Tough on gossip, tough on the causes of gossip
Who you gonna call?
According to the pollsters and news editors of the Daily Mail and Daily Express, there are three issues about which the Great British public is most concerned: asylum seekers, terrorist attacks and antisocial behaviour. With the election getting closer, prime minister Tony Blair feels he has to get tough on all three and for the last two at least, he has unleashed a fearsome secret weapon: Hazel Blears.

The pocket-battleship MP for Salford made her name fighting antisocial behaviour and, last Thursday, her portfolio was expanded to include counter-terrorism. If Des Browne, Beverley Hughes' replacement, fails to deliver on immigration, it is surely only a matter of time before Blears steps in once more.

Whistle while you work
Alongside championing good design and fighting off competition to become the Housing Corporation's new chief executive, Jon Rouse has somehow found time to qualify as a football referee.

Clearly, he doesn't like to stray far from the realm of regulation, even in his spare time. The question is, will he be more cavalier with the red card than he is with the red lights?

Idol chit chat
Efficiency tsar Sir Peter Gershon has found a way to harness the competitive spirit that sparks between government departments 鈥� get them to put up their best money-saving schemes and let them slog it out to see who comes out on top.

"It was a bit of a beauty pageant," said one representative at the contest a couple of weeks ago. "It felt more like Pop Idol," panted another. Gershon as bad guy of pop Simon Cowell? I'm sure he would be tickled by the idea.

Leaving parties up 100%
Staying with Gershon, it seems his decision to quit the Office of Government Commerce and concentrate full-time on his Treasury-sponsored review of government efficiency has set something of a fashion. His right-hand man on the efficiency review, Paul Kirby, is to depart as well. What job, you may ask, could possibly be more challenging than trying to get government departments to become more cost-effective? Well, my sources report that Kirby's off to the BBC 鈥�

What's mine is yours
Officials at Camden council must be kicking themselves (again) after they were forced to admit that a grade II-listed house, valued at 拢1m, no longer belonged to them but had passed into the ownership of three squatters.

The three have occupied the property in Clerkenwell, central London, for more than 30 years, despite several attempts to have them evicted. The council has said it will carry out an audit to ensure all other council properties are protected.

I like to call this piece, 鈥楩at Chance鈥�

Like most people under the age of 30 in London, acclaimed German sculptor Gregor Schneider is looking for an 鈥渙rdinary domestic house鈥� somewhere within the capital. Nothing odd about that you might think, except that he intends to use it to house his latest work. The house 鈥� ideally, two semi-detached properties 鈥� should be post-war, structurally sound and vacant for up to six months. Good luck, Gregor.

Source

Housing Today