Magnus Mills - The Scheme for Full Employment: A Novel

TITLE: The Scheme for Full Employment

AUTHOR: Magnus Mills

PUBLISHER: Flamingo

COPYRIGHT: 2003

ISBN: 0 00 715131 4

ABEB Version: 3.0

Created: 2004/1/7 @ 21:09

An mdf Scan & Proofread.

The Scheme for Full Employment

Magnus Mills

For my father

Leaflet

T12

SAMPLE DUTY

(for training purposes only)

Start/finish Long Reach depot.

8.00 Collect keys.

8.02 Attend vehicle during loading/unloading.

8.15 Depart Long Reach depot and proceed east along Ring Road.

10.15 Arrive Cotton Town depot. Attend vehicle during loading/unloading.

11.00 Depart Cotton Town depot and proceed north.

(Note: observe 20mph speed limit along Butlers Causeway.)

12.45 Arrive Bell Tower depot. Attend vehicle during loading/unloading.

13.00 Dinner break.

13.30 Attend vehicle during loading/unloading.

13.45 Depart Bell Tower depot and proceed west.

(Note: during diversions, drivers should be aware of low bridge at New Borough Sidings. Normal cautions apply.)

15.00 Arrive Rudgeway depot. (Enter via Rudgeway Approach, not rear gate.) Attend vehicle during loading/unloading.

15.45 Depart Rudgeway depot.

16.20 Arrive Long Reach depot. Secure vehicle and return keys.

16.30 End of duty.

(All journeys subject to curtailment or rerouting as exigencies dictate.)

Of course, if this had been any other country The Scheme would still be going today. In any other country it would have been regarded as a national treasure, with the entire workforce striving to maintain the high standards and principles on which it was established. As a matter of fact, many of our continental neighbours adopted versions of The Scheme for their own use, and in each case they achieved unbounded success. Yet theres no question whose idea it was in the first place. It was ours. We thought it up. The Scheme for Full Employment was the envy of the world: the greatest undertaking ever conceived by men and women. It solved at a stroke the problem that had beset humankind for generations. Participants had only to put the wheels in motion, and they could look forward to a bright, sunlit upland where idleness and uncertainty would be banished for ever. Planned to the finest detail by people of vision, The Scheme was watertight, and could not possibly go wrong.

Except in this country.

In this country we managed to destroy it. We destroyed the last thing that could save us from obscurity and ruin. And we did it with our own hands too, not at the behest of some errant leader whom we could obey and then blame later. No, we cant lay the guilt on anyone but ourselves. The Scheme was created for us, and it was we who finally brought it down.

Len Walker saw the dangers long before the rest of us. I remember a conversation we had one morning as we stood on the loading bay at Blackwell depot, watching the UniVans roll in and out of the yard. It was a fine day, the first after a long damp spell, and several drivers were treating their vehicles to a trip through the automatic wash. At the same time goods were being cleared from the bay as quickly as they came in, with not an item of clutter in sight. It was a hive of activity, and I remarked that everything appeared to be running smooth as clockwork.

Oh yes, said Len. It all looks very rosy, but you know it could easily come to an end, dont you?

Come to an end? I said. Surely not.

It could happen overnight.

But you always say were living in glorious days.

Certainly we are! Glorious, glorious days!

Well then.

Well then nothing. Len lowered his voice. These may be glorious days, but if we lose them theyll never come again.

Why should we lose them?

Because some people have started taking too much for granted. Too many liberties, if you get my meaning. Im not naming names, but there are a few individuals around here threatening to undermine everything thats been built up over the years. They dont seem to realize it could collapse like a house of cards if theyre not careful.

Really?

Oh, it may not happen for a while yet, and Im sure well be able to continue just as we are for quite some time. Nonetheless, if were overcomplacent, if we fail to cherish what we have, then I tell you, one morning well wake up and find it gone.

Have you mentioned this to anyone else?

Only those wholl listen. There are a number of us scattered about, spreading the word, so to speak. Obviously its a slow process, getting through to everybody, trying to make them fully aware of the situation. Not everyones as conscientious as you and me.

Well, I wouldnt say I was particularly conscientious. I like an easy time, same as the next person.

Maybe so, Len replied. But I can see you appreciate The Scheme more than most of them.

Possibly.

Not so sure about your assistant though.

George? No, I dont think he ever considers such matters. More interested in distributing his cakes than anything else.

Well, do me a favour, will you? Try and drum the message into him and all those others who just drift along thinking thisll last for evermore. Otherwise, ten years from now theyll come back here and find the gates locked and trees growing up through the concrete.

Alright, Ill try my best. Look, Len, Id better get going. Osgoods peeping out. Ill catch you next time round, OK?

Yes. See you.

He moved aside and watched as I descended the steps and walked to the front of the UniVan. He was still watching when I climbed inside, and I got the feeling he was observing me to see whether his words had sunk in properly.

I slid the cab door shut. George was sitting in the dummy seat, surrounded by a stack of pink and white boxes.

You been here all the while? I said. I thought you were going to see Osgood.

No, he replied. Ive decided to leave it for the moment. Its going to require careful timing.

Suit yourself. You ready to go then?

Yep.

Right, lets move.

I started up and headed across the yard and out through the gates.

What were you and Len talking about? George asked, raising his voice above the engine. Youve been rabbiting on for ages.

Well, you know what hes like once he gets going.

Yeah

Hes been telling me how The Schemes likely to fizzle out of existence at any minute.

Hes changed his tune. Last time I spoke to him he told me wed never had it so good.

Oh, he still believes all that, I said. But he thinks no one else does. Apart from a select few.

What, like him and Mick Dalston when theyre up in the games room for hours on end? Keeping it spick and span, as they put it.

Exactly.

So whats his problem then?

Well, you know Len takes his breakfast, dinner and tea breaks all rolled together into one?

Yeah, said George. Has done for years.

But despite that he always keeps on top of the work, doesnt he?

Suppose.

And when was the last time you saw a muddle on the bay at Blackwell?

Cant remember.

Well, I can. It was when Len had his summer holiday and Charlie Green took over for two weeks.

Oh, thats right.

And Charlie kept going on about how Gosling was good for the clock if you leant on him a bit. Got himself signed out early three days in succession, and by the time Len came back there was enough backlog to make several loads.

He got quite upset about that, didnt he?

Ill say he did. Went up the wall, as a matter of fact. Didnt speak to Charlie for several months. The point Im making is that Len always does his full eight hours even though he spends half of them upstairs. He never clocks off early because he doesnt want to jeopardize his darts, and his cards, and his snooker, and all the other leagues hes running. Hes been on The Scheme a long time, dont forget. He wants it all to stay exactly as it is, but hes afraid it could crumble into nothing.