UWS Government Publications Blog

Politicians were sticking their faces into the spotlight this weekend (it’s not like them, is it?): Peter Mandelson was accused of bullying after it was revealed that he sent a threatening letter to those opposed to the HBOS merger; and House of Commons speaker Michael Martin is proving less than popular after blaming an underling for the police raid on an MP’s parliamentary office. Elsewhere, the price of oil plunged to a four-year low, and yet petrol prices are still rather high. Considering that 2/3 of the cost of a litre of fuel goes to HM Treasury, you know who to blame/congratulate for that state of affairs. There were also monumental rammies in Greece after police shot dead a teenager in Athens.

Football: Hamilton fans look away now, as the Accies were on the wrong end of a 7-1 tanking by Rangers; on the plus side, St Mirren won and Queens drew. Ayr’s unbeaten run stretched to two weeks after their game against Lochee was called off for the second Saturday on the trot.

As ever seems to be the case, this news roundup is a bit depressing this week:

Terror attacks in Mumbai claimed the lives of at least 172 people; protesters in Thailand have taken over the country’s main international airport in an attempt to unseat the government, leaving thousands of travellers stranded; and in the UK an MP was arrested in connection with a series of leaks from the Home Office, the first time in the history of the Westminster Parliament that this has happened. What will be the impact on democracy, critics ask?

Perhaps more worringly, Britney Spears came to Britain to punt her new album, mimed on the X Factor and then went home.

The Sport of Kings (football, that is, not horse racing): a mixed set of results yada yada yada. Will the chaps ever all win on one weekend?. Well, not this weekend, that’s for sure, although there was a decent chance of it happening seeing as neither Queens nor Ayr played. Hamilton did win, right enough, but the Buddies let the side down with defeat at home to Dundee Utd. Boo!

Money makes the world go around the world go around the world go around, a mark a yen a buck or a pound, it makes the world go round! (Written before the Euro, obviously).

Much speculation over the weekend over Mr Darling’s pre-budget report (which will appear on these pages soon!) – what’ll he do to save us from ourselves? Will he lower VAT? Will he raise the stamp-duty threshold? Will he make bars of gold bullion appear magically from his trouser pockets? We’ll find out later today. We also discovered that it snows in winter in the north of Scotland! Who’d a thunk it? It looks as if the famous high street name of Woolworths is in bother too. Shame. Where else can you get sweeties, toys, televisions, potato peelers and waterproof sealant all under one roof? What’s that you say? Tesco? Oh right. And Asda? Oh right.

Football: mixed fortunes again for the Fantastic Four: St Mirren were controversially on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline, Hamilton snatched a draw from the jaws of victory, Queens lost to bottom boys Clyde, and Ayr put four past East Fife. In other sports, Scottish Rugby got a little bit of pride back thanks to a 41-0 trouncing of Canada, and in fighting Ricky Hatton beat Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas.

Another weekend, another news roundup (and not a very upbeat one, it has to be said).

The investigation into Haringey Council’s handling of the torture and murder of Baby P continued; world leaders met in Washington to try to thrash out a solution to the problems affecting the global economy; and the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing was refused bail while his appeal proceeds through the Appeal Court.

Fitba: the campus-town teams had to rely on Ayr again for a victory: Hamilton and St Mirren both lost by the odd goal to one of the Old Firm teams and Queens lost to Dundee; Ayr, on the other hand, beat a bunch of amateurs 3-0. Elsewhere in sport, Scotland’s rugby team threw away a 10 point lead against South Africa at Murrayfield and Andy Murray was knocked out of the Masters tennis tournament.

What’s this? I’m working on a Monday? I know, I know: wonders will never cease.

Anyway, what happened over the weekend that was worth noting on this here respected record of world events…?

US President-elect Barack Obama made his first official appearance after his election win last week, where he pledged to cure all afflicted of their ills (or words to that effect); two of Scotland’s big hitters in the banking world reckon that HBOS should remain independent; and, on a solemn note, Britain remembered the servicemen and women who lost their lives in past and current conflicts.

Fitba: again, not a great week for the campus-toon teams. St Mirren lost thanks to a late goal, Hamilton drew and Queens got a right royal pumping, which leaves only Ayr (again) holding their heads up with a victory. Elsewhere in the world of sport (I’m beginning to sound like Dickie Davies here), Scotland took a tanking off of an understrength (is there such a thing?) All Blacks and, for those of you who like violence, Welshman Joe Calzaghe maintained his 18-year unbeaten record with victory in the ring over Roy Jones Jr at Madison Square Garden.

Yes folks. It was yet ANOTHER Monday off for your blogmeister. You just cannae beat a long weekend (although I was working on Saturday – boo!).

Anyway, the big election’s coming up: the Glenrothes by-election.

Okay, okay: the US Presidential Election takes place today, so tomorrow we’ll either have the first black president of the US or the first female vice-president. If you believe the polls, Obama should be measuring up for White House curtains without a second thought, but if I was a betting man then I’d punt a few pennies on McCain at 13/8. Why? Why not? At those odds, you’d be mad not to! (Remember, folks: gambling is bad – don’t do it!).

Puerile joke alert: given the precedent of US presidents being known by their initials (i.e. JFK, LBJ, Dubya) do you think that Barack Obama will follow suit if he wins?

** STOP PRESS ** Wed 5 Nov ** Obama wins! ** – just as well I never put the bet on, eh?

Fitba: Only the Honest Men can hold their heads high this week. Not only were Ayr the only team to win; they were the only campus-town team to score: St Mirren drew while Queen of the South and Hamilton lost. And speaking of Hamilton, Lewis of that ilk won the Formula 1 World Championship on Sunday on the last corner of the last race of the season. Well done, Mr H! Now do it again.

Another Monday off! What can I say? More days of than Santa Claus, me.

What happened over the weekend then? This economic crisis just won’t go away, but I’m not going to concentrate on the negative. Fluff is what interests me today: Andrew Sachs is famous again! Que? Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross left naughty messages on his answering machine and got into bother. Is this news? Well, ITV ran with it as their headline story last night, so it must be important. Schadenfreude, anyone? Poor Manuel. Bet he wishes he never left Barcelona now. Also, AC/DC are top of the album charts for the first time since 1980! And if you follow this link here, AC/DC are also responsible for every global recession during the last 30 years (or something). Just remember folks: Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution!

Sport: the fitba teams are wobbling! Hamilton and St Mirren got beat and Ayr drew. The shining lights, though, are Queen of the South, who won and are top of their league. Good on yeez! And…Andy Murray won ANOTHER tournament. This is becoming a habit, young man.

Dontcha just love days off? I had a great one yesterday, thanks for asking.

So what happened in the world during my loooong weekend? I could go on about the banks again, but where’s the fun in that? I’ll follow BBC News’s attitude and try to accentuate the positive, as Dr John once put it: it’s autumn and the leaves are changing colour! And in the pop charts, one song did slightly better than another. Ignore the bad things, people; concentrate on the shiny things.

Speaking of which, the fitba: the first inter-campus-town game between Hamilton and St Mirren ended with victory for the Paisley Buddies. Hooray or Boo, depending on your standpoint. Queens and Ayr lost, so not the most successful of weekends for the campus-town mobs. On the plus side, elsewhere in the sporting world Andy Murray won another tennis title and Lewis Hamilton is one step nearer the F1 World Championship, so it’s not all doom and gloom.

Just remember that folks: it’s not all doom and gloom. Remember the shiny things.

Yaaaaaaaaaawn!

It’s the banks again: the IMF said that the world financial system is about to go pear-shaped while comrades Darling and Broon nationalised the banks in the UK. Gamblers in the stock markets are a little more confident this morning, but it’s holiday time in the US, so if the NYSE plunges tomorrow we can, no doubt, expect more of the same across the rest of the world.

If, however it’s REAL turmoil that you want, look no further than Scotland’s World Cup 2010 qualification campaign. Despite Scotland’s 1-0 victory over Norway thanks to Chris Iwelumo’s 66th minute winner…what’s that?…he missed?…surely not…anyway, Kris Boyd has taken the huff and has vowed never to play under George Burley again. Ah…to live the life of a petulant millionaire. I’m sure in the months to come there will be many thousands of newly redundant Scottish workers who will respect, support and identify with Kris’s stance on this issue.

Fight the good fight Kris! Football huffs are what REALLY matter these days!

Elsewhere in the sporting world, legendary golfer Seve Ballesteros has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Get well soon, Seve!