Thoughts for today

1. Not all Tory politicians are complete plonkers.

As long as Michael Gove can write this in The Times:

In his Books section column before Christmas, David Baddiel asked who settles down at the end of Christmas Day to relax with a new biography of John Stuart Mill. Mind you, that was before the TV schedules were public.
Well I am that sad, sad man who did round off his Christmas with a life of the Victorian sage. I haven’t got much beyond the bit where the 13-year-old JSM takes a “complete course in political economy”. But at least, as wallows in the past go, it has more suspense and laughs than To The Manor Born.

he can still be regarded as a human being.


2. Don't get carried away with Barack Obama.

Unlike the vast majority of the political commentariat, David Aaronovitch in The Times remains sceptical. No need to repeat the inconsistencies here but his article is well worth reading. The worry is that the problems with Obama will not be exposed until he has seen off Hillary and it is too late to prevent the Republicans sweeping into office again. If I were a betting man, I would take a punt on Bloomberg coming up the middle as an independent.


3. The banks are out to screw their customers.

Maybe they always were ... but their rapacity seems to be increasing. The Indie reports:

Some of Britain's biggest banks have unscrupulously exploited last month's base rate cut by failing to pass on the benefits to mortgage holders, yet at the same time imposing even bigger cuts on interest accruing to savings accounts.
The double whammy means banks are squeezing their customers tighter than ever this winter, as they fight to protect their dwindling profits from the credit crunch and potential legal action over bank charges.
New figures from the financial advisers Chase de Vere reveal that 18 banks and building societies – including high street names such as Alliance & Leicester, Halifax, Lloyds TSB and NatWest – have within the past month cut the rate on one or more of their savings accounts by more than December's 0.25 per cent cut in the Bank of England base rate. Over the same period, 14 lenders also failed to reduce their standard variable mortgage rates by the full 0.25 per cent, according to comparison service Moneyfacts, including Egg and, once again, Alliance & Leicester.
Meanwhile, banks have been busy raising their charges and fees, as they desperately try to recoup the income they are losing as a result of the credit crunch. Most of the big banks have restructured their overdraft charges in the past few months, introducing an ever-more complex web of fees designed to catch out consumers.

Worth noting that HBOS (via Halifax) and RBS (via NatWest), Scotland's biggest banks, are involved.