The Capitalist: Royal Exchange climbers, Severance stunt and a Treasury typo
Protesters scale the Royal Exchange, Severance stars join the morning commute and a Treasury typo; catch up on the latest gossip and drama in this week’s edition of The Capitalist
GIVE US SOME RAZZLE DAZZLE
If you want to stop City commuters in their tracks, you’ll need to do a little better than the stunt taking place in the heart of the Square Mile earlier this week, in which two hardhatted protestors from an outfit called Boycott Bloody Insurance could be seen shimmying up an external column of the Royal Exchange. Three further activists stood (a little timidly) in front, holding flags bearing the logos of Axa, Allianz and Aviva with red strikes drawn through for the launch of the group’s latest campaign urging people to boycott insurers with so-called unethical investments.
The Capitalist paused to join the handful of other passersby with enough time on their hands to watch, where reactions ranged from cynicism (“there’s no way they’re going to get to the top”) to underwhelmed – “bit boring isn’t is?” The Capitalist would have to agree, with the climb achieved by a kind of wriggle aided by bands tied around the column. All in all, a little ungainly. A man associated with the group acknowledged the width of the column made it particularly challenging. With protesters practically part of the furniture these days, The Capitalist would urge more showmanship if in want of an audience.
At least they had the Met Police to perform to though, with 12 officers on the scene to take care of the terrifying events. The protesters were later escorted off the scene by police after climbing down themselves, conveniently already clad in their own orange jumpsuits.
SEVERANCE STARS JOIN LONDON COMMUTE
Now a critically acclaimed Apple TV drama exploring the hellscape of the modern office – that’s the sort of thing us rat racers lap up. So could be seen outside City Hall yesterday morning, where commuters were treated to a balloon-filled PR stunt from the cast of Severance, including Adam Scott and Britt Lower. The show, which explores a world in which workers can choose to be ‘severed’ – a procedure which completely separates their work and home lives – offers a dystopian take on the pursuit of the ever illusive ‘work-life balance’. With no memory of their home lives, for the characters’ work selves, every day when they arrive at work, it is as if they never left at all. The Capitalist is sure nobody in the City can relate.
WANTED: TREASURY PROOFREADERS
So keen were ministers to get some good news out ahead of the Spring Statement they appear to have rushed an announcement on affordable homes. The formal Treasury press release boasted a quote from Lloyds Banking boss Charlie Nunn, which including the line (presumably from a Lloyds comms officer, rather than Nunn) “Please could we get confirmation of whether these two quotes will be in the release/will be provided to media separately, so we can let them both know?” Treasury spinners rushed out a new version with the subject “Correction” – which still left the offending comms quote in place. Rachel Reeves wants to trim the civil service; perhaps she should start with Treasury press officers.
INSIDE A TFL THOUGHT SHOWER
What’s in a name? Anglo-Saxon etymology, subgenres of reggae rock and feminist bookshops if you’re TfL, who spent £6m and years of chin scratching to finally settle on the names for the six London Overground lines. The final names – Liberty, Lioness, Mildmay, Suffragette, Weaver and Windrush – were revealed largely to taunts last year, but, thanks to an FOI by London Centric, we now have the full list of names that were under consideration. Spurned ideas included the Saffron line (named for the etymology of Croydon = crocus + valley = saffron, apparently), the Ripple line (to “capture the line’s strong association with water”) and the Rom line (“a geographical nod to the town of Romford”). Reasons cited for rejection included the decision to celebrate groups rather than individuals, the possibility some words could be mistaken for safety-critical words and the risk of other names being abbreviated to slurs.