| LETTERS FROM LONDON |
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| REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL 25 June 2011 |
| 1. Breaking the Habit Lack of imagination, poor design sense, shoddy products, abysmal customer service, too little value for too much money - Habitat is no longer a habit - with a loss of £88m and the future of 30 stores uncertain. Sir Terence Conran’s concept of Habitat was brilliant, functional, fun, aspirational; a cool, trendy, affordable lifestyle for all. Surely after IKEA acquired it in 1992, it was all a slippery slope to dull and drab, monotonous and mundane. More about Habitat 2. Making a Molehill Out of a Mountain Andy’s annoyed. Andy’s always annoyed. With the emotional maturity of a midge, Andy Murray is forever whinging, moaning, fuming, furious and he wants us to know it. Look away now or suffer from those hideous, contorted, open-mouthed grimaces he makes to communicate his deepest emotions. So very attractive. Not only is he irritating, but he has no sense of humour. Now that is a serious flaw. Could it be an expression of his resentment towards England? The irony of “C’mon Tim!” shouted from the crowds on the hill outside Centre Court - what used to be Henman Hill and is now Murray’s Mount - is lost on him. “You can’t be serrrrious!” More about Andy Murray and Wimbledon 3. Bring in the Clowns Bullying MPs tried to prevent a ban on circus animal cruelty this week. One of three MPs who proposed the ban, conservative backbencher Mark Pritchard, was promised a government job if he withdrew his proposal and when he refused, was then threatened by PM CallMeDumboDave. The Prime Minister ‘suggested’ to Pritchard that he would look "very dimly" unless Pritchard amended or withdrew the motion. ‘Very dimly’. Who could make this up. Dim Dave could not persuade Pritchard who insisted that the measure be voted upon regardless of the pressure being put on MPs to reject the vote. More about MPs and Animal Cruelty |