trousers

Because, he might be trying to highlight example of what happens when the police fail in their duties? Turning this on its head for a moment, if you were a policeman and wanted to highlight the past failings of the police force at sporting events, what examples would you likely come up with? I think we're all agreeing that the article comes across as clumsy but we don't know for sure the precise point he was trying to make. There is more than one valid interpretation here.

Yes, he's linking the two, but I think there's a possibility he's trying to actually highlight how the police can get things wrong by inaction, whether it be at a football ground, at protest marches, etc" As I say, perhaps I shouldn't be giving this level of benefit-of-the-doubt to the man.

I've just read the article and I must admit this was my initial feeling. I could be reading between the lines incorrectly but I actually think he mentioned Hillsborough (in particular) as an acknowledgement that the police were found to be guilty in not taking enough proactive action to prevent the sad events that occurred and that, by contrast, the bubble idea (whether people think it'll work or not) is at least a sign that the police are acting proactively (Yes, completely different cicumstances but I don't think he was comparing them per se) Perhaps I'm giving too much benefit of the doubt there but I didn't read it as a direct justification for using the bubble but more of a way of highlighting that "doing nothing" from a policing perspective can cause problems in its own right. You can just imagine the uproar on here if there was no bubble in place and Saints fans got attacked..."Why the hell didn;t the police anticipate this and do something to prevent it?" But, all that said, yes, I can also see how using these disasters in an article like this can come across as tasteless and inflamatory.

I'm starting to think the same the more I think about this. Apologies if highlighting this frontpage BBC item in my OP has caused anoyone any distress. (Mods - please delete the thread if you feel appropriate. Thanks)

Pompey's peril: This positively reeks of deja vu When Portsmouth splashed out nearly £3million on Jason Pearce, Luke Varney and Erik Huseklepp this summer, I must admit, I was surprised. Having overspent nearly to the point of extinction in the past, it seemed bizarre that the club would herald their exit from administration with a spending spree. Sure, they needed players, but where other clubs exiting administration have made the most of the free transfer and the loan market, at least for a while, Pompey, under the ownership of Convers Sports Initatives and chaired by Lithuanian Vladimir Antonov, went straight back to their old ways. No one is saying I told you so yet, in fact, all Football League fans are hoping that the administration of Convers has little or no effect on the south coast club - but this positively reeks of deja vu. [Edit: Erm...anyone beg to differ?!] But the immediate response to Antonov's resignation as chairman - less than six months after he took over the club - was a promising one. As has happened so often in the past at this hugely unfortunate club [Edit: Erm...ditto?!] , they responded as they only know how to, with a battling performance on the pitch. Saturday's 2-1 win over Coventry marked new manager Michael Appleton's first win in charge of the club, and although they sit just three points above the drop zone, the league is so tight this year and Pompey's squad talented enough that a play-off push is not out of the question. Were they to be deducted 10 points though, it would be. Whatever happens now, Appleton has a huge job on his hands. Even if this were to all blow over - and let's hope it does - the speculation is going to be hard to ignore for the manager, the players and fans. But if anyone knows how to concentrate on the day job, then it's Pompey. It would appear to all of those looking from the outside in that the club's administrator Andrew Andronikou did a botched job of deciding to sell to Antonov and Co. But fear not Pompey fans, he has some words of advice for you...'What the club need now is someone to come in with the necessary resources to take the club forward,' Andronikou said last week. Correct me if I'm wrong, Andrew, but weren't you saying that last year? Comment on that article here: http://flblog.dailymail.co.uk/2011/12/pompeys-peril-this-positively-reeks-of-deja-vu.html#comments

I'd be happy to point out the differences, if only I hadn't already used up today's allowance of the 0.8% of my life that I spend on here....

"Never again....." Indeed.

My point entirely. (Ha ha)

*chuckle out loud* :-)

^This

Good job this is only a game of football we're talking about then. Just think what the "ridicule" would be like if it was something important.

Is that before or after the Vatican announce that the pope is still a catholic?

Good. That's £10,000 revenue that they've got to find themselves....

Just had a skim read through.....this bit caught my eye: "Under the plans, which were unveiled as part of the Autumn Statement, NHS records would be made anonymous and then made available to private firms." I guess that leads the debate down the "is data, strictly speaking, 'private' once it's been made anonymous?". As long as there are guarantees that this "private" data can't be reverse engineered back to an individual (fat chance?) then I've no problem with this initiative in principle if it leads to better results whilst maintaing the "free at the point of use" ethos. In other words, I'm keeping a pragmatic open mind on this one for now.

Interesting one! "Not sure about this" is my initial reaction. Will have a read up on it and furnish you with my wisdom in due course ;-)

Peston was putting forward the assertion that we can trace the current crisis back as far as "a thousand years ago" when the Chinese embarked on a "disastrous" communism led economic policy. I guess it's somewhat ironic that it was the realisation that a communism led economy in the Far East had failed which ultimately led to an equally failed capitalist led economy in the West. Western countries simply couldn't compete with a China that started embracing capitalist economic principles in the late 70s and early 80s. China was able to start producing goods at ridiculously low prices and the likes of Thatcher saw the service industry as a way of generating wealth when it was obvious we couldn't compete with China's manufacturing industry. At the time that must have seemed a logical thing to do and, looking back, I can't see how we could have propped up our manufacturing industry, which by the late 70s was beset with crippling wage demands and productivity levels far below what could be achieved in China. China produced cheap goods and we bought them using cheap money borrowed from....erm....the Chinese. That's one hell of a vicious circle to escape from....

In my opinion? No.

The Party's Over: How the West Went Bust: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017znzt/The_Partys_Over_How_the_West_Went_Bust_Episode_1/ Anyone else watch the first of this Robert Peston 2 part series yesterday evening? I thought it was the best explanation I've heard to-date as to how we've got to where we are today. Recommended viewing IMHO. "In the teeth of the worst financial crisis in living memory, BBC business editor Robert Peston examines how the world got to this point and how the collossal imbalances in the global economy have left the UK in need of a radical economic overhaul. In this first of two programmes Peston examines how, thirty years ago, momentous decisions were taken which shaped the world we live in today. In China, Deng Xiao Ping opened up the country to foreign capitalists; in Britain and America, the free market revolution was unleashed by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. The Party's Over compares the lives of workers in a Chinese company with their co-workers in Britain. Robert Peston interviews bankers, politicians and economists, and concludes that the boom we enjoyed before the crash was based on an illusion, and that the world's economy is now so unbalanced that in the West we face a sobering wake-up call."

On the BBC website today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15975720 This is both interesting and grim in equal measures.

"the fortunes so casually spent on trophy asset clubs by owners of doubtful pedigree make it grotesque" Hmm, can't quite put my finger on which team that sentence reminds me of...

Therefore, if what is happening is illegal shouldn't 'we' (as upstanding citizens of this country) be reporting a possible crime to the police? I thought it was also illegal not to report a crime to the police?

Stuffed crust?

Pompey just found another month's wages...I seem to recall us drawing Man Utd in our administration year kept us afloat for another few months... That said, it's CSI that are in financial trouble, not the football club...

Pompey just found another month's wages...