Sarah Sands: Online, David puts the fear of God in Goliath

The skaters should be transparent about their commercial clout. It is the poor homeless violinists who have no powerful backers
Rebecca Reid
1 April 2014
WEST END FINAL

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The battle of strength between David and Goliath is one of the few Bible stories to survive our secular culture. If Noah is back in fashion because of environmentalism, then David and Goliath suits the narrative from politics to X Factor that success should happen against the odds. Plucky outsiders are our modern heroes.

However we are often unobservant about the changing balance of power. It is comically outrageous that Google presented itself as kids having fun long after it had become an economic superpower. The Establishment is still pivotal to spy thrillers but our institutions have been vastly diminished by technology.

A good example of the David and Goliath reversal is the case of the skater park at the South Bank. Jude Kelly, artistic director of the Southbank Centre, produced plans for a £120 million redevelopment to accommodate visiting orchestras and produce more free culture for its two million visitors. The scheme was to have been paid for by restaurants and shops in the skater park, shifting the park 120m towards Hungerford Bridge. The skaters’ objections to moving were unsurprising but their political potency has been astonishing.

A couple of months ago, Mayor Boris Johnson scuppered the entire Southbank scheme by coming out in the support of the skaters. He said that he would like to see a flourishing cultural centre but not at the expense of the “vibrant” skater scene. Always beware politicians who describe something as “vibrant” — it usually means they have no idea what it is. The Mayor’s statement directly contradicted his entire philosophy for London. He supports economic growth and jobs — the scheme promised to bring 700 jobs and apprenticeships. He is pro crowds having a good time in a public space. What was the adolescent rush of blood that compelled him to stand with the kids?

It is an engaging quality in the Mayor that he seems to value the opinion of pals or passers-by as much as those of experts. But he is an executive, not a talk show host. Maybe the skaters were a useful excuse to turn down a flawed development. In which case Johnson should say so.

In the absence of a more robust argument, it looks as if City Hall was spooked by the 100,000 signatures on social media in favour of the skaters. The Establishment may understand process, but it lives in terror of online traffic.

This is my solution. The skater boys are media-savvy, have access to good lawyers and know their commercial worth. They are, in fact, the new Establishment. Let’s keep the Undercroft but build shops that sell skating gear to pay for the Royal Festival Hall extension. Let’s have a Selfridges outlet. The skaters should be transparent about their commercial clout. It is the poor homeless violinists who have no powerful backers.

And so a new era begins

London’s new television station, London Live, a sister company to the Evening Standard, launched last night, not with the customary “Good evening” but with an opening “Alright?” Reviewers have picked up that this is television buoyed by youthful enthusiasm.

The classicist Mary Beard is writing a book about Roman laughter on the premise that humour defines a culture. We share our offices with the London Live team and the bleaker humour of newspaper people co-exists with TV’s high spirits.

As the London Live team tumbled cheerfully out of the studio a newspaper man looked up over his glasses and murmured dryly: “And so it begins.” There are cultural differences but the skills and purpose of print, online and television are shared. This is multi-platform journalism in action. We are the new world.

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Ministers are not wrong to love their jobs

Left-wing News Quiz panellist Jeremy Hardy had an inspired rant the other evening against David Cameron on the grounds that he loved his job too much. Hardy contrasted him with Gordon Brown who was never able to enjoy the role he fought for his whole life. It was both an unfair and accurate allegation. Why is it better to be miserable in a job? And yet is it unseemly to have too good a time? Should all of us who love our jobs try not to rub it in everyone’s face?

What repulsed Hardy was the sense of entitlement and ease that he associates with the Tories. Anguish in a job suggests humility. Indeed, it is a requirement of the Church that nobody should enthusiastically seek promotion. Justin Welby’s manifesto on becoming Archbishop of Canterbury was to warn that he “would certainly get things wrong”. Hardy could extend his condemnation through the Cabinet. William Hague and George Osborne both clearly relish their jobs. Theresa May looks deeply satisfied. Annoying as it is for Jeremy Hardy, I don’t see any of them leaving government.

Comedy works in weird ways

My two favourite current television comedies are W1A and Rev. I am pleased to hear that the director- general of the BBC, Tony Hall, is considering a cameo appearance in W1A in a future episode, further blurring the line between fact and fiction. Rev, meanwhile, now in its third series, tells you everything you need to know about the human condition.

Both are on at the post-watershed time of 10pm. Is it that younger audiences are immune to sex and violence but find self-deprecation and the prospect of professional futility too troubling to bear?

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