Mark Borkowski - Mark my words - Borkowski Blogs » health and safety

Anarcho-Royalism in the UK

Mark Borkowski — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:07:05 +0000

In 1981 serious riots swept the country, but the Royal Wedding still comforted and distracted the great unwashed with sumptuous street parties and lit beacons of hope.

30 years later, thanks to the digital enlightenment and the forces of social media, we might well find ourselves experiencing significant social unrest at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton – according to the Sun, at least, who lead today’s paper with the ever-so-slightly lubricious headline: ‘Anarchists Target Wills & Kate’.

So has the meticulously planned publicity stunt fallen apart already? Do anarchists rule? Is this pure hype – a cheap Monday morning headline – or have we significantly changed as a nation?

Perhaps the Health and Safety executive should be stripped of its killjoy powers, leaving the nation free, with no strings attached, to party as they see fit for the Royal Wedding. I would suggest that the nation is most likely to overwhelmingly express and celebrate its latent royal conditioning.

In all probability the news of Egyptian unrest, currently dominating the zeitgeist, has lead to today’s Sun headline. A significant minority may oppose the wedding, but if you leave those who wholeheartedly approve free to celebrate it as they see fit, within the bounds of law and common sense of course, surely you take the sting away from these supposed ‘anarchist’ troublemakers?

Stunt Deflation: The Balloon Boy Aftermath

Mark Borkowski — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:48:50 +0000

It seems that there is a total sense of humour failure endemic throughout the world when it comes to stunts like the ‘Balloon Boy’ incident, as the ongoing trial of the parents proves – they apparently pleaded guilty only after the wife, who is Japanese, was threatened with deportation.

Certainly, the need to think about wider concerns makes outlandish and outrageous stunts a more difficult prospect in this health and safety and desperately money-conscious world. Some years ago, a band wanted me to help them arrange to completely stop traffic in Piccadilly Circus so they could play a gig from a flat bed truck – I had to hold a hand up and say “what are we going to do if an ambulance comes through with a heart attack victim on board?” The need to stand back and question all possible outcomes is even more imperative nowadays.

As much as the Rupert Pupkinish hedonistic approach is appealing, for its ability to grab headlines and for the sheer thrill of pulling something extraordinary and outrageous off, the parents of ‘Balloon Boy’ are proof positive that care has to be taken and that serious thought has to be applied if you don’t want an initially amused and fascinated public to turn on you if even the smallest thing goes wrong. Fame for the sake of it can be a costly business.