Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Trouble in the Camp

News comes in that Anadarko, one of BP’s partners in the ill fated Deepwater Horizon project is now breaking ranks and accusing the oil giant of gross negligence and so forth. A big lawsuit is in preparation. That is more bad news. There are other items of interest. The Russian President thinks that BP may face ‘anihilation’. The Chairman of the company, an expert at saying the wrong thing, has described this calamity as a ‘setback’, before announcing that the Chief Executive after his disastrous showing in Congress, is ceding direction of the relief operation to the Managing Director.

Shareholders who remain optimistic are brave indeed. Speculators buying shares now in the belief the worst is passed may burn their fingers. In the end there is some light however. Even if  BP is forced into Chapter 11 or gets broken up or taken over, this is not like the failure of a retail chain or an auto maker. BP’s business is pumping oil. Oil is like gold of the past. It is money and it is always in demand and sadly the demand grows. So whatever happens there is a future because the world needs BP’s product. The question is whether BP in its current form can retain control of its assets and infrastructure.

The answer to that question will not be known until the leak is stopped, the damage quantified,  the fines totalled and the mid-term US elections are over. A spike in the oil price would be timely but the fragile nature of the recovery and troubles with sovereign debt make that less likely.

England

I have not played football since I was twelve. It is not one of my interests. I do watch the lifestyle of the players, who are paid huge sums and are idolised by youngsters, to whom they are heroes. I know that stories about them sell papers and are an essential feature of tabloid circulation. I am aware that pubs and clubs across the country gain enormous trade from having big screen TV for their customers to watch matches. I am aware that the English football  club and league structure is the richest,  best organised and best supported in the world.

The football World Cup has become  not just a sporting event, but an international event second only to the Olympics. When the tournament opens, the England players cease to be just overpaid footballers with celebrity status and fortunes built on aftershave and underpants. They are team players representing the hopes and aspirations of all the people of their country from the Prime Minister downwards and with people and Princes united in supporting them, rooting for them and cheering them on. This is not just about them. It is about everyone. This is when those players individually and as a team must shine for their Country, to which they owe everything that they are.

What has happened thus far in South Africa is disgraceful. The spectacle last night was unforgivable. Distraught fans who had travelled thousands of miles to support their national team booed. Those boos were echoed across this country in so many public places where anticipation had turned to disappointment then to dismay and on to anger. As they rang in the ears of the shamed players slinking back to their dressing room, they echoed in every English heart.

By next Wednesday Capello’s men have to pull themselves together. The road to glory is still open, but only just. Now is the moment to show their courage and redeem our faith. The alternative is an early arrival home in disgrace and in the knowledge that they have let their country down. They have a lot to play for now. Everything, in fact.