Another Argument In Favour Of A Boycott In Wales Of Virgin Media

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have argued in the past that people living in Wales should boycott Virgin Media following it's decision to close next year it's Swansea call centre which will make eight hundred people redundant.

It seemed another circumstance when companies seemed to be perfectly happy to cut off the Welsh option first when needed.

It was time to hit these companies where it hurt. With their profits and their reputation.

A Welsh boycott would affect very few residual jobs as they are people probably on agency work to deal with any tech issues. They could be employed with the other operators. So the (not unreasonable) argument that boycotts of companies would affect residual jobs in Wales does not really apply here.

In this sector there are other operators available so there would still be competition in the TV/Phone/Internet market.

And of course existing Virgin customers didn't have to do it immediately. They could wait until their existing contract expired before leaving.

Now though another reason has emerged. Virgin Media are reportedly in late Autumn going to be slapping an above inflation busting 4.5% on their bills.

So let's be clear. People in Wales would note that in one breath Virgin Media are happy to close down a Swansea call centre with the consequent loss of jobs and yet in another increase their charges to their customers.

Where is the morality in that?

So Wales should walk away from Virgin Media. After all in spirit it would appear Virgin Media walked away from Wales first
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Until the next time.

When Science Loses To Emotion Part Three: Let's Boycott EDF

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have before in this blog chatted about the plan for radioactive mud from the nuclear power plant at Hinckley Point Somerset to be transported from there to a point between Cardiff Bay and Penarth .

Whilst you should look at my previous posts on the subject essentially I argued that despite apparently science stating that it would be safe. The consequences of the Science being wrong would be too great as that would pause a risk not just to the people in Cardiff Bay but also depending on the movement of the sea to the Penarth and Barry Island, where families go for a day out enjoying the seaside.

Well from Thursday French power giant EDF were about to start doing exactly that. This though has been postponed until sometime in September (see https://penarthnews.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/now-nuclear-mud-dumping-off-penarth-is-postponed-until-september/ for a more detailed analysis on this. Worth a read. Won't chat about it here because as regular readers will know I won't knowingly copy another blogger's work).

It had the apparent approval first of Alun "Chucky" Cairns. (Who let's not forget is a Vale of Glamorgan MP though not of Barry Island I'm sure his constituents work/visit there as it's nearby). Secondly Carwyn Jones, soon to be ex First Minister and political man fat, who represents as a constituency AM Porthcawl which is also a day trip beach area for families and might also be affected re the tide if the science is wrong. Indeed Welsh Labour as a whole seems to have treated this entire issue with an arrogant smugness which typifies the way they run Wales.

Politically these people should be dealt with through the ballot box come election time. But for now the focus needs to be on EDF. I'm sure there are organisations planning protests against the disposal and for what it's worth they have my support. But let's just try something else as well. Let's punish EDF by boycotting them. Showing them that if they hurt the people living in Wales then the people can fight back using the greatest weapon against business....no business.

I have before suggested the same with regard to Virgin Media when they made all of the people in their Swansea Call Centre redundant and the pieces seem similar here. After all they appear to have not taken notice of the opinions of the people living in the area and are acting on something the consequences of which could be disastrous should the science be wrong.

Also a Welsh EDF boycott would damage them both financially and in terms of a company's all important image. There would be alternatives to move to (not saying any of the alternatives are great companies but at time of writing none of the others are dumping nuclear mud in Cardiff Bay) so the impact on families living in Wales would be minimal.

So a simple boycott may not stop the dumping of the radioactive mud, but it would damage EDF's consumer arm. Make them suffer for the way they might cause suffering to Wales.

Until the next time.

It's Mims O'clock Plus More On Why There Should Be A Boycott Of Virgin Media In Wales

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

If Plaid Cymru supporters feel a bit deflated by recent events. There are always the Conservatives ready to help out and remind them why they became members of the party and the second class (no third class really - Scots and the Northern Irish currently seem to get the better deals) that Wales has become.

Because of a ministerial reshuffle there was a vacancy in the Welsh Office. Who did Theresa May pick as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales? Well cometh the hour cometh the Mims o'clock in the form of English Conservative MP Mims Davies. And when I say "English Conservative MP" I mean to say "English Conservative MP for an English Constituency", Eastleigh

Other Welsh Conservative MPs were available. But apparently they were not good enough to meet the high exacting standards set by Theresa to work with the Conservative Cymru Chief Cheerleader that is Alun Chucky Cairns.

So then what are the Welsh qualifications that Ms Mims has that supplanted others you would have thought were better suited? Well apparently she "studied (Swansea University it appears) lived and worked there" according to her Twitter account.

That's rubbish. In fact that betrays her ignorance about Wales. I could say I lived in England until 1997, which is true. But it doesn't mean I have an expertise of England because I lived in London and Essex. So she might know about Swansea (though bet that's changed since she last went there) but what does she know about Wrexham? Or the South Wales Valleys? Or Anglesey?

The tweet that she "studied, lived and worked there" actually is quite damning therefore because it treats Wales as a region, when it's a country. Whether it's through ignorance or design it shows what a low opinion she actually has of Wales.

She also, and this needs to be noted, voted against more powers for Wales and for Wales to have a say in the Brexit negotiations (Like to be a fly on the wall when she speaks to Welsh Industry.

And it gets even worse than that. Because she will still be a government chief whip as well as a minister in the Welsh Office. It means that whilst (along with her constituency work) you can marvel at Ms Mims' multi-tasking skills the office of Under Secretary of State for Wales is a part time job.

The icing on the cake? On the same Twitter account she mentions the book she's packed on her recess trip Never Greener by Welsh comedy writer and actress Ruth Jones. I've never read it but I feel I have to now. This is the impression she's using of Wales then. I despair....then I get angry....which is why I joined Plaid Cymru.

I mentioned some months back that Virgin Media should be boycotted in Wales following it's decision to close down it's call centre in Swansea. Nothing changes from that view. Except I feel it even more every time I see a Virgin Media ad on the TV or on billboards or on Twitter. In fact on Twitter every time I see a Virgin Media ad I tweet back reminding them of the Swansea 800. Yes I troll them. Politely you understand, but yes I troll and am proud of it. They need to be constantly reminded of the misery they've caused. Personally I would encourage (politely I stress) other people to troll them as well.

Wales does not need Virgin Media. There are alternatives. They should be boycotted in Wales.

A Saturday Morning Before Work, Featuring Outlander/Michael Connelly With After Work Extras Of Dead Ringers,Richard Branson And Mark Steel

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

If you work an afternoon evening shift in a weekend then your day is  bit topsy-turvy. On a weekday it's different because as I drive my daughter to school (for the moment anyway) I have to wake up with everyone else and throw myself into the day.

On the weekend however it's different. Whenever you wake up is up to you. No school taxi journeys. No need to remind the wife who's going to her work what time it is. You are in control of your sleep. You are the duke of the drowsy, the sultan of slumber.

I woke at six am.

Must admit thought I'd been transported to world of animation...

That Is The Simpsons Sky

So out of the bed I go leaving the wife asleep and wander towards the open plan kitchen/dining room of our rented apartment. Throwing cereal to the bowl and myself to the sofa begin to watch the only thing I've recorded for a while.

A quick aside. Have discovered can't have BT sport in the apartment because of copper wiring. I knew copper was expensive but it seems to have cost me watching sport on TV (and I'm NOT watching SKY....not even listening to Talksport now Murdoch has his hands on it). One person happy about this state of affairs is the wife. One less excuse for me to use in case she wants me to do something.

Anyway back to me watching TV....and specifically the one thing on the hard drive. Outlander. It was on Amazon Prime a few years back and now appears on More 4. It concerns a woman transported in Scotland from the end of the World War two to the times of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Why did I record it? Well it had curiosity value.

Having now watched it. Must admit should have tried to stay in bed longer. Found it surprisingly dull. Now there were a few moments when the lead actress took her clothes off. and I know this series is a few years old. But still it was as if the TV could see my reaction. As if it was saying "He's nodding off.....quick clothes off time or we'll lose him".

The strategy worked for a while. But even occasional nudity didn't hide how boring this show was. Should also mention that it seemed to have been filmed in a new technical process called Scottish gloomivision. The idea to show days in Scotland could occasionally be bright and sunny seemed too radical. Perhaps that's for people with the patience to go on and watch episode two.....not  me though.

After that well....nodded off in front of the TV....once awake again switched it off to continue reading The Safe Man, a collection of short stories by Michael Connelly. Now I must admit I haven't finished, but my current reaction is to say "is that all there is"?

Perhaps a collection of short stories is not the best way to start judging a writer but as I've said before if I was a vlogger not a blogger I'd have illustrated my reaction to this book with a shrug..

Boy I was in a grouchy mood yesterday.

And in all of this the clock is ticking. When I'm doing the afternoon/evening shift the feeling of a countdown is constant which is never the case when it's the morning. Presumably because I'm conscious that there is no time to relax whilst getting ready for work.

It's about ten. Wife/daughter are making stirrings. Won't disturb them whilst I'm having a shower. Then. Showers are quicker than baths, but they are not as relaxing..

Baring in mind that my journey to work takes forty minutes there then comes that period where there's nothing to do before lunch (taken at 11:30) and what you could do would take too long to complete. Can't really remember what I did so not really worth writing about.

Now I don't mind the forty minute journey to/from work. But when I've come back am finding that once I have had my meal almost immediately the body seems to be in shut off mode. Have been known to fall asleep on the kitchen table in my brother in law's house when we stayed there for a week. My wife told me he 'd wondered what I'd been watching on the tablet by my side. He even apparently suggested pornography.

My response was to laugh and say that chance would be a fine thing. If only because despite the fact that he apparently was on the highest Virgin media internet tariff there was only one room where you could be assured of having a good signal. And the kitchen wasn't it. As it happens I was listening to a downloaded programme of the Radio 4 series Dead Ringers. Last night (Saturday) it was Mark Steel's In Town where the socialist comedian visits a town and chats about it to a local audience. History with comedy, education with a laugh. The most educational but funny half hour you'd possibly find in a long while. As educational but good humoured as a Tranmere Rovers football chant.

And so to sleep. Another day knocked off my life. At time I'm writing this it's 8:04 on a Sunday morning. Not at work but have no idea how I'm going to spend the day.

Perhaps I should have tried to work today as well.

Until the next time.