A man cannot live by bread and poetry alone. The more rounded individual must, by definition, have other interests. One of mine is Britain's toy transport infrastructure.
Like other human beings, I simply cannot understand how train operators think they can get away with leaves on the line, or the wrong kind of snow, as credible excuses for rail delays. My current favourite comedy excuse was provided by Eurostar during one of the many cold snaps this winter. Apparently such cold temperatures were not anticipated....o deary me! This is funnier than Obama winning the nobel peace prize.
Today, the news was released that Jarvis, once Britian's largest construction company, has brought in the administrators, which is code for they've gone bust. Some of us with memories, will recall their involvement in a number of fatalities on the railways in recent years. They and Balfour Beaty between them created the need for corporate manslaughter legislation in this country after deaths caused by poor maintenance work carried out at Potters Bar, Hatfield and other places.
Jarvis chairman, Shagger Norris blamed the recession, a well-worn narrative that strangely ignores the fact that Jarvis's three main competitors have managed not to go bust in the same tough trading conditions.
One wonders not only how he found time to make this statement, as he seems to be a director of many other companies, but how on earth does this idiot remains out of jail? Other companies that have killed people simply fire their board, change their name and carry on counting their profits. (I think of Union Carbide and the Bophal disaster in particularly here). Alas, Shagger didn't even have the wit to do that and neither did the Jarvis shareholders despite years of manipulating trading statements.
No amount of obfuscation was able to persuade Jarvis's creditors from forcing settlement of their debts and yet Shagger still remains in charge. How can this be?
As none in the media seem surprised by Jarvis going bust, none ask why this fool remains out of jail. Then again, there are more deserving cases to pursue and those felons remain outside jail, too.
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