A bad day for Britain - press regulation and the attack on democracy

The attack on press freedom today, that stems from the stitch up by the three party leaders over night, has forced me to reactivate this blog for one day only. David Cameron's boast that the deal doesn't involve a statutory underpinning is pure guff.
Hiding behind the changes to new Royal Charters can't disguise the damage dealt to a cornerstone of British democracy, which had been 300 years in the making. The abuses by newspapers needed to be addressed vigorously but not at the cost of allowing politicians power to tinker with newspapers.
Introducing a clause that the press regulation Royal Charter cannot be changed in the future without a two-thirds majority counts for nothing. Near enough 100 per cent of the Commons - in the shape of the unholy alliance of Cameron, Miliband, and Clegg have forced through today's proposals, while Tony Blair's Labour victory in 1997 did garner around two-thirds of seats. In any case future parliaments will be free to change the rules as they wish.
We're witnessing payback time by parliamentarians, who have never forgiven newspapers being dragged through the mud by the exposure of their expenses fiddles. The victims of press abuse have been exploited by a conspiracy of vested interests both inside the Commons and out. If the police had been doing its job it could have nipped phone hacking in the bud and Milly Dowler's tragic parents would have been spared suffering beyond that of the loss of their daughter.
This is only the start. Lord Justice Leveson had a unique opportunity to reform the press - and did arrive at many sensible recommendations - but in doing so he has also given oxygen to the enemies of democracy. So it's newspapers today, internet bloggers tomorrow although to give Leveson his due he advised giving online media a wide berth.

Dear Grapefruitcrazy reader pt.2...

Here we are at the end of August and I'm still no clearer about the ultimate fate of the Grapefruitcrazy blog. It might be time to move on.
I can see the country headed for a tough couple of years - at the very least - which to post about daily would be very depressing, while not to, for example, if I were to comment on our celebrity culture would be to be ignore the real day-to-day problems faced by millions of Britons.
So while I make my mind up the blog will remain open to readers' comments - there is a large archive - and I will check back regularly.
You can email me at grapefruitcrazy@grapefruitcrazy.com in the meanwhile.
Wishing you all the best for the time being. GC

Dear Grapefruitcrazy reader...

...I'll be 'off-air' for most of August. Have a good summer. GC

All credit to Tom Daley as Twitter troll arrested

All credit to Tom Daley. It is now being reported the teenage troll arrested by police in connection with allegedly sending the young GB Olympic diver a series of malicious tweets had included threats to drown him.
Initially the arrest was presented by the media as a result of the alleged scummy suggestion Daley had let his late father down by failing to win a medal in the synchronised diving.
It raised questions about the freedom of speech.
However objectionable the suggestion, we don't want the twittersphere being policed on matters of opinion however vile.
But if threats to individuals are made, the police have to take the threat seriously even if actual danger is unlikely.
For his part Daley complained to his Twitter followers about the slur related to his father. He called the troll an "idiot", an understatement in my book.

If only all football matches were as pleasant as Wembley Stadium's Olympic games on Sunday

Giggsy on target

I'm happy to report on a very successful visit to Wembley Stadium yesterday to watch Olympics football.
My £60 ticket produced the best seat I've ever had at a football match - lower tier, exactly on the halfway line.
It provided two games Senegal v Uruguay and Team GB v UAE, the latter we won 3-1 with captain Ryan Giggs opening the scoring.
Access to the stadium from Wembley Park tube station was smooth; everyone in an official capacity guides, police, and security staff were efficient, cheerful, and helpful.
Yes, the food and drink was expensive as it always is at games. Those who hoped to pay with plastic were stymied. Olympics sponsor Visa insisted people could only use its card brand - but it developed a glitch. So it was cash only.
Most refreshing of all was the lighthearted spirit inside the stadium - complete with Mexican waves and bouncy balls.
An absence of aggressive fan behaviour, swearing, and obscene chants made this a safe place to take children - and many families took advantage to do so.
The childish booing of Uruguay striker - and more significantly Liverpool star - Luis Suarez every time he touched the ball was the only reminder of the cauldron of hate games can be.
National anthems were respected even if Giggsy forgot the words to his team's.

BOA's plan to fill empty Games seats has merit

I'm glad the problem of empty seats at London Olympics venues is creating such a stir. Britain's sportsmen and women need all the support and inspiration they can get from a noisy home crowd. The British Olympic Association's suggestion that seats should only be allowed to remain unfilled for 30 minutes before being offered to fans has merit.

If privileged bums can't fill Games seats give them to real Olympics fans

I have to put on record my admiration for Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony extravaganza last night.
But it was disappointing to turn on the television today to see so many empty 'posh' seats at the swimming, tennis, and gymnastics arenas.
These are popular sports with armies of fans, who have been disappointed by being denied affordable seats at the London Games.
Lord Coe & Co have got to do some pretty swift arm-twisting of the corporates, who bought blocks of the best seats, to make sure there are privileged bums on them.
Olympic seat prices favoured the wealthy and it's an insult to competitors and sports fans if seats are empty.
I appreciate the organisers can't work miracles. They are obliged to reserve seats for the Olympic family - other sportsmen and women, officials, and the media - with no guarantee they'll show up.
But sponsors and other corporate customers must be encouraged to fill their allocations.
It may be too late to bus in fans - as the Chinese did faced with the same problem four years ago - but at the very least the upper tiers should be allowed to move closer to the action.
I can't believe there will be substantial no-shows for the athletics - it will be an international embarrassment if there are.

Teachers can learn lessons from the London Games

My November 2010 post Why London's 2012 Olympics logo is the worst in the history of the modern Games is clocking up the page views.
But while I don't take back a word, complaining is a national sport in Britain - Mitt Romney, please note.
It doesn't mean us Brits are anything other than excited by staging the Games and wholeheartedly desire its success.
The crowds that turned out across Great Britain to welcome the Olympic flame in the two-month-long relay reflects this enthusiasm.
Rather than just a regeneration of a depressed area of East London, I hope there will be a wider legacy of the Olympics for the country.
I accept there will be a stink if Team GB has a poor medal haul, as there will be in any country whose tally disappoints.
But most of the thousands of sportsmen and women who compete in the next weeks do so with no real expectation of a medal. The taking part is still important.
Somehow the idea has taken hold among the educational establishment that competition is bad for children whether academically or in sporting endeavour.
It was dispiriting when as a schoolboy I found classmates who were brighter or more sporty than myself.
This was an incentive for me to try harder - and if this proved impossible it provided a lesson for life. Make the most of the talents you have got.
It would have been an insult to all at school to 'lower the bar' so there are no losers.
Kids compete. The problem with 'level playing field' educators is they risk drowning childrens' spirit in the vain pursuit of fairness.

Give yourself a treat...

...and make sure you watch the TV broadcast of the Danny Boyle-directed £27 million Isles of Wonder opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games at 8pm GMT tomorrow.

Why I hope Kristen hasn't cheated on Robert

I know the UK's plummeting economic figures today are of much greater significance but I was more surprised this morning to read magazine allegations that Kristen Stewart had cheated on her Twilight co-star boyfriend Robert Pattinson.
To make matters worse her fling was said to be with her Snow White and the Huntsman film director Rupert Sanders, twice Stewart's age, married, and with two children.
I hope the story is a tissue of lies and the supposed incriminating photographs turn out to be fakes.
Not that I give a fig about the young couple. I've never seen a Pattinson movie and certainly not any of the Twilight series; Stewart I remember from a couple of child actor roles.
Where Pattinson and Stewart surfaced in my meagre knowledge of the world of celebrity was as a young couple, who had conducted their romance with discretion and pleasing modesty.
Having finally admitted they were an item, they seemed very much in love. No dramas, no drunken scenes.
In other words to dust down that over-exploited expression they were rare showbiz "role models."
Well, that's taken a caning today. It just about leaves Michael and Catherine as epitomes of fidelity.