With, Of Course, Exceptions For The Right People?

Joanna Lumley has suggested that a system of rationing similar to that seen during wartime, under which people would have a limited number of points to spend on holidays or lavish consumer goods, could eventually help to tackle the climate crisis.

Gosh, where to start? Apart from, 'What 'climate crisis'..? 

“These are tough times, and I think there’s got to be legislation,” she told the Radio Times. “That was how the war was – stuff was rationed – and at some stage I think we might have to go back to some kind of system of rationing, where you’re given a certain number of points and it’s up to you how to spend them, whether it’s buying a bottle of whisky or flying in an aeroplane.”

I know as you get older you tend to fetishise the 'good old days' but this is utterly barking even by usual luvvie standards! 

In a new documentary on ITV next week, Lumley travels around the UK...

On foot? By bike? 

...following the adventurer Sacha Dench – known as “the human swan” – as she attempts an epic 3,000-mile journey around the British coast in an electric paramotor.

While her luggage goes by road, I guess? Will such a method of transport catch on?

...in September, just days from her journey’s end, Dench and her support pilot and photographer Dan Burton, who was flying a conventional paramotor, collided in mid-air over the western Highlands. Burton, 54, a father of two from Devon, died, and Dench, 46, was seriously injured and remains in hospital.

Reader, it's a 'No!' from me... 

H/T: TheOtherDavidBellamy via Twitter

Doesn't Talent Go Where It Will Be Fulfilled Then..?

Annilese Miskimmon is concerned:

...nobody knows where ENO will be in a year’s time. In November, Arts Council England (ACE) announced it was axing ENO’s £12.6m annual grant unless the company moved wholesale out of London, throwing in the idea of Manchester as a possible destination, but without backing this up with any sort of plan or research. January brought a temporary reprieve, but a move out of London by 2026 is still demanded.

So..? 

“There is fear in the whole UK opera world when you look at that 30% loss of funding and the effect on talent, innovation, accessibility and the future of the art form.

They've suggested Manchester, not Mars.  

“It’s bigger than ENO. The reason why you have internationally renowned UK talent is because they have come through an ecosystem that supports artists at every stage. Taking ENO out of that ecosystem is devastating. I fear we are losing a whole generation of talent who cannot be sustained in this country.”

If they are really talented, they'll go to you. You don't need to go to them. Isn't that what talent does? 

I Don't Think You're Making The Argument You Think You Are, Laila...

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then perhaps coming to the Baftas looking for diversity is an exercise in madness.

Well, yes, Laila, since it's just a luvvie's award show. If you want diversity, trip down your local enriched high street (if the cops haven't sealed off the road for another machete attack) instead and marvel...

...awards are fundamentally subjective exercises. Trying to get film fans to unanimously agree that Cate Blanchett was more convincing as a lecherous conductor than Deadwyler as the bereaved mother of a lynched child, or vice versa, is a fool’s errand.

And yet here you are, a fool... 

Some of our best filmmakers, such as Terence Davies and Joanna Hogg, are studiously ignored by Bafta voters, and Black British directors Menelik Shabazz, Horace Ové and Ngozi Onwurah innovated without the support of many of the bodies that purport to champion British film.

Excellent! They can be scrapped then. Since they are obviously not required. Eh, Laila..? 

Awards are only as prestigious as the public perception of them, and by the time the Bafta inclusivity targets are met in 2025 it may be too late to claw back any cultural relevancy.

Guess the public have spoken. 

"But..But We're The Special People!"

New visa rules for British artists, actors and theatre workers who want to work in Europe after Brexit are a “towering hurdle” that must be urgently addressed, according to an open letter signed by stars including Sir Ian McKellen, Julie Walters and Patrick Stewart.

Oh dear, the luvvies are upset! 

The letter states that creative practitioners are desperate to work in Europe once pandemic restrictions lift but “the current Brexit deal is a towering hurdle to that”.

“Before, we were able to travel to Europe visa-free. Now we have to pay hundreds of pounds, fill in form after form, and spend weeks waiting for approval – just so we can do our jobs,” it says.

Yes, just like other people wanting a job abroad. But your average plumber and IT technician doesn't have an agent. Why not get them to do it? 

Equity’s general secretary, Paul Fleming, said art and entertainment are worth more to our economy than banking but “government intransigence” threatens a “cornerstone of our international soft power” and a key export.

Maybe it's because they don't agree that you're worth it? Just a thought... 

“More than that, the language of art and entertainment knows no boundaries; freedom of movement for our members as artists and working people is achievable, desirable and essential,” he added.

Yes, OK, we'll get right on that... 

A UK Government Spokesperson said: “We want our cultural and creative professionals to be able to work easily across Europe, in the same way EU creatives are able to work flexibly in the UK. Though the EU rejected proposals that would have allowed this, we hope Member States will act on these calls by changing the rules they apply to UK creatives. We’re working urgently with our cultural sectors to resolve any new barriers they face, so that touring can resume as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Translation: "It's the EU's doing. Go yell at them."