In the good old days, when an Irish migrant came to England to get a job on the buildings he headed straight for Biddy Mulligans on the Kilburn High Road.
On Sunday, it was there that the gangers did their recruiting for general labourers. The gangers were powerful men both in stature and in their power. They built post-war Britain.
After a few pints, you had to pick your moment to approach one of those giants to ask for the ‘start’.
He’d look you up and down and, if your luck was in and you weren’t too weedy he’d say: ‘Tomorrow morning, outside the pub at seven.
That was it. Naturally, we all used false names – Gallagher was my favourite – and we were paid by the ‘lump’ (cash in hand) on a Friday evening.
So, I decided to see what getting a job in construction was like today. I read that PwC had been paid £104 million on HS2 and reckoned they must be big in the building industry.
As Biddy Mulligans had been turned into a Bistrot I turned up bright and early at the posh headquarters of PwC with hob-nailed boots and a hi-vis jacket. (There was none of that in the old days).
It was like a posh hotel, so I approached the desk and asked the attractive young lady if there was any chance of the ‘start’. She looked at me funny, ‘Excuse me, sir’.
‘You know, a job, I’m looking for work in construction’.
‘I’m sorry, sir, we are accountants and auditors and if you go online you can contact our Human Resources Department.’
It was the same when I went to Deloitte’s (£86 Million), Ernst and Young (£25 million).
OK back to reality. The fact is that Muggins (you and me) paid the management consultants £280 million for HS2 – for what? They didn’t put a spade in the ground or push a wheelbarrow.
You may be appalled at my duplicity and tax evasion in the 1970s but was I any worse than the £ 1million a year partners in these management consultants?
Of course, they are not to blame. It’s the dumb wits who signed off their timesheets and expenses (Gordon Ramsay, etc) that are the real culprits here.
Will anyone be brought to book? Of course not. We’ll set up some sort of inquiry which will get stuck for years when the lawyers will get their turn at the trough.
When this inquiry reports, and they look for those responsible it will be a case of: ‘I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone – we’ll be gone’. Champagne all round.
Have a good weekend
Tom
by the Planning PR guru 