Who are they?

Photograph: PA

I recognise the much leaner former Lord Chancellor, 'Charlie' Falconer (top right), ex-Anglican priest and gay activist Chris Bryant (3rd down) for banging on and on about gay people being the same as everyone else but deserving special privileges, and, to his left, Stephen Kinnock mainly for being Stephen Kinnock. The MP above Bryant looks familiar but I can not put a name to the face.

Years ago many of my contemporaries knew most if not all members of the Cabinet and their Shadow ministers. As an elderly friend often reminds me, that is when we had statesmen in government. That does not necessarily imply anything about their relative competence but one thing does. That is to know when their time is up.

Jeremy Corbyn is the surprise 'Leader' of the Labour party who is stuck in the past. He and his supporters see this as a breath of fresh air, a new kind of politics! Few had heard of him until an electoral wheeze backfired and horrified Labour MPs realised what they had done in broadening the field for the sake of appearances.

On Monday the Guardian reported: "Jeremy Corbyn is preparing himself for a leadership contest following a fresh wave of resignations, with 15 members of the shadow cabinet walking out and calling for him to step down from the helm of the party...A source close to Corbyn said the number of resignations was destabilising but ultimately irrelevant unless someone triggered a leadership election. 'In many ways, the shadow cabinet is now stronger. There is no shortage of good people who want to do these jobs. The only way to try to replace Jeremy is to stand against him in a democratic contest,' he said, adding that was now 'likely to happen'."

A report this morning indicates that "more than 40 Labour MPs on Corbyn's front bench and in his shadow ministerial team" have quit.

Ignoring all appeals from fellow MPs who have pointed to his lack of leadership skills and what they regard as his dismal performance or even 'sabotage' in the EU Remain campaign, Corbyn says he will stand again in a leadership election claiming support from the rank and file of the Labour Party. As he faces a No Confidence vote has he thought to ask himself, where were his 'loyal supporters' when he was supposed to be galvanising support for the Remain campaign?

Does it matter one jot if Momentum successfully retains Corbyn as leader if he does not command the confidence of the country? Of course not. Power often involves compromise. It was a hard lesson for Labour to learn but now apparently forgotten again. If they fluff it again they will have only themselves to blame.

Corbyn must make way for someone who is able to lead the Labour party as an effective Opposition and possibly into Government. 

Update [28.06.2016]

Jeremy Corbyn has lost a confidence vote by 172 votes to 40 with 4 abstentions.

Ta ta Tata. Hello re-nationalisation?

The chickens have come home to roost for the conservative Party with the news that Tata Steel said it could not give an "open ended" commitment to keep their UK plants open while a buyer was sought. The UK Business Minister, Anna Soubry, told the BBC that she wants the company to take enough time to find a buyer for the plant. Failing that, other options being considered include 'government support'.

After the slump of the 1920s and the depression of the 1930s, the iron and steel industry was nationalised by Labour in 1949. Privatised by the Conservatives in 1950, it was re-nationalised by Labour under the leadership of Harold Wilson in 1967. Mrs Thatcher sold off British steel along with Gas, Electricity, Telecoms, Water and dozens of other companies as part of her political ideology. "Selling off the family silver" as Macmillan put it. 

In his book "The Slow Death of British Industry: a 60-Year Suicide, 1952-2012" Nicholas Comfort wrote that Britain has shrunk from an industrial giant to an industrial pygmy: "Manufacturing was industry’s bedrock. In 1952, it produced a third of the national output, employed 40 per cent of the workforce and made up a quarter of world manufacturing exports. Today, manufacturing in this country accounts for just 11 per cent of GDP, employs only 8 per cent of the workforce and sells 2 per cent of the world’s manufacturing exports. The iconic names of industrial Britain are history; in their place are the service economy and supermarkets selling mainly imported goods."

Already at the mercy of foreign countries for essential supplies the only protected species in Great Britain are Bankers who, after being bailed out by the State to the tune of a staggering  £850 billion, do their best to ruin small businesses with extortionate charges as they continue to line their own pockets handsomely before awarding themselves bonuses often well beyond the average wage.

The 'British' steel industry must be protected. As Ministers return from holidaying abroad to consider their options, British workers have been waiting anxiously to hear their fate. It is unlikely that human misery will occupy too much of Ministers' time but hopefully they will look at the broader implications of the cost of tens of thousands of workers becoming unemployed with the consequent implications for supporting business and dependent small traders, plus the cost of land reclamation before trying to attract other industries.

The Business Secretary says he is prepared to consider all options, except nationalisation. If re-nationalisation is the only answer so be it. Thatcher is dead. Her political ideology should have died with her. It is time to back Britain.

Save Our Steel

... --- ...

The Daily Mirror has been running a campaign to save our steel industry highlighting four things the Government must do:

• An immediate cut in business rates for the steel industry and a fairer system of valuation 
• Give the steel industry a break from green taxes and high energy bills 
• Block China from dumping cheap steel on the UK market 
• Buy British. Major infrastructure and construction projects and all government-backed contracts should look to use British-made steel

Why British steel is in crisis is explained by Newsnight economics correspondent Duncan Weldon here while the Telegraph carries an informative video "The UK steel industry by numbers" here.

It is claimed that Tata Steel job losses 'will kill Scunthorpe', a town in which generations of workers have depended on steel for their livelihood. The Government's response? A package of up to £9 million to provide support to Scunthorpe steel workers and the local economy.

Without urgent action the British steel industry will share the same fate as the coal industry with yet more "hardworking people" re-classified as scroungers as they are forced onto benefits, unlike the chosen few.

According to National Audit Office figures we spent £850 billion on the bank crises in 2009 which equates to a £26,562.50p spend by every taxpayer in the UK yet "Bankers' bonuses rise at double the rate of the average worker - and are a hundred times higher than those of public sector staff". With UK finance sector bonuses expected to top £100bn since the financial crisis, this equates to £1,500 for every man, woman and child in the UK.

A petition calling on David Cameron to take decisive action to protect and revive British steel plants before it's too late can be signed here.

BANKERS!

Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

It seems that having one's hand in the till is a difficult habit to break. The lessons of the past have been ignored encouraging greed on an unprecedented scale by people who clearly regard themselves as untouchable in what was once regarded as an honourable profession. It is time for an example to be made of these unscrupulous bankers before they wreak even more damage on the rest of us. Hot on the heels of the rate rigging saga yet another major scandal has emerged with the mis-selling of financial products to small businesses, the very people the government has been busy trying to encourage to help get the economy moving again. The governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King outlines here what needs to be done to change a banking culture which has "let down" the many honest and hard working people in the financial sector. Let's get on with it.

They are all in this together: super rich tax avoidance

Football players and team managers, bankers, city traders; they are all in it together. Read here how "big businesses and bankers are profiting from everyone else's economic woes by cutting their tax bills."

A special case

If, like me, you find it difficult to get your head around a figure of 6 million pounds, a little surfing on the internet can help. The mansion shown above cost Adele £6million, the sort of figure a banker might expect as just one year's bonus. 

As the average young person struggles to get onto the property ladder, the people who dropped us into this mess are regarded as a special case, not because they are all in it together, but because of threats they will abandon the country that made them rich if they are not allowed to continue in the style to which they have become accustomed. The term 'special case' used to be reserved for those in hardship or deserving of special treatment, rather like the disabled people employed by Remploy who are going to lose not only their jobs but a way of life that gave them some feeling of worth. As a sop, they are promised a bonus - an '£8m fund is being set up to help those affected find alternative employment. That must be a great comfort when the able-bodied cannot find work.

According to a report in today's Independent there is 'Judgement day at last for the bankers'. I very much doubt it but while they are at it, is anyone going to be held to account for the PPI scandal or is that just another special case?  

New Years Honours farce

While most people in this country and others are still licking wounds our bankers inflicted, one of the beneficiaries of our nation's downfall has been honoured with a knighthood. Personally I don't give a toss how much charitable work he or other undeserving recipients may have done. Most can well afford it far better than Mr and Mrs Average and pensioners who give regularly to charities and see philanthropy as its own reward. Even if Paul Ruddock were the most deserving name on the New Years Honours list in philanthropic terms, what sort of message does it send to people who have lost their savings and see their standard of living continuing to fall with many shivering because they cannot afford the cost of fuel? Thousands of people have lost their jobs, many their homes too, and a generation see no prospect of employment or a home of their own. That is their legacy from people who continue to reward themselves while the rest suffer. Why should we honour them too?

Happy New Year!   

Postscript

"David Cameron pledges end to city excess." - Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

The House of God

Photo: Alastair Stevenson

An excellent video from Ruth Gledhill here putting into perspective the anti-capitalist protest that looks set to continue as an end in itself. The closure of St Paul's Cathedral may be open to interpretation but again bankers escape while the innocent are made to suffer. The loss of Christian values can be seen everywhere but is this really the way to treat the House of God?

Moral bankruptcy

To ensure that we in Britain did not starve during WW2, thousands of Merchant Seamen braved the cruel seas of the North Atlantic while Hitler's U-boats stalked their convoys. Merchant ships were  not allowed to pick up any survivors spotted in the icy waters. Some of the lucky ones who did not go down with their ships were picked up by Royal Navy escort vessels. One of the survivors tells his story here.

Those who lost their lives are remembered in the Merchant Navy War Memorial at Tower Hill in London where a memorial garden is dedicated to those who have no known grave.

Churchill said The Battle of the Atlantic was a fight for Britain's very survival but now this hallowed space is to be trampled by greedy bankers while boozing their bonuses over Christmas and dancing on the 'graves' of the brave sailors who gave their lives in two world wars to save Britain. Tower Hamlets Council see no merit in objections but then they wouldn't would they? We have been here before but while we have become accustomed to Islamists showing contempt for British values it is a bit much when bankers, who have done more than anyone else to bring our country to its knees, show such disrespect for merchant seamen who gave their lives for the freedom these bankers enjoy. 

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM!

Postscript
Thanks to a story in the Observer and to campaigners, permission to hold this event has been withdrawn.

Conference time

Now three cheers for our wonderful bankers 

who caused the mess the last government left us in!

Pensions plea

To lose one's hearing in old age is bad enough but to lose one's income through no fault of one's own is unfortunate. Many pensioners who lived frugally, putting aside what savings they could to provide that little bit extra in old age now find themselves sadly disappointed.

While bankers continue to reward themselves at taxpayers' expense with billions of pounds following their incompetence, savers have suffered a loss of £43 billion compared with their income before and after the Bank cut rates to 0.5%. In addition the value of investments is being eroded as markets fall.

Inflation is adding to their misery made worse by the Government's unilateral action to change the measure of calculating pension increases from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index resulting in lower increases. 

Last night I listen to complaints about the 50p tax rate payable by the top 1% of earners who receive over £150,000 a year (ie, ten times that of the average pensioner based on £29,000 for a couple). One man said he had had to work hard to achieve that. There are many who have worked very hard for much less. If they were to receive a bit extra they would be more likely to spend it.

An e-petition has been organised to protest against the unjust change in the method of calculating pension increases. Please sign it and ask others to do so. Thanks.


Update


E-mail received today (29/02/2012):



"The e-petition 'Public & Private Pension Increases - change from RPI to CPI' recently reached 109,392 signatures and a response has been made to it.
This e-petition has reached 100,000 signatures. The Government has notified the Backbench Business Committee in the House of Commons who will consider its suitability for debate when Parliament returns in September. This e-petition will remain live, and people will be able to continue adding their signatures. The Backbench Business Committe have announced that a debate relating to this e-petition will take place on Thursday 1 March 2012 in the Chamber of the House of Commons. Further information about the debate, and on the workings of the Backbench Business Committee, can be found on the Committee's website at http://www.parliament.uk/bbcom The Government will post a further response to this petition following the debate.


View the response to the e-petition."

Judgement

No, not bankers with their noses in the trough, completely oblivious to natural justice, but judges themselves who persist in trying the patience of ordinary law abiding citizens.

Yesterday it was the turn of Mr and Mrs Johns from Derby who had already fostered many children but were disallowed from further fostering homeless children under the equality laws because of the way they expressed their Christian faith. The judges said, “We sit as secular judges serving a multicultural community of many faiths. We are sworn (we quote the judicial oath) to 'do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will’.” An ironic comment following the Prime Minister's remarks following on from Angela Merkle's that multiculturalism had failed. Once again it appears that any views can be expressed provided they are not Christian or perceived to question other faiths.

Also in our one size fits all society, the European Court has decided that insurance risk assessment must be abandoned in the interests of gender equality resulting in higher premiums in general and for women in particular. Coming hot on the heels of the votes for prisoners farce, many law abiding citizens must be wondering where all this is leading and would be justified in thinking that 'equality' and 'human rights' judgements have become a load of cobblers - unless they are football fans. 

Windbag or saviour?

Mr Cameron's Big Society is under the spotlight again (Photo: Getty)

Back in the news is the Big Society. As a former communications man one would have thought that the Prime Minister would be able to put over his big idea with the utmost clarity but people still struggle with it. Could it be that it is all wind and no substance? I thought Cameron's interview with the BBC's political editor revealing in the sense that Nick Robinson asked tougher questions than usual suggesting that even he, a former President of the Oxford University Conservative Association, had doubts. The government were simply  washing their hands of responsibility by letting local councils take the flack after starving them of the funds needed to make the project work. 

People at the local level are being played off against each other as the Prime Minister claims that in a "grown up society" people have to make tough decisions but empowerment is not that simple. Ministers keep reminding us that it is going to be a tough year. The elderly have been hit particularly hard by inflation, shrinking pensions and erosion of savings but how much worse for the young unemployed with little or no prospect of work, fuelling fears of a lost generation. The current inflation rate of 4% is double that of the Bank of England's target rate of 2% making life even more difficult for many while the few carry on regardless. Barclay's today announced profits of £6.1 billion increasing pay packages by 20% despite reduced bonuses.

In his interview with Nick Robinson, the prime Minister let slip that it was not the previous government who dropped us in the mess but bankers. With an army of unemployed left roaming boarded-up streets in the Big (divided) Society there could there be big trouble ahead.  Oak trees from acorns grow.


Postscript


Thanks to Charon QC (see Blog list) I've just picked up this video of Francis Maude, the Minister responsible for pushing the Big Society, explaining his contribution. Brilliant! One comment suggested the the clip had been doctored so you can see a fuller version here. Well at least he goes to church.

"We are all in this together." (9)

The new boy George - he plays while others call the tune. 

While impotency surrounds the issue of bankers' bonuses some council staff are likely to have their pay reduced by 40%. There's togetherness for you!

"We are all in this together." (6)

Bonus time!

Britain's poorest households may soon pay a higher tax rate than major banks according to TUC calculations. Chancellor Osborne, the banker's friend, has confirmed that this trend will continue.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Carry On England

In a recent blog http://letnothingyoudismay.blogspot.com/2010/06/anyone-care-to-risk-prophecy.html Fr Michael Gollop wrote “It always seems to help if you know absolutely nothing about the subject you are talking about.” To that I plead guilty. I know nothing whatsoever about the football game that uses a round ball.

Unlike rugby football where the shape of the ball ensures the bounce is unpredictable, in soccer a round ball makes for easy placement. Perhaps that is why it is called the beautiful game but not so beautiful for England in their World Cup game against Algeria who they just managed to hold to a 0 – 0 draw. One of the team members, a Mr Rooney, was heard to complain after the match, “Nice to hear your own fans booing you – that’s loyal supporters”. Could it be that his loyal supporters were disappointed that a player receiving a reported £90,000 a week (I can’t say earning), failed to justify his enormous pay packet after fans had spent thousands of pounds, probably saving for years, to watch their heroes do their bit for England, if only in the opening rounds? After all, he didn’t have to do it all himself for the money; there were ten other players to assist him.

Fanned into frenzy for weeks in the build up, England supporters expected their team to walk on water but to tread water was not what they had paid to see. Like failed bankers, these over-paid soccer players have become divorced from reality. They show their contempt for ordinary mortals by using the pitch as a spittoon, hardly the role models we might expect for the money, but carry on England, no doubt your ‘expectorant’ will continue to serve you in the manner you think you deserve.

A Question of Balance

Once again I allowed myself to become irritated by watching Question Time on Thursday. It was like a repeat of the Carol Vorderman show in drag with that offensive little pip-squeak David Starkey ranting from a similar Tory election script. Whilst I welcome a variety of opinions (within reason) such tirades become wearisome especially when formed from a narrow historical perspective. Some will recall his 2009 dismissal of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish nations as ‘feeble’. People in glass houses….

Much was made by most of the panel, and the Chairman of course, of the links between the Labour party and its trade union sponsor Unite as a result of its dispute with British Airways. That was fair game but what are we to make of the report that the Tories have forced the BBC to drop their intensive investigation into the affairs of Lord Ashcroft in the run up to the general election? Can the implication be that they have something to hide? So much for transparency and balance.

Of course funding isn’t a problem for the really high earners in our society. A joke was made on Sport Relief last night that if every footballer donated a week’s wages we could buy Africa. Not being a fan of round ball games I may be biased but I find the astronomically high wages of footballers offensive especially given the bad example many of them set with their aggressive behaviour and disgusting habit of spitting all over the pitch which is then echoed by yobs spitting on the street and spreading diseases. “Spitting spreads germs” is a sign we ancients recall seeing on public transport.

Just as, if not more, offensive is the reported £60m bonanza for the president of Barclays. From the Telegraph: “The package is based on a £384,000 salary, but through a combination of perks including share bonuses, Mr Diamond could earn more than 150 times that amount”. Ignoring the perks, can anyone deservedly earn a salary sixteen times that of the average wage even if he does want to build the biggest investment bank in the world - especially if it is on the back of the tax payer as Vince Cable aptly put it?

David Cameron’s plan to impose a tax on banks to repay the billions used to bail out financial institutions is most welcome as is Alistair Darling’s expected Government support for a global bank tax. Whoever wins the next election and by whatever means, someone needs to do something about these greedy bankers.

Bankers

If I had received taxpayers’ money to ensure my survival through a severe financial crisis I would feel duty bound not to reward myself for success in advance of re-paying my debts, with interest, and certainly not if I were still making a loss. Not so Bankers.

They have regularly used other people’s money to line their pockets so manna from heaven is no more than they have come to expect. In their world, deductions precede credits in same day transactions, in advance if a payment is due on a non-working day, while credits have to await clearance for days even in this electronic age, often putting people in the red giving rise to unauthorised overdraft fees out of all proportion to the amount involved.

The Royal Bank of Scotland which is 84% owned by the tax payer has paid over 100 bankers a bonus of £1m or more, a sum more than most people earn in a life time of hard work particularly those caring for others.

To justify their greed Bank chiefs say they have to remain competitive. Not as competitive as the thousands they have put on the dole as they compete with one another for scarce, often low paid jobs to provide any income at all to support their families.

How kind of the Chief Executive of the RBS to waive his £1.6M bonus having to make do on his £1.2m salary. I see that the CEO of another huge loss maker, Lloyd’s Banking Group, is kindly waiving his bonus of £2.3m and the top brass at Barclay’s have given in to pressure to forgo their bonuses while still paying out £2.3bn to their staff.

The “loadsamoney” days of the yuppie were offensive enough; today’s extravagance at other people’s expense is an obscenity too far.