Save Me…… from the wheeling out of “tradition” as a defence for the indefensible

Imagine a boxing match between two equally matched heavyweight opponents – let’s say Lennox Lewis and Muhammad Ali (they don’t have to be from the same era).

But before the bell goes for round one, let’s put Lewis in the ring with Ali and George Foreman at the same time, just to get him warmed up and to test him out, take a few hits here and there, maybe a few hard ones to the jaw too. A couple of rounds like this and Lewis should be well and truly warmed up, if not a little light headed. Ok then, let the fight begin!

No, hang on a minute. Let’s now put Lewis up against Mike Tyson. Just a couple more rounds before the big fight kicks off. A few more rock hard punches to the ribs and jaw, maybe a bit of blood showing on Lewis’ face by now as one of his eyes starts to close up a bit, because of the swelling.

Ding, ding, Round one! No, wait, we need to loosen him up a bit more before the big one-on-one starts. Let’s get Wladimir Klitschko in to knock a few shades out of him for a couple more rounds. Lewis is looking a bit tired now, a bit beaten down, a bit light on his feet, a bit bloodied. Oh well.

Now the big face-off can finally start. One against one. Titan against titan. Legend against legend. This is sure to be the fight of the century. After all, Ali and Lewis are equally matched. It’s a fair fight between two of the ring’s true legends!

Oh dear. Ali, wearing the red trunks and for some reason carrying a red cape too, finishes off a weary, tired, bloodied Lewis in less than three minutes. The bell doesn’t even ring in time to save him.

This, dear reader, is the honourable, classical, traditional and fair sport of bull fighting.

But something is happening in two days that might just begin to re-balance the odds. In two days it´ll be January 1, 2012. A big day in the history of bull fighting. For in two days’ time, bull fighting becomes illegal in Cataluña, the first region in Spain to ban it outright.

It is my sincere wish that the rest of Spain will follow this example quickly so that we can banish this “sport” to the dustbin of history forever.

Some people say it’s tradition and so it should be protected.

Some other people say that while they don’t support bullfighting, banning it will only encourage those that do support it to fight for its survival even harder, and that we should let it disappear naturally and gradually.

Yet more say that, well, it brings the tourists in and that’s good news for the economy and you can’t argue with that.

Others even suggest that the decision by Cataluña to ban it is no more than a political two-fingers to the rest of Spain designed to push the region’s growing independence movement that little but further. These people, while actively opposing bull fighting, are opposed to the ban on political grounds alone.

Well, let me be absolutely clear where I stand on this subject, so that there’s no suggestion I’m sitting on the fence.

Bull fighting is barbaric, disgusting, cowardly and inhuman. There is no bravery associated with it. I might have an ounce of admiration for the matador if he were to get in the ring with the bull by himself from the start without anyone else’s help, instead of letting the banderilleros, picadors and the horses all loose on the stricken animal as well. Cowards, the lot of them. And I’d say it to their faces as well. I bet they don’t even ask the horse if he feels like going in the ring or not.

Here’s a shocker. I truly believe that the more matadors are gored and injured the better, frankly. It might seem a shocking thing to say, but I don’t care. If it means that people who support it now generally start to question its safety then fine with me. I don´t want to see anyone hurt or injured – but that includes the bull too. I always cheer for the bull whenever it’s shown on TV here – and thankfully that’s not much anymore, although they still show it on Andalucia’s regional channel CanalSur on Sunday afternoons during the season.

The sooner we banish this pathetic excuse for a “sport” to the history books the better. And if a few matadors getting hospitalized along the way helps speed up that process, then the sooner the people who defend this disgusting spectacle might actually realise what a bunch of shameless idiots they’ve been all this time.

There are not many things I feel strongly about. But this is one of them. And I’d be quite happy to defend my position with a few punches of my own if anybody felt particularly strongly about confronting me over my “insults” to one of Spain´s “finest traditions”.

As to tradition? Bollocks. It was tradition in the 19^th century to shove kids up chimneys to clean them, it was tradition in the 15^th, 16^th ands 17^th centuries to burn witches, and it was tradition in the Middle Ages for estate lords to have “first night” with any virgin bride.

If it’s just a case of politics, that’s surely the lamest reason to oppose a ban. Come off it! And, as for letting it die a natural death, well that could take generations.

Opposition from Spaniards to bull fighting is growing every day. Yet of course, it’s always the minority in these cases who shout the loudest. It was the case with fox hunting in the UK, but thankfully, good sense won out in that case a couple of years ago when they banned it too.

So, I’m very much looking forward to January 1. May Cataluña be the first of the bull fighting dominoes to fall in Spain.

And if you feel particularly opposed to what I’ve said, I’m more than happy to have a fight with you. Only, unlike with the bulls, it’ll be a fair fight. I’ll get in the ring with you all by myself.

Happy New Year!

Save Me…… from the withdrawal symptoms of a very competitive Christmas

Christmas in Spain is very different to Christmas in the UK, at least as far as our family goes. It’s a lot less dangerous.

For a start, it begins one day earlier in Spain. Tomorrow, the 24^th December, is a big day here, with presents and a big meal. Christmas Eve in the UK isn’t really anything specific, apart from an excuse to open the jumbo tin of Quality Street sweets you’ve been desperate to break into ever since you picked them up in the supermarket a week before (or in my case, pick up two tins, chomp through the entire contents of one before Christmas, and then pretended I only ever bought one in the first place).

In Spain, the presents aren’t that big at Christmas. Little to average ones are handed out on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. That’s because the biggies are saved for January 6, the “Dia de Reyes” (Day of the Kings). Just when you thought everything was over and it was time to get back to work for another year, the Spanish pull this one out of the bag just to stretch the joy, celebration, over-eating and credit card limits a little bit further.

While everyone in the UK has already been miserably back at work for five days (or four if you’re in Scotland – they get January 2^nd as an extra day to recover from the excessive boozing one on January 1^st), the Spanish are parading through the streets in a series of floats celebrating the Three Kings, chucking sack-loads of tiny sweets at kids of all ages standing on the pavements as they go past (tip – using an upturned umbrella is a surefire way of catching a lot more sweets as they’re hurled with gay abandon from the passing floats. The drawback is that you tend to barge out the smaller and real kids who are standing under your umbrella trying desperately to catch whatever’s left. But the guilt wears off quickly when the sugar rush from the sweets kicks in.

Anyway, this year, we’re spending Christmas in Spain. Last year, we were in the UK, in six foot snow drifts and temperatures of minus 10. This year, it’s temperatures of plus 10 and a bit of drizzle if we’re lucky. I’m very much looking forward to it. But I will miss one thing from Christmas in the UK – the excitement and the danger.

What I mean by that is the annual festive playing of Monopoly and/or poker.  

In my dad’s house these are not so much games as open warfare. Warfare indeed, but in a strangely controlled, yet thrillingly high risk atmosphere. For in this house, Monopoly and poker are not known by their given brand names – they are known as “Kill Or Be Killed.”

It’s a ritual, literally. Some families go to Midnight Mass. Some sing carols around the roaring fire, some sip hot mulled wine and toast the good fortune of friends and family.

In my dad’s house, we set out to utterly and completely destroy our gaming rivals as they sit round the table in wonky Christmas cracker paper hats, burping and farting furiously from all the beer, coke, little tiny sausages, roast potatoes, turkey and pistachio nuts they’ve consumed.

It’s the same adrenalin rush you get from sticking your finger in a live plug socket or slamming your younger brother’s head in the fridge door when he was six and warning him not to tell your dad or you’ll set fire to his favourite Scalextric racing car. You know it’s wrong, but you just have to do it again.

Quite why it generates such competitiveness is, now I sit here and think about it, a mystery. But it’s always been that way. While I don’t visit my dad’s every Christmas, when I do the games are the highlight of the festive week. And while it may result in angry slamming down of cards, the chucking of tiny red hotels across the table in tantrums and barely veiled threats of comic violence when you load the deck while others are getting a beer from the fridge or going for a pee, it remains tightly controlled around the table – as if there were some invisible boxing ring ropes surrounding it.

The vanquished may storm off to the next room to watch the telly and angrily stuff fistfuls of chocolates and peanuts down their gob so there won’t be any left for the others, while vociferously claiming an unspoken conspiracy by the remaining players to drive them out of the game and that “you’re all a lot of cheating bastards and I’m not playing with you again”. But you can bet they’ll be right back at the table the next time to do it all over again. 

We should invite a psychiatrist around one year to observe. He’d probably suffer a breakdown watching it and have to call another psychiatrist just to take over from him.

Meanwhile, in Spain, the family are sitting round a big table full of top quality prawns, calamares, jamon Serrano and fish, quaffing champagne and sparkling wine and laughing loudly at others’ jokes, before falling asleep in front of the TV. It’s quite a culture-shift.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t find Spanish Christmases boring. Far from it, I love them. But they’re different. If Christmases were like films, then Spanish Christmases in my wife’s family would be like watching James Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. They leave you filled with warmth, cheer and happiness and a comforting after-glow.

Christmases in my dad’s house are like being in The Bourne Identity and Casino Royale at the same time, while being strapped to the front of the world’s fastest rollercoaster as a pack of angry Rottweilers snap and strain on metal chains just inches from your balls. Scary, shocking and nerve-wracking. But a hell of a lot of fun.

Save Me…… from the profession I once loved

A storm is brewing. The dark clouds of corruption, criminality and cover-up are growing day by day. It is a story of huge magnitude, a thriller that is sure to have seismic repercussions for years to come. The spotlight is focusing, and those with something to hide are deeply, deeply worried. It’s a story that the British tabloid media could splash on its front page week after week.

Except, this time, they are the ones who are at the centre of the shit storm.

Let me explain.

For 17 years, before moving to Spain, I worked both in and with newspapers, radio and television and gained a perspective of it from both sides of the fence – ten years as a journalist and seven years as a PR spokesman for a company with a very, very public face.

Since moving to Spain, I’ve taken a different direction. But the industry that I spent so many years in, still fascinates me. Which is why I have been so glued to the growing storm that has been engulfing the British tabloid media in recent months. It’s a storm which, in this writer’s humble opinion, is long, long overdue.

It’s complicated. But in a nutshell, in 2007 a reporter for the News of the World newspaper was jailed for illegally intercepting phone messages involving members of the British Royal family. He was portrayed at the time as a “rogue” reporter, a one-off who shamed the newspaper. But since then it has emerged that this was far from the truth. Arrests, sackings and resignations have followed at parent company News International. The News of the World – the biggest selling paper in the UK - has been shut down, a parliamentary inquiry, a public inquiry overseen by a judge and a police investigation are all ongoing. A spotlight has well and truly been turned on not just News International – which also owns The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times and which is part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, which also owns Fox News and the Wall Street Journal – but on the whole British tabloid media and its ethos. Bombshell after bombshell – the hacking of a murdered schoolgirl’s mobile phone, illegal payments to police for information, the use of private detectives to follow Members of Parliament and others – has exploded into the public domain in recent months. And it is far from over.

It is the UK’s very own Watergate. The shit, as it were, has finally hit the fan.

So why should what I think be of any interest? Well, during my 10 years as a journalist, I briefly did shifts at News International and during my time in PR I dealt with all the tabloid media at both regional and national level. I found the tabloids to be aggressive, arrogant, fearless, bullying and not always that interested in getting the facts right.

That arrogance naturally seeped through to regional journalism, where, in the decade I was in it, there was a general attitude that somehow we were the crushers of corruption, the gladiators of truth, the juggernauts of morality and anyone who got in our way had something to hide.

But most of the time it was bullshit. Stories were often “flammed” up – written so that they were more exciting, bigger, better, than the reality really was. And all because we felt we had a right to, we had a duty to, a need to beat the opposition, to go one better. The more I saw of it, the more disillusioned I got with it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, regional dailies, where I spent the majority of my career, were not in the same league as the nationals when it came to “bigging up” stories. But the attitude was the same. We almost felt like we were untouchable.

I can say for a fact that when mistakes were made, the last thing the paper wanted to do was to offer an apology. Normally, a “right of reply” would be suggested first – this would be along the lines of “Do you want to write a letter and we’ll carry it in the letters’ page?”. I always thought this was a cheap get-out. Even if that wasn’t sufficient and an article was required to correct the facts, it wasn’t written as a correction, it was written as a “follow-up”, as though new information had just come to light. Again, it was bullshit. And all because the general attitude was that it was bad or weak to admit a mistake had been made. If a correction or apology was finally needed it was virtually never given the same prominence as the original offending story. More often than not it was tucked away far back in the paper in a corner.

I experienced the full force of the national tabloids when, after ten years, I took the job in public relations. It was for a very large company, which employed a lot of people and was never far from the headlines. I talk in past tense, but it’s still there, of course. I’ve just moved on to pastures new having spent seven years there.

The aggression, the arrogance, the spin, the ignoring of facts that didn’t fit a given agenda, were all regular fare when it came to some in the tabloid media. The irony was that PR was seen as something seedy by the journalists. But the fact was that those with the biggest agenda, the most aggressive spin, were the tabloids themselves.

And the thing I found hardest to accept - as my former boss would no doubt attest to - was that there was little point in challenging them. The feeling was that to do so would cause more trouble than it was worth. The beast was too big to battle.  

In recent weeks in the public inquiry, we’ve seen the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler talk about how they felt when the News of the World hacked into the voicemail of their daughter, giving them false hope she was still alive, and the parents of missing little girl Madeline McCann reveal their horror at the bullying and downright lies of several tabloids.

We’ve even seen some defend these actions – one former News of the World reporter told the inquiry “privacy is for peadoes” and said that he didn’t see anything wrong in hacking phones. What sort of scumbag is this man that he actually thinks like that? Is his sense of decency so warped that he doesn’t know right from wrong anymore?

It’s not as if people haven’t been complaining about this sort of thing for years. Of course they have. But it’s just that society has reluctantly accepted it as the sacrifice for a “free press”. Any voices of descent have been quickly stamped on by the bully boys of the tabloid press as a direct attack on freedom of expression. And people have been intimidated.

But in the quest for ever-increasing sales, ever more shocking headlines, the tabloids have long since crossed the line of morality, fairness, decency, compassion and, in many cases, legality.

I became a journalist because I wanted to expose the bad guys, to write about important things, things that mattered, things that people cared about. Somewhere along the line, the tabloids have lost perspective, they’ve forgotten what’s right and wrong, they’ve become morally bankrupt. They’ve forgotten how important the job of a journalist should be. Instead, they pump out truck-loads of “pap” – just look at the average tabloid to see how many stories are based on celebrities, TV shows and which sports star is shagging which glamour model – and they have been prepared to stomp over anybody just to get that bigger scoop.

There are still great papers and great journalists out there, uncovering corruption and wrong-doing. But the industry has been tainted – no, smeared more like – by the deeds of those under focus now.

I’ve gone from being a fervent supporter of a free and self-regulated press to someone who is now very much in favour of statutory – and strict - regulation of the press. But I fear the true journalists will lose out because of that.

I sincerely hope certain people end up behind bars when this is all finished. That’s exactly where they deserve to be. This industry has needed a serious clean-up for a long time. I´m glad it finally appears to be happening.

Save Me.......from judging too quickly

A few weeks ago I visited friends in Croydon, south London, where I used to live before moving to Spain. I wrote that everything seemed a bit dark and depressing. In fact , I think the word I used was “grim”.

Now, this has been weighing on my mind a bit recently, because it never seemed like that to me when I was living there. I’ve been wondering why I had such a reaction on my last visit.

So I took the opportunity to come back again this week, just for a few days, to see what my perception was this time. As I write, I’m sitting in an internet cafe in south Croydon.

 I flew back in yesterday, determined not to let preconceptions influence my judgement.

I have to say that the potential for disaster sowed its seeds right from the start. I flew into Gatwick airport yesterday afternoon in the middle of gale-force winds and driving rain. As we came into land we were buffeted around a lot and as the wheels finally touched the tarmac and came to a halt there was a clear sense of relief as a load of people at the back of the plane broke into spontaneous applause and cheers.

However, perhaps this time, despite the bad start, things were going to be different, I thought to myself. Because, far from being on edge and clenching my seat arms tightly in fear as others were, I sat nonchalantly, a picture of Zen calm, smiling to myself. Why?

Well, a few years ago, in my old PR job, I took a group of journalists on a flight from Inverness in northern Scotland to Stornoway, on the Western Isles. It was also December. The plane was a seven-seater turbo-prop and the weather was about ten times worse than yesterday. Gale-force winds shook our little plane around as if it was in the hands of some giant tiny tearaway toddler flinging it around above his head. We shook, we really shook, as the gusts thudded into the side of the aircraft with loud bangs.

We landed. But this time we all applauded. I think there may have even been some Hail Marys and a lot of hugs – which was all very unusual for a group of macho,  go-anywhere, do-anything, hairy-arsed journos. But such are the reactions when your life is flashing before your eyes.

So yesterday was a piece of cake for me. Not that I’m trying to brag or anything. The point I’m making is that despite appearances, the omens seemed good from the outset. Not even 60 mph gusts hurling the plane sideways as it flew into Gatwick could dent my confidence this time.

And, as if some strange force was at work determined to give me a better impression this time around, I got off the plane quickly, was through passport control in a jiffy and didn’t even have to wait for a train, because it pulled in just as I walked down to the platform. Getting off the plane and getting on the train to Croydon took no more than ten minutes. I swear.

Sure enough, when I arrived in Croydon, the bus I needed arrived in no time and after dropping off my bags I wandered back into town where, in the very first shop I walked into, I was called “Sir” by two different shop assistants. For a moment, I had to check myself. Was I really in Croydon, the place that the tourist guide books say is, I quote: “the best place in the UK to get stabbed.”

I then went into a newsagents to buy a newspaper and a bottle of water. At the counter, a man tipped his hat to me and motioned for me to go in front of him. Then, as I walked out, a young man, dressed like a chav, accidentally knocked me as he walked past and he turned around and said “Sorry about that.” Had I been sitting on a chair at the time, I would have promptly fallen off it in shock.

By this time my head was buzzing. And it only got better. As I walked up the street, I saw a traffic warden knock on the window of a shop, smile and gesture for the people inside to move their car. He pointed to his watch as if to say to them “I’ll give you a few minutes.” Did they respond with the usual one-fingered salute and the pointy, confrontational finger wagging followed by a mouthful of insults? No, they cheerfully waved back and even gave the warden the thumbs-up.

It was then that I started to think that perhaps there was indeed some strange force at work here. Had Croydon council despatched an elite squad of highly trained pixies to make these things happen in front of my eyes?

Now, don’t get me wrong. There were still the usual old blokes, with the roll-up cigarettes and the pints all congregating outside the pubs as usual. But this time, something was different. Even though they were being buffeted by the wind and the rain, they all seemed to be smiling and happy. I think I even saw a few enthusiastic back-slaps, but perhaps I imagined that.

I have two more days here. Let’s see what else happens. But right now, the sun is shining, there’s not a cloud in the sky and everyone is smiling, saying a cheery “Hello” to complete strangers and saying “Thank you” when you hold a door open for them. Even the school kids!

It’s weird. But it’s very nice. I’ll let you know next week if I get stabbed between now and Monday.

Save Me…… from the shameful spectre of hypocrisy

Back in October I wrote about how it still seemed acceptable to “black up” – white people putting on the “boot polish” to pretend to be black for comedic effect - on mainstream Spanish TV. I said at the time that while I didn’t think it was specifically racist, I did think it was ignorant and it didn’t impress me very much. I also said that this attitude thankfully died out in the UK some years ago.

Now that’s true. You won’t see anything like that on British TV or, in fact, in any mainstream British media. It wouldn’t be tolerated, it would cause a stink if it did show up. That’s because the UK is a vibrant, multicultural, tolerant, rainbow nation made up of a myriad of cultures, creeds and colours from across the globe.

At least it is most of the time.

But sadly, this week, the rose-coloured spectacles through which I viewed this plethora of racial and cultural permissiveness, were well and truly yanked off my face and stomped into little pieces by a big pair of boots worn by a woman from the very place where I used to live before I headed out to the exotic, sun-kissed olive groves of Andalucia.

And how ironic that this ancient, outdated, anachronous and ugly attitude should be played out for all the world to see on the ever-so-modern media that is Youtube. How ironic indeed.

The soul-crushing case of which I speak took place on a tram in Croydon, south London. The tram and the town are both very, very familiar to me. Filmed on a mobile phone and downloaded as “My Tram Experience” to Youtube, where, at the time of writing, it has been viewed more than 8 million times – 8 million!!! – it features a dark-haired white woman, holding a young boy on her lap, allegedly lobbing racial abuse at whoever is sitting and standing around her, not just at non-whites however, but at all non-British people.

Now, I say “allegedly” because since the video appeared on Youtube, the woman in question has been arrested and charged in relation to the incident. She is due to appear in court again next Tuesday, December 6.

The incident in itself is shocking, shameful, embarrassing and, frankly, pathetic. But what’s more depressing is the response it has generated, particularly on Youtube.

Such incidents always seem to bring out the worst in people. Thankfully, such attitudes are reserved for the minority in Britain. Sadly, however, they tend to shout quite loudly at times. Even a cursory search of response videos on Youtube uncovers very strong and disturbing reactions in favour of what she is alleged to have said and railing against the “pollution” of the British identity. Scratch the surface just a tiny bit and the prejudices pour out. To be fair, of course, there are many equally vocal responses against, as well.

But I’ve seen videos by people who say she’s right, that Britain isn’t Britain anymore and that all these foreign hoards have destroyed the culture.

But I don’t recall those same people making the same argument when Britain invaded countless countries over the centuries, installing its own culture, its own standards, its own governments in a little thing called the British Empire. No doubt, me saying this will prompt some people to condemn me for being some pinko-liberal leftie commie, ashamed of the great things my country brought to the world. Well, I’m not. I’ve just done my homework and dare to have a slightly different perspective on the world than the average Daily Mail reader.

Now, history is history, and you can’t change it. The British influence across the globe has been huge. The most obvious legacy of that influence is the extent to which the English language is spoken across the globe now.

But think for a minute if a certain Mr Hitler had had his way and the German Empire had now become the dominant force in the world. How would we view all those Nazis? I suspect quite differently to the way we actually do. After all, history is written by the victors, is it not?

Wait a minute, I hear you say. How dare you compare the glorious British Empire to the genocidal psychopaths of the Third Reich? I'm not, for a second. While it’s clearly obvious that the British Empire did not carry out an extermination policy on the Jews – in fact, of course, it bravely stood against and defeated the Nazis - it was responsible for some very questionable acts. For example, setting up concentration camps in South Africa during the Boer War at the turn of the 20^th century where many children and adults died in horrific conditions. It was responsible, in the guise of the Black and Tans, for committing atrocities on members of the Irish civilian population in the 1920s. It was responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in “British” India in 1919 when British soldiers fired repeatedly on unarmed men, women and children, reportedly killing more than a thousand and wounding many more. It was responsible too for the alleged use of toxic gas against the Kurds in the Iraqi Revolt at around the same time. I could go on, but I won’t.

My point is not that the British are evil and should be ashamed of their history. But I am asking that some people get a bit of perspective and stop being so selective with our past.

When certain people whine about the crushing of British culture and identity, they seem to forget – or, let’s be honest, don’t know and don’t care - that that’s exactly what the British Empire did to countless cultures and nations across the globe itself in the past.

So when someone rages against the influx of all these “foreigners”, it strikes me as the height of hypocrisy.  I don’t recall the Indian population ever inviting us to come and take over their country. In fact, in the early part of the 20^th century a certain Mr Gandhi suggested most eloquently, peacefully and incredibly persuasively that we should bugger off back to Britain. And bloody good thing too.

Racism is the hostile reaction prompted by fear of the unknown. Fear of what is not familiar and what you don’t understand. It is the basest of emotions, the most uneducated, backward, shameful, dishonourable and contemptible of sentiments.

There is no defence for it and never will be.  It doesn’t matter where it happens.