Technology | 2009.09.09
Hugh Muir's diary
It\'s that man again. Where there are deals to be struck you will find him
Predictable that the Tory peer Lord Trefgarne should figure in the furore over Abdelbaset al-Megrahi , the man convicted of the Lockerbie atrocity. Trefgarne chairs the Libya British Business Council , and his son works for BP, a leading member. The noble Lord wrote a letter to the Scottish justice minister a few weeks before Megrahi\'s release, demanding that he sort it out. "Speed is of the essence," he told him. As is what one might describe as a steely view of international trade. For, as one of Mrs Thatcher \'s ministers for defence procurement, Trefgarne joined Alan Clark in approving the export of the Matrix Churchill machine tools sold to Saddam which famously made the guns and the bombs put to good use during the Gulf war. Still, these things are just the way of the world, dear boy. The way of the world.
Yes, another day, and yet more agony for the government over the return of Megrahi to Libya. Not just more pressure from the Conservatives but complications from Tripoli, where officials promise new information on the shooting of PC Yvonne Fletcher if only the government will detail its plot to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi. Gordon Brown says Britain was never involved in any such plot. The one figure who could perhaps clear this all up is David Shayler, the renegade MI5 officer who made the claim in the first place. But as Shayler (pictured) now calls himself Delores – "the chosen one" – wears a ginger wig and declares that the world will come to an end in 2012, the Libyans may not view him as the most persuasive of witnesses. Still, he knows what he knows.
Happy days for T-Mobile and the other phone networks as they march closer to a deal with Lord Mandelson which would see all homes equipped with broadband by 2012 . But things will need to be shipshape if they are to meet the future challenges. In Scotland Andrew Ashby, the T-Mobile site manager in Greenock, has a few ideas for knocking employees into shape. They fall into three categories: passengers, crew or anchors. For passengers "the job is comfortable, they don\'t have a great deal of engagement, but they can\'t be bothered with finding something else". Anchors are "more disruptive" still. "These people, I believe, actually dislike the company and enjoy cultivating an anti-establishment culture, people who throw sickies rather than come to work, or work harder at avoiding calls than taking them." Thank God then for the crew, who "come to work to do a good job and make a difference". Let us focus on "our passengers and anchors with a relentless determination and sense of urgency until we have either brought people on board as crew, or we have parted company". A spell in the boiler room for them we say; the cat o\'nine tails even.
Because it is rare to find the left-leaning websites being nice about Tory ones, well done to Though Cowards Flinch for its heartfelt appreciation of the Total Politics rundown of the top 100 Tory blogs. Atop the list sits Iain Dale , which is life as it should be; but the eye is indeed taken by Ed Vaizey, the Conservative culture spokesman, who enters the list at 97. Just one blog on his site , from early July, but what an entry. "Hello all," it says. "This is my new Blog, the last one had technical problems so I\'ve decided to start again with my website. Watch this space for my new entries." We will.
Finally, in this era of 10:10, isn\'t it important to recognise the contribution of those already engaged in the struggle against climate change? Certainly they feel that way in north-west London, where Harrow council has named a gate at its main rubbish tip after Ian McAleese , a pensioner who makes a four-mile trip there on foot and bus just to do his bit. It "may not be like putting your hands in cement in Hollywood", says a spokeswoman. But surely it\'s better. How many of green Ian\'s fellow Harrovians fly to Hollywood each year? How many visit the tip?
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