黑洞社区

Enough already

It seems the alluring power of government is not all it鈥檚 cracked up to be as far as former Treasury minister Lord Jim O鈥橬eill is concerned. Speaking at a northern powerhouse event connected to London鈥檚 MIPIM UK conference last week, at the top of British Land鈥檚 Cheesegrater tower, O鈥橬eill commented: 鈥淚 am talking to you as a normal human being and not as a government minister. I have to say it鈥檚 rather nice.鈥� Apparently grafting at the Treasury was not something he could take any longer than 18 months, let alone 10 years, which he said would be the time required to see the northern powerhouse become a success. The former Goldman Sachs economist also described Article 50 and Brexit as 鈥渢he closest thing to the second coming of Christ鈥�. No, we don鈥檛 know what he meant either.

Actually a big softie

Apparently outgoing Mitie boss Ruby McGregor-Smith is known in some City circles as the 鈥減rickly peer鈥� with claims that she is too defensive and has even banned some analysts from meetings. Such a moniker seems hard to reconcile with the fact that, according to a recent profile piece, her favourite film is Love Actually, the Richard Curtis slush-fest from a few years back. She likes Coldplay and Snow Patrol too. Spiky? Edgy? Prickly? Sounds more like a smooth operator to me.

No sweat

I won鈥檛 be entering, but word reaches me that 800 people have signed up to run up 48 floors at the Cheesegrater next month. The race will cover 1,200 steps and will see runners 鈥� or, let鈥檚 face it, walkers 鈥� hit a height of 200m. It鈥檚 being done for Rainbow Trust, which supports over 2,000 families caring for a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. More details can be found here rainbowtrust.org.uk/events/grate48. Views, for those who make it, should be spectacular.

Streets ahead

Van drivers are feeling a bit peeved. Whenever are they not, I鈥檓 tempted to ask, but new research says that two-thirds of them believe they are made a scapegoat for perceived poor driving standards on UK roads. And yet the study claims that just 9% of them have been involved in a road traffic collision in the last 12 months. And more than half have their driving performance monitored by their employer and 34% receive driver training. Please, stop it. I鈥檒l be starting to feel sorry for them next.

Going out of style

This rather grabbed my eye. Residents in Twickenham, south-west London, are up in arms about plans by classical architect Francis Terry to design a new building in the area. The plans include a Regency-style arcade which has seen residents demand the architect be removed because they don鈥檛 want his style of architecture in their neighbourhood. The chair of a local residents鈥� group, Susan Burningham, puts it like this: 鈥淕o and practise somewhere else.鈥�

Coffee fix

What to do about all those pesky coffee cups that aren鈥檛 biodegradable? Well, a 拢40,000 starter home by Clear Architects won praise at the recent Grand Designs Live event after impressing judges with its use for coffee cups 鈥� shredded for insulation 鈥� and other initiatives which included stacking them and wrapping them in waterproof membrane for rainwater pipes. A good idea, it would seem, but others might be tempted to wonder: is it all a lot of froth?