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When will we finally lift the Queen out of poverty? When will we finally lift the Queen out of poverty?
(7 months later)
• With families struggling to pay their heating bills – and the threat to the UK's energy supplies, many are suffering, says Ed Davey, the energy secretary. But is it really the case that the Queen is a helpless victim of fuel poverty? No. It just seems like it. "The current measure tracks the price of wholesale gas, which is not that accurate, and, indeed, at times the Queen was in fuel poverty under this measure," Davey told a recent Prospect magazine roundtable discussion. But then that has been the case for some time. The issue was raised by the spending review of 2010. In 2011, the FT reflected the concerns. "Energy bills for four palaces and a draughty castle absorb a rising share of her income," it said, noting that experts agree there should be a revised method of calculation. Davey himself flagged up the anomaly last year at the Hay festival. "The Queen could be in fuel poverty if gas prices go up because of the way we measure fuel poverty. I strongly support the monarchy and, in the Diamond Jubilee year, we all do, but to say the Queen is in fuel poverty – I think she would disagree." And yet three years on, the system of measurement that everyone – including the minister – ridicules remains intact, having thus far survived both review and consultation. Woe is Ed. With this government, there's no quick fix.• With families struggling to pay their heating bills – and the threat to the UK's energy supplies, many are suffering, says Ed Davey, the energy secretary. But is it really the case that the Queen is a helpless victim of fuel poverty? No. It just seems like it. "The current measure tracks the price of wholesale gas, which is not that accurate, and, indeed, at times the Queen was in fuel poverty under this measure," Davey told a recent Prospect magazine roundtable discussion. But then that has been the case for some time. The issue was raised by the spending review of 2010. In 2011, the FT reflected the concerns. "Energy bills for four palaces and a draughty castle absorb a rising share of her income," it said, noting that experts agree there should be a revised method of calculation. Davey himself flagged up the anomaly last year at the Hay festival. "The Queen could be in fuel poverty if gas prices go up because of the way we measure fuel poverty. I strongly support the monarchy and, in the Diamond Jubilee year, we all do, but to say the Queen is in fuel poverty – I think she would disagree." And yet three years on, the system of measurement that everyone – including the minister – ridicules remains intact, having thus far survived both review and consultation. Woe is Ed. With this government, there's no quick fix.
• Meanwhile the battle to stop the sale of half of the Whittington hospital in north London hots up, telling us something about the deployment of power in this day and age. MPs' and thundering editorials will only progress a campaign so far. For traction, deploy the celebrities. And, it should be said, the Camden New Journal is doing that rather well, with a tour de force this week of stars lending their names to the newspaper-led protest. It helps, one would guess, that the paper covers one of the more star-kissed areas of the capital. So they've roped in Sir Jonathan Miller, who was a medical student at the Whittington, film director Stephen Frears, whose brother was treated there after a heart attack, singer Alexandra Burke, who was taken to A&E after being bitten by a dog, and Alexei Sayle, who was taken there after falling down the stairs. Throw in director Sir Richard Eyre, singer Annie Lennox, The Wire and The Hour actor Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson, Rupert Graves, crime writer Martina Cole, comic writer Charlie Higson, and that's a good week's work for a local paper rolling up its sleeves and doing what local papers should be doing. That's why it would be nice, in these straitened times, if more than a few local papers survived.• Meanwhile the battle to stop the sale of half of the Whittington hospital in north London hots up, telling us something about the deployment of power in this day and age. MPs' and thundering editorials will only progress a campaign so far. For traction, deploy the celebrities. And, it should be said, the Camden New Journal is doing that rather well, with a tour de force this week of stars lending their names to the newspaper-led protest. It helps, one would guess, that the paper covers one of the more star-kissed areas of the capital. So they've roped in Sir Jonathan Miller, who was a medical student at the Whittington, film director Stephen Frears, whose brother was treated there after a heart attack, singer Alexandra Burke, who was taken to A&E after being bitten by a dog, and Alexei Sayle, who was taken there after falling down the stairs. Throw in director Sir Richard Eyre, singer Annie Lennox, The Wire and The Hour actor Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson, Rupert Graves, crime writer Martina Cole, comic writer Charlie Higson, and that's a good week's work for a local paper rolling up its sleeves and doing what local papers should be doing. That's why it would be nice, in these straitened times, if more than a few local papers survived.
• Celebs have also been drafted into the dispute at Sussex University, where undergraduates have occupied the admin building to stop 253 support staff jobs being privatised. Comedians Josie Long and Mark Steel went along to raise morale, as did Will Self. Vice chancellor Michael Farthing apparently tried to end the protest by scheduling a meeting with protesters elsewhere in the university and stipulating that they would have to leave the admin building before it took place, but students were too canny to fall for that. Instead, they sent an emissary who, seeing the room unguarded, grabbed the tea and biscuits laid out and returned with them for comrades to consume at leisure. The spoils of war in Sussex: Jammie Dodgers and custard creams.• Celebs have also been drafted into the dispute at Sussex University, where undergraduates have occupied the admin building to stop 253 support staff jobs being privatised. Comedians Josie Long and Mark Steel went along to raise morale, as did Will Self. Vice chancellor Michael Farthing apparently tried to end the protest by scheduling a meeting with protesters elsewhere in the university and stipulating that they would have to leave the admin building before it took place, but students were too canny to fall for that. Instead, they sent an emissary who, seeing the room unguarded, grabbed the tea and biscuits laid out and returned with them for comrades to consume at leisure. The spoils of war in Sussex: Jammie Dodgers and custard creams.
• Why was the royal editor of the Sun, Duncan Larcombe, absent from the glitzy Royal Television Society awards on Wednesday night at the London Hilton? After all, he'd judged one award and a place was laid for him at table 30. Is this the continuing work of Scotland Yard, muttered those placed around him, with more than 20 Sun journalists – including Larcombe himself – having been arrested recently. No, says News International. He had the splash to work on and he was busy. Still, one is bound to ask these days.• Why was the royal editor of the Sun, Duncan Larcombe, absent from the glitzy Royal Television Society awards on Wednesday night at the London Hilton? After all, he'd judged one award and a place was laid for him at table 30. Is this the continuing work of Scotland Yard, muttered those placed around him, with more than 20 Sun journalists – including Larcombe himself – having been arrested recently. No, says News International. He had the splash to work on and he was busy. Still, one is bound to ask these days.
• Alex Thompson of Channel 4 News turned up. As was expected. He was named TV Journalist of the Year. And his description of the journalist's raison d'etre delighted many, but wasn't one thought suitable for Lord Justice Leveson. We exist to "take on the powerful and piss them off", he said.• Alex Thompson of Channel 4 News turned up. As was expected. He was named TV Journalist of the Year. And his description of the journalist's raison d'etre delighted many, but wasn't one thought suitable for Lord Justice Leveson. We exist to "take on the powerful and piss them off", he said.
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