staff uniform.

Odds and Ends
The Queen's Speech has about it the quality of an Eton mess. That shouldn't condemn it; government is a multifarious set of tasks. Judging priorities among departments and managing legislation require care and skill. Similarly, the modesty of the government's programme isn't of itself a shortcoming. Much of the legislation envisaged in the coalition agreement has already been enacted.
However, we are still disappointed by the Speech. Its priority seems to be political positioning, particularly by the Conservatives, rather than tackling Britain's continuing economic malaise. Yet it presents a confused set of proposals. In particular, measures designed to appeal to voters attracted to the UK Independence Party's messages on immigration seem to us difficult to implement. GPs are not employees of the state and making them responsible for policing migrants' health care demands look impractical and unenforceable. Similarly, delegating to private landlords the vetting of housing applications may simply discourage the supply of properties onto the market and push up rents for all. We wonder if this is what ministers intend.
There are other inconsistencies too. The prime minister has said much about Europe in recent weeks and yet no concrete measures appear in the Speech. Legislation introducing the much-trailed flat-rate pension is designed to appeal to older voters. But pensioners will have also noted the reductions in councils' social care budgets.
There is certainly much to be done in the remaining two years of this Parliament. But we advocate far greater emphasis on the effective implementation of the government's existing reforms rather than the passing of more laws whose rationale, beyond trying to stymie UKIP, is unclear and whose contradictions will compromise their likely effectiveness.

Old Trafford's Magician
We sympathise with those jaded by English football's unquenchable thirst for hyperbole, but even they, we think, should pay tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson following his decision to step down as manager of Manchester United. Over his twenty-six years in charge, the club won forty-nine trophies, including thirteen premier league titles. These alone make him one of the outstanding figures not just in sport but in management generally.
Sir Alex also came up the hard way and deployed his Glaswegian background to good effect in reaching the top. He has helped ensure that football's influence has been positive on national life, even when his "hairdryer" moments have captured the headlines. While we doubt that he had a strategic master plan from the outset, his major achievement was the building of a succession of winning teams.
It is tempting to suggest that the Ferguson model is something we should freely apply to other institutions, be they the monarchy, FTSE100 companies or politics. Tempting and wrong. Managers can always be sacked - monarchs cannot. Furthermore, the autocratic methods and belligerent approach of some football managers - while arguably necessary to keep in line handsomely remunerated young footballers with highly developed egos - are hardly ones we want to see among our parliamentarians.
Let us celebrate success like that achieved by Sir Alex. But let us also remember the peculiar, highly-monied context in which it was achieved. And let us look forward to a newly competitive era in the premier league - or at least hope for one.

Business Brains?
"Business Brains Take Virgin Trains" ran the slogan. If so, we wonder if Virgin's own executives do that. Our thought was prompted by the reaction of those female employees of Virgin Trains who protested to their bosses about "skimpy" new red blouses that were issued to them.
Uniforms should be things which staff are happy to wear and we are surprised that Sir Richard Branson's outfit appears to have run into the buffers with this latest development of the Virgin wardrobe. Managers' decision to offer female staff vouchers to purchase underwear that would not be visible through the new blouses seems like an admission that the company has misjudged this new design.
We do not advocate fashion styles reminiscent of the catwalks of the Soviet bloc. But nor should female employees be demeaned - or passengers be embarrassed - by the uniforms provided to staff. This makeover terminates here.

Producer Simon Coates.