Adele's lyrics reveal a deep engagement with tax policy

Adele pays so much tax that when she got her bill she was “ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire”. She’s been accused of selfishness by some workshy freeloading Guardian commenters for her remarks, but a close reading of her material reveals a principled and long standing interest in fiscal affairs.

“But go on, go on and take it,
Take it all with you,
Don’t look back,
At this crumbling fool,
Just take it…
Just take it all”
In Take it All, Adele addresses the rapacious state in a moving illustration of how oppressive taxation can corrode personal dignity, rendering the overtaxed as “crumbling fools”. It’s a very personal response, aching with resentment.

“We could have had it all…
Rolling in the deep.”
In Rolling in the Deep, Adele strikes a lighter note, playfully introducing the idea of her rolling in a Scrooge McDuck style pool of money. But this humorous approach does not eclipse her more serious message: she could have had it all, but the government took half her money away.

“Fed up of biding your time,
When I don’t get nothing back.
When I don’t get nothing back,
Boy I’m tired.”
In Tired, Adele addresses George “Boy” Osborne directly. She’s tired of the punitive tax regime, and she doesn’t feel that the public services she receives are commensurate to the money she puts in. She thus reveals herself to believe in taxation as a personal transaction between individual and government, rather than a social contract in which the whole community is bound. Here Adele begins to explore the wider societal effects of her hitherto very personal response to fiscal policy.

“God only knows what we’re fighting for
All that I say, you always say more
I can’t keep up with your turning tables
Under your thumb, I can’t breathe.”
In perhaps her most overtly political work, Turning Tables, Adele moves on to interpret her philosophy in practical terms. Specifically, she seems to question the huge government expediture in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya. She’s unpersuaded by the need for these foreign excursions (note the biting “God only knows…” – a suggestion that the religious motivation of the Bush/Blair years still rankles), and resents that she is asked to fund them. Under the thumb and unable to breathe, she raises the paradox by which artists who create wealth from personal expression are asked to submit these funds to the discretion of a bureacratic state, especially when the state then chooses to use this money for destructive purposes. Better, suggests Adele, that creativity be allowed to keep its own fruit. We can criticise this view by all means, but it behoves us to take it, and her, seriously.

27 May 2011

Dead fish in London's river Lea caused by pollution after a storm

Artists impression of a fatberg on the 4th plinth

London home owners, private renters and social renters 1961-2011

Lilo Evans and Tristan Stocks in the Mikado

Chart showing how Londoners get to work across inner and outer London

Chart showing how Londoners get to work by mode, 2011 data

Chart showing how the way Londoners get to work is changing over time

Map of empty homes or second homes in London

London borough population changes 2011-2012

Map of red kite sightings in London, May 2014

Artists impression of the "Teardrop", as seen from Ridley Rd, Dalston

Poster against Chatsworth Rd market in London

Tim Cresswell's poetry collection Soil, published by Penned in the Margins

London agenda for Friday 27 May

1. Say ‘I could draw that’ at the Stik Solo Show [Le Cool]

2. Catch up on your Magyar music at Tcha Limberger [Run Riot]

3. Sit in Ravenscourt Park and watch Anchorman [Flavorpill]

4. London Comic Con? Sure, why not. [Time Out]

5. Listen to Paul Willetts, author of Members Only: The Life and Times of Paul Raymond discuss his recent book with Marc Glendening of the Sohemian Society. [Ian Visits]

6. See the lime kiln in Burgess Park [Tired of London]

27 May 2011

Government reconsidering plans to give Royal Parks to Boris Johnson

The Government are reconsidering their plans to devolve management of London’s Royal Parks to The Mayor of London.

Boris Johnson had announced earlier this year that he would be given full funding for the parks and control of a board that would take care of their “day to day management.”

However, a spokesperson for the Department of Culture Media and Sport told The Scoop that the details of these new powers were now being reconsidered.

A spokesperson for DCMS said:

The government remains committed to transferring more responsibility for the eight Royal Parks to the Greater London Authority and to ensure that Londoners have a voice in how they are managed… The reason that this is a current issue is that we previously believed that the transfer of responsibility could best be achieved through amendments to the Localism Bill. We now believe that it can be done more effectively through other means (not including Primary legislation).

When pressed, they refused to confirm that full funding, bye-law making powers and management of a Royal Parks board would still be transferred, as originally set out. saying that they were still considering “various options” to give the Mayor a “significant role.”

Last year the Mayor warned the government that he did not want to be given powers over the parks without full funding, saying “we don’t want them without the money… This can’t be budget dumping on the people of London. We will have to watch that very carefully.”

The government have also raised concerns about a newly empowered Mayor “commercialising” the parks.

The Culture Minister will make a written statement on their decision after the Parliamentary recess.

Update: The Richmond Times reports that the Government will now retain overall control of and funding for the Parks

27 May 2011

Nice map of London's fruit trees shows you where to pick free food

This map and accompanying website is intriguing, click through for a map of allegedly fruiting public trees including apples, cherries, elderflower, and a Loquat tree in London Fields. Trust London Fields to have the esoteric oriental tree. Typical.

26 May 2011

New York bans smoking in parks, then realises it's completely unenforceable

“Parks patrol officers have been told to politely enforce the new smoking ban — and set up a system where violators essentially have to beg for a ticket before they’ll be fined.”
The New York Post reports on the city’s slightly crazy outdoor smoking ban. This could never happen here. Could it?

26 May 2011

Now is a good time to pick and eat wild nettles. Here are some recipes

Nigel Slater’s nettley cheese on toast recipe
According to this indispensible website, wild nettles are now in season.
Nettle and spinach soup with Gruyère bread
Wear some gloves and pick the young soft leaves from the top. The older leaves are crap.
Nettle pizza
Basically treat the leaves like a stingy spinach, so boiling is good.
Nettle risotto
They’ll sting until they are cooked, so wear some gloves in the kitchen too.
Nettle fritatta
And then deliberately give yourself a little sting on the arm just to show to everybody as proof of your culinary adventurousness.

26 May 2011

You're tying your shoes wrong!

An oldie but a goodie from the TED archive. For men especially, it will completely revolutionise your entire life. Unless, that is, you’re one of those people who only wears espadrilles, a position we respect but cannot endorse.

26 May 2011

Too many friends? Just outsource your friendships

“We specialize in digging you out, by doing the hard writing for you—whether it involves long-unanswered emails, missed birthdays or apologies for social messes.

That’s the pitch from Shamebegone, a new service from one of the guys behind The Awl. Tell them who you’ve been ignoring, arrange a fee, and they’ll write that tricky message for you. Who knew that all you needed to keep your friends these days was a wadge of money?

26 May 2011

London agenda for Thursday 26 May

1. Go to the Old Operating Theatre, watch a Victoria seance, then watch it debunked [Le Cool]

2. Welcome oneself to a multi-dimensional exploration of mental breakdown at Bent Architect [Run Riot]

3. Listen to the founder of Pret and Itsu discuss how to package and brand food for profit [Flavorpill]

4. Probably won’t see this thing on Edwardian postcards but [Ian Visits] was slim today

5. Browse the Victoria and Albert Reading Rooms [Tired of London]

6. See if Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow is indeed a compelling display of film and other works [Lauren Down]

26 May 2011

Some notable hobbies of British Prime Ministers, as stated on the Number 10 website

25 May 2011

London Weather

12°

broken clouds

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