Genius...
Sunday, 27 April 2008
Sunday, 20 April 2008
Emptier Emirates
I was lucky enough to go to the Emirates Stadium to see Arsenal cruise to victory against a struggling Reading side yesterday.
The Gunners dominated the game in terms of possession, territory and imagination, and the 2-0 scoreline flattered Reading, who are teetering just a point above the drop-zone.
But it's not the match, or the reasons why Arsenal didn't score at least another three goals, that I want to comment on.
I know the Gunners have blown yet another promising season, both domestically and in Europe, and there is little to play for in the league with third place all but sealed, but why were there so many empty seats?
I was disappointed with my fellow supporters for not bothering to show up to watch their team, just because we're not challenging for silverware.
Admittedly, the reason I got a ticket was because a friend couldn't make it, but I bit his hand off for the chance of going to the Emirates!
Fans of all clubs, across all sports should show up to support their team, whether they are top of the league, or fighting for their lives.
Arsenal are by no means the worst, and the stadium was pretty full, but far short of capacity.
There are thousands of fans who would have reacted like I did if they were offered a chance to watch a top-flight football match, and I feel the fans who couldn't be bothered to turn up yesterday are selfish glory-supporters, oblivious to their privileged position.
The Gunners dominated the game in terms of possession, territory and imagination, and the 2-0 scoreline flattered Reading, who are teetering just a point above the drop-zone.
But it's not the match, or the reasons why Arsenal didn't score at least another three goals, that I want to comment on.
I know the Gunners have blown yet another promising season, both domestically and in Europe, and there is little to play for in the league with third place all but sealed, but why were there so many empty seats?
I was disappointed with my fellow supporters for not bothering to show up to watch their team, just because we're not challenging for silverware.
Admittedly, the reason I got a ticket was because a friend couldn't make it, but I bit his hand off for the chance of going to the Emirates!
Fans of all clubs, across all sports should show up to support their team, whether they are top of the league, or fighting for their lives.
Arsenal are by no means the worst, and the stadium was pretty full, but far short of capacity.
There are thousands of fans who would have reacted like I did if they were offered a chance to watch a top-flight football match, and I feel the fans who couldn't be bothered to turn up yesterday are selfish glory-supporters, oblivious to their privileged position.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Arguidos, damages and Dewsbury
The news that Maddy arguido Robert Murat is seeking damages from 11 newspapers and one broadcaster, as the Observer reported yesterday, is a dramatic development in this remarkable story. 
If he wins, he could get about £200,000 from each, which would work out at well over £2m.
A month ago today the Express and Star newspapers published front-page apologies for their coverage of the alleged involvment of Madeleine's parents in her disappearance. They also paid £550,000 towards the Find Madeleine Fund.
So it looks like we're entering an exciting and uncharted time for the world of libel and media law in general.
And particularly interesting is the fact that the Portuguese police seem no closer to finding out what actually happened.
If he wins, he could get about £200,000 from each, which would work out at well over £2m.
A month ago today the Express and Star newspapers published front-page apologies for their coverage of the alleged involvment of Madeleine's parents in her disappearance. They also paid £550,000 towards the Find Madeleine Fund.
So it looks like we're entering an exciting and uncharted time for the world of libel and media law in general.
And particularly interesting is the fact that the Portuguese police seem no closer to finding out what actually happened.
In a similar case of child-disappearance, the tangled web of familial involvement is being unravelled by police investigating the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews. 
The two stories have been compared and contrasted in terms of the financial backing of the hunts, the class and connections of the families involved and the police investigation itself.
But now that Karen Matthews has been charged, along with a number of friends and family for various parts played in the kidnapping, I expect the suggestive and relatively quiet criticism of the Dewsbury Moor community to turn into more full-blown attacks on the leading protagonists, such as this peice in yesterday's News of the World.
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Who has increased rates and by how much
Times Money outlines a week of turmoil in the mortgage market
James Edgar, The Times
April 1
RBS: Selected 2 year fixed rate mortgages increased by 0.50 per cent. Variable tracker rate increased by 0.80 per cent.
Bank of Scotland: Selected rates for self-certification increased by up to 0.50 per cent.
First Direct: Stopped taking applications from new customers. In recent weeks it received five times the usual volume of applications. First Direct's two-year fixed rate mortgage was one of the most competitive on the market.
March 31
Cheltenham and Gloucester: Selected trackers available through direct business increased by up to 0.20 per cent. Selected trackers available through Intermediary business increased by up to 0.35 per cent. Selected Fixed rates available through intermediary business increased by up to 0.17 per cent.
Chelsea BS: 2 year fixed rates increased by 0.20 per cent. Trackers increased by 0.35 per cent.
Cumberland BS: 5 year fixed rates increased by up to 0.20 per cent.
Yorkshire BS: Variable trackers for 2 years and for term increased by up to 0.25 per cent. Selected offset fixed rates increased by 0.1 per cent
Co-operative Bank: Selected trackers increased by up to 0.15 per cent .
March 28
Progressive BS: Discounts and Trackers increased by xx
Nationwide BS: 2 year trackers increased by 0.57 per cent. Trackers for term increased by 0.51 per cent. 2 year fixed increased by 0.20 per cent.
Standard Life Bank: 5 year fixed rates increased by up to 0.49 per cent. Trackers for term increased by 0.40 per cent
Hinckley & Rugby BS: Selected variable tracker rates for term increased by 0.56 per cent.
RBS: Two year fixed rate mortgages increase by up to 0.20 per cent.
First Active: Discounted variable rate for 2 years increased by 0.25 per cent.
Norwich & Peterborough BS: Discounted variable rates increased by 0.75 per cent. Base rate trackers increased by up to 0.50 per cent
March 27
Abbey: Fixed rates for 10 and 15 years increased by 0.05 per cent and selected tracker rate increased by 0.45 per cent.
Intelligent Finance: Variable tracker rates increased by up to 0.50 per cent. Fixed rates increased by up to 0.35 per cent.
March 26
Heritable Bank: Fixed rate mortgages for self cert increased by up to 0.25 per cent.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/property_and_mortgages/article3666371.ece
James Edgar, The Times
April 1
RBS: Selected 2 year fixed rate mortgages increased by 0.50 per cent. Variable tracker rate increased by 0.80 per cent.
Bank of Scotland: Selected rates for self-certification increased by up to 0.50 per cent.
First Direct: Stopped taking applications from new customers. In recent weeks it received five times the usual volume of applications. First Direct's two-year fixed rate mortgage was one of the most competitive on the market.
March 31
Cheltenham and Gloucester: Selected trackers available through direct business increased by up to 0.20 per cent. Selected trackers available through Intermediary business increased by up to 0.35 per cent. Selected Fixed rates available through intermediary business increased by up to 0.17 per cent.
Chelsea BS: 2 year fixed rates increased by 0.20 per cent. Trackers increased by 0.35 per cent.
Cumberland BS: 5 year fixed rates increased by up to 0.20 per cent.
Yorkshire BS: Variable trackers for 2 years and for term increased by up to 0.25 per cent. Selected offset fixed rates increased by 0.1 per cent
Co-operative Bank: Selected trackers increased by up to 0.15 per cent .
March 28
Progressive BS: Discounts and Trackers increased by xx
Nationwide BS: 2 year trackers increased by 0.57 per cent. Trackers for term increased by 0.51 per cent. 2 year fixed increased by 0.20 per cent.
Standard Life Bank: 5 year fixed rates increased by up to 0.49 per cent. Trackers for term increased by 0.40 per cent
Hinckley & Rugby BS: Selected variable tracker rates for term increased by 0.56 per cent.
RBS: Two year fixed rate mortgages increase by up to 0.20 per cent.
First Active: Discounted variable rate for 2 years increased by 0.25 per cent.
Norwich & Peterborough BS: Discounted variable rates increased by 0.75 per cent. Base rate trackers increased by up to 0.50 per cent
March 27
Abbey: Fixed rates for 10 and 15 years increased by 0.05 per cent and selected tracker rate increased by 0.45 per cent.
Intelligent Finance: Variable tracker rates increased by up to 0.50 per cent. Fixed rates increased by up to 0.35 per cent.
March 26
Heritable Bank: Fixed rate mortgages for self cert increased by up to 0.25 per cent.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/property_and_mortgages/article3666371.ece
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Hackney Post editor's blog
This is an interview from when I edited The Hackney Post newspaper at City.
Monday, 3 March 2008
Brothers get 27 years for chef murder
by James Edgar, The Hackney Post
TWO brothers have been sentenced to at least 27 years in prison for shooting dead a 30-year-old chef in Hackney.
Craig Thoms was murdered as he arrived at the High Class Venue nightclub on Homerton High Street in the early hours of February 17 last year.
The jury heard how Junior Gordon, 40, from Brixton, south London and his brother Rohan Gordon, 37, from Forest Gate, east London, assassinated Mr Thoms as he got out of his car in a flurry of gunfire.
Passing life sentences at the Old Bailey, Judge Giles Forester said the two men, who had changed their pleas from not guilty to guilty during the course of their trial, should each serve a minimum of 27 years behind bars for their “cold and calculated crime”.
Mr Thoms was deliberately targeted by the pair because they blamed him for the death of their nephew nine years earlier, the court heard.
The victim’s best friend, Nicholas Nelson, 25, of Shepherd’s Bush, west London, who was also on trial for murder, walked free from court after being found not guilty.
Nelson, known as “Shortman”, claimed his innocence throughout the hearing and denied the prosecution’s claims that he coaxed Mr Thoms to the party where the brothers had planned to kill him.
Earlier in the trial Afab Jafferee, prosecuting, said: “To put it bluntly, he [Thoms] had been set up for execution. It was the ultimate betrayal of trust.”
Jurors were shown CCTV footage of Nelson talking to the Gordon brothers on the night of the murder, but he said they did not get on with each other.
Odette Worrell, Junior Gordon’s 34-year-old girlfriend, received a three-year jail term for her part in the crime after she was found guilty of assisting an offender.
The jury heard how she helped Gordon “lie low” in Luton after the murder and dispose of the distinctive clothing he was wearing.
Worrell, of no fixed address, is likely to be deported because she is living in Britain illegally.
http://hackneypost.co.uk/?p=35
TWO brothers have been sentenced to at least 27 years in prison for shooting dead a 30-year-old chef in Hackney.
Craig Thoms was murdered as he arrived at the High Class Venue nightclub on Homerton High Street in the early hours of February 17 last year.
The jury heard how Junior Gordon, 40, from Brixton, south London and his brother Rohan Gordon, 37, from Forest Gate, east London, assassinated Mr Thoms as he got out of his car in a flurry of gunfire.
Passing life sentences at the Old Bailey, Judge Giles Forester said the two men, who had changed their pleas from not guilty to guilty during the course of their trial, should each serve a minimum of 27 years behind bars for their “cold and calculated crime”.
Mr Thoms was deliberately targeted by the pair because they blamed him for the death of their nephew nine years earlier, the court heard.
The victim’s best friend, Nicholas Nelson, 25, of Shepherd’s Bush, west London, who was also on trial for murder, walked free from court after being found not guilty.
Nelson, known as “Shortman”, claimed his innocence throughout the hearing and denied the prosecution’s claims that he coaxed Mr Thoms to the party where the brothers had planned to kill him.
Earlier in the trial Afab Jafferee, prosecuting, said: “To put it bluntly, he [Thoms] had been set up for execution. It was the ultimate betrayal of trust.”
Jurors were shown CCTV footage of Nelson talking to the Gordon brothers on the night of the murder, but he said they did not get on with each other.
Odette Worrell, Junior Gordon’s 34-year-old girlfriend, received a three-year jail term for her part in the crime after she was found guilty of assisting an offender.
The jury heard how she helped Gordon “lie low” in Luton after the murder and dispose of the distinctive clothing he was wearing.
Worrell, of no fixed address, is likely to be deported because she is living in Britain illegally.
http://hackneypost.co.uk/?p=35
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Five-star fury over hotel plans
by James Edgar, The Hackney Post
PLANS to build Hackney’s first five-star hotel on the site of the former Magistrates Court building on Old Street into are likely to be approved by the council in the coming weeks.
With 128 guestrooms, a restaurant, bars, conference rooms, and a gym, it will largely cater for businessmen visiting the City and the developers hope it will boost the economy in Haggerston.
But the proposals have enraged local residents and workers who argue that the seven-storey modern extension at the back of the old court, a grade two listed property, will dwarf the surrounding homes and offices.
An action group has strongly objected to the plans, raising concerns about the hotel’s size, design, security, and parking problems.
In a letter to Hackney Council, seen by The Hackney Post, Hoxton Street jeweller Lexi Dick wrote: “It is a greedy building, cramming itself into every square inch of space available, regardless of the surrounding buildings. It resembles a stack of shoe boxes.”
She argues that the looming edifice will reduce vital narural light in her studio by up to 30 per cent.
For Edward Woodcock, who lives in an apartment in the Timber Yard, the main concern is privacy. He said: “I will have a window facing right into the flat I own. They are saying my privacy will not be affected, because guests will not be in during the day and will be drawing their curtains by night. What about when guests draw their curtains in the morning? This is so lacking in common sense it’s laughable.”
But time is running out for the campaigners. Hackney Council’s planning sub-committee is scheduled to meet on 12 March to decide whether to grant planning permission to developers Mastcraft, who own and run a similar hotel on Great Marlborough Street in the West End, where rooms cost £250 to £450 a night.
Zsolt Moldan, the architect behind the design of the development, said that the hotel should make Hackney residents proud: “I think it will give enormous benefits to local residents and workers. We’re providing a big health and fitness centre, which will be available for them as well as considerable function and banqueting rooms.
“It will be the first five-star hotel in Hackney, which is quite something. I think people should actually be proud of it.”
Jonathan McShane is the councillor for Haggerston ward. He said: “Most people were quite pleased when they saw that a hotel was being developed there, but it was only when they realised it was going to be such a massive extension at the back of a nice old building that they became less keen.
“The hotel in principle is a good idea but the scale of this development seems out of keeping with the area.”
With approval from English Heritage and the Hackney planning service. it is unlikely the application will be rejected by the sub-committee, Cllr McShane said. “Frankly it’s highly unusual for councillors to turn down an application if officers have suggested it should be approved, especially with a big developer like this,” he explained.
PLANS to build Hackney’s first five-star hotel on the site of the former Magistrates Court building on Old Street into are likely to be approved by the council in the coming weeks.
With 128 guestrooms, a restaurant, bars, conference rooms, and a gym, it will largely cater for businessmen visiting the City and the developers hope it will boost the economy in Haggerston.
But the proposals have enraged local residents and workers who argue that the seven-storey modern extension at the back of the old court, a grade two listed property, will dwarf the surrounding homes and offices.
An action group has strongly objected to the plans, raising concerns about the hotel’s size, design, security, and parking problems.
In a letter to Hackney Council, seen by The Hackney Post, Hoxton Street jeweller Lexi Dick wrote: “It is a greedy building, cramming itself into every square inch of space available, regardless of the surrounding buildings. It resembles a stack of shoe boxes.”
She argues that the looming edifice will reduce vital narural light in her studio by up to 30 per cent.
For Edward Woodcock, who lives in an apartment in the Timber Yard, the main concern is privacy. He said: “I will have a window facing right into the flat I own. They are saying my privacy will not be affected, because guests will not be in during the day and will be drawing their curtains by night. What about when guests draw their curtains in the morning? This is so lacking in common sense it’s laughable.”
But time is running out for the campaigners. Hackney Council’s planning sub-committee is scheduled to meet on 12 March to decide whether to grant planning permission to developers Mastcraft, who own and run a similar hotel on Great Marlborough Street in the West End, where rooms cost £250 to £450 a night.
Zsolt Moldan, the architect behind the design of the development, said that the hotel should make Hackney residents proud: “I think it will give enormous benefits to local residents and workers. We’re providing a big health and fitness centre, which will be available for them as well as considerable function and banqueting rooms.
“It will be the first five-star hotel in Hackney, which is quite something. I think people should actually be proud of it.”
Jonathan McShane is the councillor for Haggerston ward. He said: “Most people were quite pleased when they saw that a hotel was being developed there, but it was only when they realised it was going to be such a massive extension at the back of a nice old building that they became less keen.
“The hotel in principle is a good idea but the scale of this development seems out of keeping with the area.”
With approval from English Heritage and the Hackney planning service. it is unlikely the application will be rejected by the sub-committee, Cllr McShane said. “Frankly it’s highly unusual for councillors to turn down an application if officers have suggested it should be approved, especially with a big developer like this,” he explained.
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