Politics before people

Bad financial management is not confined to the Public Sector. Some years ago a major company in financial difficulties 'economised' by doing away with the ladies who toured their offices with a tea trolly! The number of Directors remained unaltered. What on earth justifies a Council Chief Executive being paid more than the Prime Minister? At the risk of being accused of assorted phobias and discrimination one has to ask if a Council REALLY needs THREE separate Officers, costing upwards of £30k each to deal with Gay Men's; Lesbian and Ethnic issues? During the week there have been a number of declarations from local councils about how they are going to organise their budgets to meet reduced income. This is so varied that getting a general picture is near impossible. But there are some trends. A number of Labour controlled Councils have decided to make front line cuts for their publicity value to doubtless make a political point. A number of Councils of all persuasions have striven, not always successfully, to protect front line jobs & services. Some Councils have looked at Lollipop Ladies [and men] and Meals on Wheels as an option. What should happen is a serious cull of senior management & posts which are 'political', like a 'Nuclear free coordinator' disguised as a 'service'.

The Merlin Agreement

The 'Merlin' is a bird of prey and it certainly seems that the Banks have successfully preyed on the Government. The Banks did agree to extend more credit to particularly small & medium sized businesses but there is no sanction if they fail and nothing about the simplicity and competitiveness of the loans (or lack of it) that they can impose on the borrowers. Also in the small print this is based on 'gross lending' so that banks can call in existing loans as quickly as they make new ones so it's not really an 'extension' at all. Nothing significant about bonuses – like they should only be a reward for success. It still seems that a top banker's salary is just for turning up at the office. Everything else is 'extra'. The 'Observer' [Editorial 13th Feb 2011] says: “ The goal [of Merlin] should have been a long term settlement that changes the culture of the City so that it honours its debts. The British Taxpayer saved the banking sector and in return got unemployment, tax rises, and deep cuts to public services. It was the swindle of the century”

Undeserved bonuses

Five years ago Rolls Royce had a share price of £4.5 which fell to £ 2.4 but it is now back to £6.60. It has consistently paid a dividend of between 2% & 4%.. By contrast RBS [Royal Bank of Scotland] five years ago had a share price of £6 which during the crash fell to 10p & is now 44p. It hasn't paid a dividend since 2007 & doesn't expect to until 2012. Even HSBC, which avoided the debacle of RBS, had a share price five years ago of £8 which fell to £3 & is now only back to £7 with a dividend of 3%. Which Chief Executive, past and present is worth a seven figure salary plus an obscene bonus? Certainly not the Banks. On the measure of shareholder value so often trotted out as the the principal objective of a business the banks are a miserable failure deserving of nothing.

What is the point of parliament?

Vince Cable is caught expressing his view that the Rupert Murdoch empire is more than big enough & he, Vince, is prepared to take it on. He is immediately stripped of the task of deciding if that Empire can be allowed to get bigger. The decision is given to Jeremy Hunt who had already expressed the view that allowing Murdoch to have the rest of BSkyB would not make a substantial difference to the plurality of the British Media. So disagree with Murdoch & be relieved of your duties. Agree and be given them. How impartial, especially when David Cameron & James Murdoch were apparently guests of Rebekah Brooks - Murdochs right hand woman - at Christmas. And the Government allows the Banks to carry on unpunished whilst the rest of us pay for the greed & stupidity of people who think that their 'talent' deserves obscene reward & we should stop bashing them [Davos]. Why don't we just shut down parliament & recognise that we will continue to be dumped on by the rich & powerful & save ourselves the expense of politicians.

To quit or not to quit, that is the question

Peter Hitchens on the Andrew Marr show today [23rd Jan] made a passing remark about Andy Coulson where I think he said there was a growing tendency for top people to quit before they had been proved guilty of any wrongdoing. If I heard him correctly then how indeed things have changed. When I became an adult in the 1950's I feel sure I remember top people just accepting responsibility for what went on in the organisations for which they were responsible and just resigned as the right & proper thing to do. Nowadays, apparently, if you don't hang on & hope that you won't be forced out you are a silly billy. If Coulson didn't know what was going on he was incompetent. If he did know then he is guilty. Either way when he resigned from the News of the World he should have stayed away from media jobs. Ed Milliband said it calls into question Camerons judgment. Brilliantly original Ed. Did you come up with it all by yourself or did Alistair Campbell help you?

Safety engineering for banks

The Financial Times magazine on Saturday 15th January ran a fascinating feature discussing how the disciplines of safety engineering for nuclear power stations could and should be applied to the kind of financial engineering that provoked the financial meltdown. It was a persuasive thesis. But there is a a fundamental difference. If you are in charge of a nuclear reactor that goes haywire, then, guilty or not, you are likely to suffer serious personal consequences - even death. If you are in charge of a failed bank - even if you are guilty as hell, you will emerge richly rewarded.

Evenhandedness

Lifted from the 'Stop the War Coalition' supporters Email is "SATURDAY MARCH 12TH: CONFRONTING ANTI MUSLIM HATRED, A CONFERENCE WITH SPEAKERS FROM BRITAIN, EUROPE AND THE US. Speakers include Tariq Ramadam, Robert Lambert, Mehdi Hassan, Salma Yaqoob, Peter Oborne, Lindsey German and leading Muslim and anti racist activists from France, Germany, Scandinavia and the USA.10 –5pm March 12th, London Muslim Centre, 92 Whitechapel Road, E1 1JX. As a supporter of this organisation I'm all for this initiative but it MUST go hand in hand with an initiative - led by the vast majority of those in the UK Muslim community - which unequivocally also condemns the hatred of fanatical Muslims for Christians and anyone else with whom they disagree. If traditional British tolerance is to be sustained to the widest number of cultures and faiths it is not acceptable for 'leaders' to make excuses for transgressors of basic civilised behaviour on the basis of religion & culture. No exceptions.