And as an antidote to Betjeman's cynical bile, there's Ian McMillan's re-working:
(better only give a snippet seeing as it's still in (c)):
"...the history of a town
That people have tried to put down
By talking of it with a frown
And cruel sneers."
Full poem at
http://www.uktouring.org.uk/ian-mcmillan/index.html
Jonathan Baines
Legal and Democratic Services
Buckinghamshire County Council
01296 383681
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Simon Howarth
Sent: Friday 21 January 2011 10:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] SLOUGH DEFAMATION CASE
It's Friday. I couldn't resist. Thank you to a J. Betjamin for this.
This was written in 1937 so I would have thought they would have been used to being slagged off by now.
Slough
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!
Come, bombs and blow to smithereens
Those air -conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, Tinned minds, tinned breath.
Mess up the mess they call a town-
A house for ninety-seven down
And once a week a half a crown
For twenty years.
And get that man with double chin
Who'll always cheat and always win,
Who washes his repulsive skin
In women's tears:
And smash his desk of polished oak
And smash his hands so used to stroke
And stop his boring dirty joke
And make him yell.
But spare the bald young clerks who add
The profits of the stinking cad;
It's not their fault that they are mad, They've tasted Hell.
It's not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio,
It's not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead
And talk of sport and makes of cars
In various bogus-Tudor bars
And daren't look up and see the stars
But belch instead.
In labour-saving homes, with care
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair
And dry it in synthetic air
And paint their nails.
Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough
To get it ready for the plough.
The cabbages are coming now;
The earth exhales.
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of chris pounder
Sent: 19 January 2011 17:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [data-protection] SLOUGH DEFAMATION CASE
So according to the newspaper "A spokeswoman for Slough said the decision to seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was taken by its insurers Zurich Municipal". So Slough are not wanting to Appeal but are being forced to by its Insurers. What a load of tosh!
Also Slough has to convince the Supreme Court to look at it - so it might not get there!
My comments on Hawktalk
(http://amberhawk.typepad.com/amberhawk/2011/01/privacy-issues-smart-meterin
g-violent-warning-markers-and-undertakings.html) (after the Smart Meter comments).
Chris
Newspaper quote on
http://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article
&id=5622%3Aslough-defamation-claim-could-go-all-the-way-to-supreme-court&cat
id=56%3Alitigation-articles&q=&Itemid=24
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