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February
Bully Tactics at No. 10 24th February 2010
When is a confidential helpline not helpful?
When the head of a confidential anti-bullying charity goes public with details of their callers who - you'd assume - wish to remain anonymous there's obviously something amiss. In my experience confidential helplines are only helpful if they are confidential.

Christine Pratt (a name that may well have given rise to some bullying in the school playground) has got into hot water for going public with enough details to identify some of the people who sought advice from her confidential helpline.

But the real headline is the office in question - it's none other than Number 10 Downing Street. Yup, this thing goes right to the top and Gordon Brown has become embroiled in an episode which will forever be known as 'Bullygate'.

But with Christine facing accusations of using the helpline to recruit clients for her other business - advising victims of bullying on how to handle disputes with their employer - and with the helpline now suspended, the whole thing seems to have backfired a bit.

Conspiracy theories abound when you learn that the expose has been well timed to coincide with a new book by political journalist Andrew Rawnsley, with accusations of - you guessed it - Gordon's 'volcanic rages' and how one unlucky aide got grabbed by the lapels..

The Chancellor Alistair Darling got dragged into it too, having spoken of his own side unleashing 'the forces of hell' against him when he admitted we were heading into the worst recession in 60 years. However he has categorically denied Brown did any bullying.

In his defence Brown has said "I never hit anybody". Hmm… because anything up to actually whacking someone you work with is fine by him. Whatever the allegations and denials it's all terribly bad timing (or good timing, if you're batting for the other team) what with the election coming up in May.

But for anyone who's seen The Thick Of It none of this should come as a surprise. Sure, the award winning TV drama is meant to be a work of fiction. But it's also all too believable. In the corridors of power no one could be a bigger bully than Malcolm Tucker, the foul mouthed, foul tempered enforcer of the party line - aka 'Director of Communications'.

Many of Malcolm's best lines are too overwhelmed with expletives to print on a family website. So, if you haven't already, I strongly advise you to watch the programme - or the film version, In the Loop - to get the idea. And you'll have a jolly good laugh while you're at it. It'll certainly put this whole bullying thing into perspective.
Football Fans Not Welcome at Zoo
The director general of London Zoo, Ralph Armond, has written to Camden Council objecting to plans to turn Regent's Park into a 'fan zone' during the World Cup this summer amid fears over animal welfare. The Greater London Authority has put in an application for the Fan Fest on Gloucester Green in Regent’s Park, adjacent to the zoo, from 11 June to 3 July 2010. But with 20,000 supporters expected daily throughout the tournament, Mr Armond is worried that alcohol-fuelled footie fans spell trouble for the furry creatures (the zoo animals, that is).
Love Live the Memory of McQueen
One of the UK's most famous fashion designers, Alexander McQueen, passed away this month in tragic circumstances, just days before London Fashion Week was due to start. The shocking revelation that he committed suicide was met with a deluge of tributes pouring in from the fashion and film worlds. British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman marked his passing by beginning London Fashion Week with a minute's silence. Praising McQueen's talent, he said: ''He proved that this industry and this city is one of opportunity."
Who's Hot on the Red Carpet
Oh the glamour! This month we had not just LFW but the BAFTAs too. The film stars gracing the red carpet in all their finery included Kate Winslet, Joely Richardson and Carey Mulligan - the young star of An Education. But it was her co-star Olivia Williams who one most revealing outfit of the night - an honour usually reserved for Jordon aka Katie Price. Clearly the Catherine Walker dress left little to the imagination: "She did not appear to be wearing any underwear," The Telegraph was at pains to point out.
2010
24th February
Bully Tactics at No. 10
22nd February
Whine connoisseur
26th January
Carbuncle City
20th January
A Laugh a Day...
3rd January
Stalking in Richmond
2009
29th December
Predictions for 2010
30th November
London 1 Paris 0
27th November
Mr Benn, The Wombles
26th October
Frieze Still Pleases
26th October
Posties Strike a Chord
26th September
A River Runs Through It
23rd September
Blogging is Best
26th August
When Saturday comes
22nd August
Bring on the Bikes
27th July
Against the Clock
20th July
View for a thrill
18th June
Let Them Eat Cake
16th June
Only Fools And Horses?
26th May
Come Rain Or Shine
18th May
Embarrassing Expenses
27th April
New Designs on Old Fossils
19th April
City Slickers
26th March
Woody Set for Rematch
10th March
Take a Bow, London
18th February
New Photography Laws
12th February
Glitz and the Pitts
27th January
Setting the Standard
21st January
Too Much for Posh Nosh?
2008
23rd December
January is on the Horizon
20th December
Merry Christmas
26th November
All The World's A Stage
20th November
Surviving the Crunch
24th October
Boris v Jingjing
17th October
Soaps in Pole Position
23rd September
Chips too Chavvy for Chelsea
16th September
The London Restaurant Awards
26th August
No Smoking, No Ducks, No Barbecues
20th August
The Olympics
24th July
Sandwiched Out
17th July
The Show Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady's on Page 3
26th June
Love All at Wimbledon
16th June
Miller Puts the Heat on Tennant
27th May
Booze Banned on Buses
20th May
Same Again?
23rd April
By George
11th April
Back to the 80s
28th March
How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea?
20th March
Flight Fantastic
20th February
Dark, Satanic Turnmills
6th February
A Diamond in the Drink
21st January
People Wanted for Plinth
14th January
Boo! Hiss!
2007
28th December
Tate That - A Hirst for Art
20th December
Christmas Shopping
27th November
Mind the Gap
26th November
London On A Tray
26th October
Leaving the Station
14th October
The Sky's the Limit
26th September
The Play Within A Play
19th September
Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks
12th September
Saying Tanks for the Mammaries
24th August
Heathrow under Siege
17th August
Gormless
10th August
Losing Face
24th July
Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer?
13th July
Red Ken versus Blonde Boris
22nd June
Last Orders at the Fag Machine
11th June
London the Musical
21st May
What Lurks Beneath
10th May
The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
27th April
London’s Walk on the Wild Side
20th April
Stand Behind the Yellow Line
13th April
Like Water for Chocolate
23rd March
So, Another Magazine
16th March
Avoiding iContact
23rd February
Sex and Art...
16th February
C-Charge Protest Fails to Bring Down Government
9th February
Live Earth London
26th January
A Vote for Shilpa is a Vote for Britain
18th January
Carriage on up the West End
2006
29th December
Food for Thought
22nd December
A Poisonous Marketing Campaign
15th December
In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds
17th November
Big Department Stores Leave Santa Out in the Cold
10th November
Failing to Save the World
27th October
Frozen Prawns and Melting Icecaps
20th October
Predatory Pelicans and Happy Woodland Folk
13th October
Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street
16th September
Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back
9th September
Of Poles and Twiglets
25th August
Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable
11th August
London Friendly
4th August
Archway To Organic Heaven
21st July
London - Celebrity Frat House
7th July
Out of the Galleries into the Streets
23rd June
Mayors, Nightmares and Marias
16th June
Downright Rude in Paris and London
9th June
Enter the Inferno
26th May
Curvaceous Border
12th May
Vegging Out
21st April
The Camden Crawl
17th April
Down the Pan
13th April
I Want to Break Free
9th April
Big Brother seems to have been left in a bar somewhere
7th April
Don't Box Me In
24th March
Political Correctness Reaches New Heights
24th February
A Stadium's Tale: Cup Final Goes West
17th February
Modern Musicals are Rubbish
10th February
The City-Side Alliance
20th January
Moby Sick
20th January
February Sales
13th January
Glass Half Full
3rd January
Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers
2005
22nd December
January Bites
16th December
A Remarkable Year
25th November
And a Partridge in a JCB
11th November
Driving Miss Sadie
4th November
Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin
28th October
Trick or Treat?
21st October
We Don't Mind a Little Delay...
14th October
Final Resting Place for Young British Artists
16th September
Just a small urn for me, please barman
9th September
DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!
2nd September
The Free Tenor
30th August
Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium
20th August
Getting Behind the Iron Farce
10th August
Mystery Play is No Sell Out
29th July
Moving On From 7/7
22nd July
Get loaded in the park
15th July
Victoire!!
24th June
New Balls, Please
17th June
The End of an Unsightly Era
10th June
The Hooded Law
31st May
Widespread Diso-’Beeb’-ience
20th May
Black Theatre Breakthrough
20th May
Pass the Pepper Spray
27th April
Five More Years
20th April
Dancing with Idiots
12th April
A Youthful Look at the Theatre
30th March
Musical Communion
23rd March
Big Guns Back in Town
10th March
Celebs in the City
28th February
There's no business like showbusiness!
22nd February
Ken You Believe It?
10th February
Make Poverty History
28th January
Loving It!
21st January
The Great West End Ticketing Scandal
14th January
The Triumph of the Ordinary
2004
30th December
Party Pooper
23rd December
The Second Battle of Trafalgar
16th December
Sadie's Year
28th November
Ripper-Watch
21st November
Kinky Boots
14th November
Smoked out
22nd October
Yuppie Meal
15th October
Fines of Fury
8th October
No Twist in the Turner
17th September
Battleships, bloodsports and Batman
10th September
Clique Week
3rd September
Return of the Bard
20th August
Politics Takes Centre Stage
13th August
Crisis in Theatreland
6th August
Journey's End
23rd July
Healing Waters
16th July
Mandela Statue in Doubt
9th July
From Art to Ashes
2nd July
One Hurdle Nearer to Gold
 
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