fisharepeopletoo

Spokeless Hub

The Arts Council is getting a new central London head office, which "will also provide a hub and a resource for the nine regional offices."

Since the London Olympics are going to reduce each regional office to one bored clerk writing a cheque every April to pay half the electricity bill for a theatre, I think the Arts Council can save themselves a few quid on that part of the design.

Freedom for Tooting

Oh why didn't I think of this!

If you are of an age to have been watching early evening sitcoms on the BBC in the late 70s, there is only one choice of spoof petition to send to Tony Blair, and this is it:

Vernacular Satire

There are some unexpected and interesting petitions on the government's new “the Prime Minister really values your opinions” site.

For example the fifth most popular is “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reduce the classified period for census data from 100 years to 70 years.” with 20 000 signatories.

That must be from people who are interested in family history.

Or all the conspiracy theorists in the UK have put aside their differences and mobilised as a body of men.

But of course by far the best part of the site is the rejected petitions and the reason for rejection.

Rejected because it was intended to be humorous.

Though a petition to make the Prime Minister “My wife now Dave” *

Was rejected because it was “It was outside the remit or powers of the Prime Minister and Government” rather than because it was humorous.

That said, asking the Prime Minister to stand on his head and juggle ice cream is a legitimate request.

I guess it must be a civil servant with their nose pressed to the screen making these decisions, not a computer with endless capacity.

Which means it’s possible for the whole thing to be brought crashing down under a blizzard of silly petitions. There’s an RSS feed of rejected petitions to help you follow the action.

I’ve done my bit.

(And it’s not that silly an idea anyway.)

But if you have a modest proposal that your cat should be Britain’s next cosmonaut, here’s where to enlist our support.

And don’t think of this as wrecking a worthwhile initiative. It is a worthwhile initiative but it’ll be all the better for being tickled to death.

Because laughing at the expense of our lords and masters is about the noblest form of political engagement there is.

So have some fun, it’s your society after all.

*From the League of Gentlemen. The reason for rejection could prove either that the censors have a sense of humour, or they don't.

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