Delivering to Flats

People are always telling me about flats [US: apartments] where they can’t deliver election leaflets.
Yes, more and more people are living in seclusion, and things are set to get worse under a Liberal Democrat administration, when only the most serious criminals will go to prison, because they will abolish sentences of less than six months.
However I have yet to find a building with more than five flats that I couldn’t get into, though admittedly there are hazards.
I have sheltered accommodation on my patch where the warden was always very defensive. After she faced a tirade of abuse from a senior Liberal Democrat local councillor 18 months ago she is even more protective. I have contacts who let me in, and I then have to whiz round the building undetected. Today I exited under her nose, as she sat at her desk.

Today’s LibDem lie: As Member of the European Parliament Nick Clegg used to fly to Brussels in economy class, but always claimed expenses for first class travel and pocketed the difference.

Cleggmania

Two clouds hang in the stratosphere across Britain this week.
We wait for the ash from the Icelandic volcano to clear, and for Nick Clegg’s X-factor stardom to wane.
The Liberals want us to scrutinise their policies. Well how about their amnesty for 600,000 illegal immigrants for starters -- our schools can’t cope. Add in unlimited immigration, “providing they only live up north”.
Locally they petition to keep hospitals open, but nationally there's no commitment to increase funding for the NHS.
And do they not realise cancelling Britain’s nuclear deterrent forfeits our place on the UN Security Council?
Opinion polls are saying one thing, but on the doorstep I’m finding little extra enthusiasm for the Liberals, and no stomach for another LibLab pact, the most likely outcome unless the Conservatives gain two dozen LibDem parliamentary seats.

British Airways 1200 : Unite 300

That’s the number of strikebreakers claimed by each of the sides in the BA cabin crew strike.
One could also argue it is the margin of victory by the airline, though wise of them not to crow about it.
We’ll see how they each fare in the second round next weekend.
In the olden days unions used to go on strike, and stay out until either their demands were met, or they capitulated. These days with union power restrained, striking is very much a part-time business.
Even Monday afternoon’s picket at Hatton Cross on the outskirts of Heathrow (pictured) was a rather feeble protest, though I was impressed by the number of hooting motorists driving past -- many too young to remember the union militancy of the 70s and 80s.

Nice to see a strike breaking Jet2.com aircraft (also pictured) at Heathrow Terminal 5, normally serving low cost routes from northern England, this time easing the strain for hard pressed BA passengers.

British Airways Strike

There’s a whole load of stuff we’re not being told about the British Airways cabin crew strike, and one might wonder why?
Hints are dropped about disunity within the trades union, Unite, which seriously hampers their ability to negotiate with the employer. Key union people will not even share the same room, let alone talk to each other
BA boss Willie Walsh is determined to break the strike, and with the rest of the airline’s workforce already having conceded cuts in wages and conditions, there is very little sympathy for the cabin crew.
Everyone is volunteering to man the planes in their absence, and many are still being trained.
Then there is the issue of travel perks. I am assured Willie Walsh will not go back on his promise to cancel staff travel concessions for anyone who walks out. As many of the cabin crew live in Scotland and the South of France, commuting to Heathrow Terminal Five to report for duty, their lifestyles will take a quite a hit -- assuming their jobs are still there when they return.
The outcome of this dispute could well determine the state of industrial relations in the UK for several years ahead.

Air Travel Insecurity

Flying with hand luggage has become an arms race.
Having sailed through Heathrow, I came a cropper in transit at Paris Charles de Gaulle, where they’re much tougher.
I thought I’d got my liquids contained -- shower gel, shampoo, hand gel, toothpaste, moisturiser, sunscreen, aftersun -- but all had to be repackaged in a tiny one-litre bag. The deodorant had to be ditched.
Still not happy, my belongings were rifled in search of some fruit salad -- not actually a prohibited item.
Returning via Amsterdam, security is still sloppy, and they weren’t bothered about the liquids -- just as well because my incoming flight was late and I was the last one on to the connecting flight.
A good surgeon these days can implant plastic explosives inside the belly of a suicide bomber, along with the two-pack liquid detonator. The only method of detection would be to set if off by punching the guy in the stomach -- a bit like how I felt.