Scab?

It's a bit lame.  The Scotsman reports:

Finance Secretary John Swinney said today that it was his duty to cross a picket line and lead a Holyrood debate on public sector pensions.
Mr Swinney will be at the Scottish Parliament, despite calls from Labour and the Green Party for politicians to take to the streets with striking public sector employees.
The SNP administration refused to clear the parliamentary timetable and will debate what Mr Swinney called a UK Government “cash-grab” on pensions.
While Labour and the Greens will steer clear, Tory and Liberal Democrat MSPs are expected to take part in the debate.

Some might argue that it was his duty to abstain from crossing a picket line.  Well, at least we now know where the SNP stands - and it's not on the side of the workers.

Not the muppets, apparently

You have to understand that the leading politicians in the coalition are not very sophisticated.  The Guardian takes them to task:

Memo to the coalition front bench: JLS called, and they want their colour-coded look back.
From their early days on The X Factor, the boyband developed a formula whereby each member wore a similar outfit in different colours. This worked brilliantly on a TV talent show, lending them coherence and individuality. But is it too much to expect a little more sophistication at the House of Commons than one does when watching a Saturday night talent show? Apparently so.
The quartet of block-coloured ties modelled by Osborne, Cameron, Alexander and Clegg for the autumn statement was an eyesore. Cobalt blue, purple, pink and blush: frankly, the Muppets use a more nuanced palette.

What?  Me?  Since I retired, I don't wear ties, except at funerals (black) and weddings (light grey). And no, I've no idea who JLS might be ...

Quote of the day

Just a thought from The Independent (here):

... one can't help but notice that the £975m cost of next year's fuel duty concessions is, according to the Treasury's balance sheet, identical to the gains being made from cancelling child tax credit increases. The poorest families are, in other words, subsidising all drivers.

Think about that the next time you fill your tank.

Fiddling while the country burns

I appreciate that you are hanging on for my pearls of wisdom anent the Autumn Statement.  Notwithstanding the above assessment, I will ponder overnight and let you know if anything emerges by morning.

Meanwhile the eurozone ministers have begun their meeting, anxious as ever to avoid committing themselves to a decision, which may have more significance for the UK economy than Boy George's witterings ...

It's Mike Oldfield's fault ...

The chancellor goes body-popping

Are we supposed to be impressed?

Some advance notice on Tuesday's announcement (here):

New Year price rises for motorists and train passengers are to be curbed by George Osborne this week as the Chancellor strains to avoid Britain reversing into recession. Tuesday's Autumn Statement will include high-profile pledges to limit rail fare increases to about 6 per cent instead of 8 per cent, while the planned 3p rise in fuel duty will also be delayed, possibly until April.

Big deal!  It may be better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.  But not much better.

Quote of the day

Ed "Crybaby" Balls, in The Independent (here):

Mr Balls, who will face the Chancellor for a Budget-related statement in the Commons for the first time, said: "This isn't about trade union leaders – this is about dinner ladies and teaching assistants and people in local government who feel as though they've worked hard for 30 years and suddenly are being stung at a late stage in their career – predominantly low-paid women. I have huge sympathy with them.
"The unions still need to give some ground, but I think what the Government is trying to impose is both unfair and very risky.
"I don't think anybody wants a strike next Wednesday... But, despite the best efforts of civil servants and negotiators and maybe some ministers, it's pretty clear that, at the most senior level, the Government's been determined to have a confrontation."

Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all ...

Evidence-based policy-making?

Why are they doing this?  There is no evidence that it will contribute to increased employment or to the growth agenda.  The Independent reports:

It is the most radical shake-up of employment law for decades – but even the Business Secretary admits there is no evidence it will boost the economy. The controversial Downing Street plan to allow employers to fire three million workers "at will" was kept alive by Vince Cable yesterday, albeit with no ringing endorsement from the Liberal Democrat cabinet minister.

Is it just to keep the Tory cronies in the City happy?  Victorian values indeed ...


  

Leonard is back

First new Cohen song since 2004:

Music of the week

Poor old Silvio

Hey, I know you guys get a bit bored with all this stuff about Euroland, but it's important (I think).

If you want to keep up with the details, you can read about it here.   But things are not going well.  Even the mighty German economy may not be doing as well as Frau Merkel und Freunden think, if the result of their sale of bonds this morning is a sign.  And the yields on bonds for the Club Med are still much higher than comfortable.  (I can't really explain why bond yields are so important these days; when I was a lad, it was the balance of payments that we worried about.  Fashion, I suppose.)

Meanwhile President Barroso's plans for "stability bonds" (nice name, Jose!) appear to be still-born, as Angie has delivered the black spot.  Oh, and Hungary is in deep financial doo-doo, even though it's not in the eurozone.

That apart, everybody is happy (well more or less), with the exception of Signor Bunga Bunga who may be regretting his relationship with Ruby Heart-Stealer ...

Quote of the day

The CBI big cheese (from The Independent here):

The president of the CBI has warned that Britons need to shed their "sense of entitlement" if the economy is to recover. Speaking at the employer body's annual conference in London, Sir Roger Carr argued that people in the UK are experiencing a "cultural cold shower" thanks to rising global competition.

"Most of us... have grown up in the West with a sense of entitlement – to jobs, opportunity, wealth," he said. "What's happening all around us is a cultural cold shower, a move from entitlement, a recognition that things have changed, nothing is by right: we have to earn our place in a vigorously competitive world as individuals and as nations."

"Sense of entitlement" is it?  I'll give him "sense of entitlement".  This is the man who was chairman of Cadbury up until it was sold to Kraft.  But he found himself an even softer billet as chairman of Centrica (formerly British Gas), the company which thinks it is "entitled" to hike up fuel bills as often and as stonkingly as it chooses.  And he is the chief of the CBI fatcats, whose "sense of entitlement" enables them to pay themselves so well regardless of the performance of their companies.

And this guy thinks he can preach to the rest of us about a sense of entitlement?

Making the same mistakes

Is this not where we went wrong last time around?  The Independent reports:

Under plans to be unveiled by David Cameron and Nick Clegg today, the Government will underwrite a proportion of mortgages for newly built homes – the first time any such scheme has been attempted in the UK.
By taking on some of the risk of lending, the Government hopes to bring down deposits of up to 20 per cent for first-time buyers to as little as 5 per cent, and to kick-start demand for homes.

 There's more:

The Government will underwrite a small percentage of each loan on newly built property. Banks are typically demanding a deposit of 20 per cent on loans to first-time buyers and, by guaranteeing a portion of the loan, the Government will in effect be shifting that "loan-to-value" ratio so that the borrower needs a smaller deposit – possibly as little as 5 per cent. That, it hopes, will lead to more demand and provide a boost to the construction industry in terms of sales and employment.
The state would not be first in line in the event of a default. Instead, homeowners would still lose their deposits before the Government suffered losses, which would be shared with the lender.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all in favour of helping first-time buyers.  But the value of this scheme seems doubtful.  Why persuade such buyers to take on a debt which is so close to the market value of the associated debt?  What happens when the mortgage interest rate rises and/or the value of the house declines?

Does anyone in government ever look at past history?  It is not so long ago that negative equity made its appearance ...

The wrong kind of weather

When in doubt, blame the weather.  The Guardian reports:

Retailers knew they were in trouble when a swallow was spotted this month at the RSPB bird reserve at Saltholme on Teesside.
This freak harbinger of spring was bad news for store bosses whose shops are packed to the gunnels with faux fur coats, cashmere jumpers and fake snow. On Sunday the topsy-turvy weather was being blamed for a sharp fall in visitors to UK shopping centres and high streets over the last three months; places such as the West Midlands and Scotland recorded declines of 10.4% and 9%, respectively.

And when the cold snap eventually arrives, that will no doubt also put off potential shoppers.  What we need is more of that Goldilocks weather, not too warm and not too cold.  (Unfortunately, British weather - like the British economy - is not what one might describe as reliable.)

It's not going to keep you warm

Would you pay £5,000 for this outfit?  Well, somebody did.  The Independent reports:

Kylie Minogue's underwear has sold for £5,000 at auction.

The red silk La Perla lingerie set - comprising of a bustier with lace trim and silk and tulle body - quickly surpassed the predicted £2,000 to £4,000 bid when it went under the hammer at Christie's auction house in London on Tuesday (15.11.11) along with a signed copy of the Kylie 2012 Official Calendar. 

I suppose that it would have been washed and ironed.  (Or does that reduce the attraction?)

Northern Rocky

Would you really trust this guy with your savings?  Thought not; nor would I ...

(Interesting to note that Virgin Money is offering a paltry 0.1% interest on its cash ISA.)

Deep thought

While I'm on the subject of defence, I note that we are running short of attack submarines.  PA reports:

The Royal Navy faces a shortage of attack submarines as a result of decisions taken in the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Whitehall spending watchdog has warned.
The National Audit Office said delays to the new Astute class would leave the Navy without sufficient submarines for operations over part of the next decade while adding £200 million to the cost of the programme.

 Now, call me a simpleton if you must, but the last time I can recall a submarine doing anything useful was during the Falklands conflict, almost thirty years ago.  In the present day, I wonder which country are our attack submarines intended to attack?  From whom are they defending us?  (France is not the correct answer.)  Oh, and our subs do seem to keep bumping into things.

I appreciate that we have to give the Royal Navy toys to play with, and I accept that they might possibly come in useful some day.  But the government should perhaps think about its priorities for public spending ...

Who's in charge of the asylum?

What do the US Marines know that we don't?  The Guardian reports:

Britain's entire fleet of Harrier jump jets, the veteran plane scrapped in last year's defence review, has been saved - by the American military.
All 74 of the planes are to fly again for the US marines in a deal that is expected to be closed within a week.
The Ministry of Defence said last night that negotiations were in their final stages. Reports in the US suggested the Marines were already preparing for their arrival.

Is it just that the Ministry of Defence is supremely incompetent?  As they say, tell it to the marines.

Neologisms

If I tell you that I am a suave, sophisticated, handsome and intelligent chap, you might think I was telling fibs.  But I'm not; it's just that this is 'management information', a newly discovered nice-sounding euphemism deployed in government circles.  The Independent explains all:

Home Office ministers faced a fresh crisis last night after being rebuked for manipulating drug-seizure figures in an apparent attempt to generate good publicity for the embattled Border Agency. Sir Michael Scholar, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, condemned the department for a "highly selective" briefing to journalists which claimed that the amount of heroin and cocaine detected at ports and airports had soared – just days before properly audited figures showed seizures had fallen.
...
A  [UKBA]spokesman said: "The figures used to highlight the UK Border Agency's work in tackling the harm caused to communities by cocaine and heroin were clearly labelled management information.

That makes it all right, you see.  Only a simpleton would believe that management information had to be true or correct.

Music of the week

More gas-oven rock, I'm afraid.  Why?  Because we're not a happy blogger - generically, I mean, rather than at this precise instant.  Anyway, the music is cool.

More Snow-white

Here

If voting changed anything, they'd abolish it

Well they have, at least for Greece and Italy.

Ms Ashley sets out the scenario:

David Cameron and George Osborne have resigned. They did their best, but were unable to carry support, even in the Tory party, for the devastating attacks on pensions and living standards the markets demand. To prevent a British default, Reginald Pinstripe-Grey, formerly chief economist of Megabank in New York, is to be installed in the Lords as acting prime minister, leading a Government of Unity and Patriotism.
In London, representatives from the EU and German "advisers" will sit alongside the truncated cabinet. British MPs have been warned that any attempt to resist the extreme austerity measures by parliamentary vote will result in the final collapse of the British economy, and anarchy. No elections will be held in the meantime.

Impossible?  Absurd?  Not if you're Greek or Italian.  So is technocratic dictatorship an answer, even in the short term?

We'll see ...

Snow-white and the seven dwarves

Oh yeah, I drew your attention to them here.

But now, because of this magnificent flight of fancy, I will never again be able to take them seriously ...


  

Oops! He did it again ...

For those of you who can't be bothered to look it up:

All mouth and no trousers

Think he'll actually do anything?  No, nor do I.  But let us record what he said, according to The Independent:

Reports that RBS is planning to hand out as much as half a billion pounds, despite falling profits, have sparked widespread anger, following the £950 million the bank paid in bonuses last year.

The bank's pay pool, from which salaries and bonuses are paid, is understood to stand at £1.99 billion - only marginally lower than the £2.14 billion figure from 2010 and enough to provide bonuses of around £500 million.

But Mr Cameron today told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show: "Let's be clear, that is not the agreed figure.

"The British Government is a major shareholder in RBS. That is a proposal I have read about in the newspapers, that's not agreed.

"We have a very big influence over it. We can stop the £500 million, absolutely."

Oh yeah?  Prove it "absolutely"!

St Theresa messes up

I'm not usually one for jokes, but here is the Theresa May joke of the week:

Knock, knock

Come in.

The estimable Lucy in The Guardian explains:

Is there anything more heartwarming than two state apparatchiks engaged in a giant game of he-said-she-said? Home secretary Theresa May says that she said Brodie Clark, head of the UK Border Control Agency, could run a pilot scheme to try letting in a few more people, just some nice ones that he liked the look of, just when it was really busy an' that, but that then he just started letting, like, LOADS of people in without even TELLING her and how was that her fault, Mr Cameron, sir? But Brodie says he, like, totally didn't do that and now he's, like, all in her face saying she shouldn't have said it and that she shouldn't have suspended him when he didn't do nothing. And now he's, like, jacked the job in and Yvette Cooper's all "T'resa was only saying let them in because she wouldn't pay for enough people to stop them anyway AND she knows it! She's such a liar, Mr Miliband, isn't she?!"
I foresee tears before bedtime, I do. Ours, of course. Not theirs. Never theirs.

The gnomes of Brussels

Ah yes, there is a secret cabal in charge.  The Guardian reports:

 Here's how things work. The real decisions in Europe are now taken by the Frankfurt Group, an unelected cabal made of up eight people: Lagarde; Merkel; Sarkozy; Mario Draghi, the new president of the ECB; José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission; Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup; Herman van Rompuy, the president of the European Council; and Olli Rehn, Europe's economic and monetary affairs commissioner.
This group, which is accountable to no one, calls the shots in Europe. The cabal decides whether Greece should be allowed to hold a referendum and if and when Athens should get the next tranche of its bailout cash. What matters to this group is what the financial markets think not what voters might want. To the extent that governments had any power, it has been removed and placed in the hands of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF.

This would more worrying, were it not for the fact of the Group's manifest incompetence.  At every stage in the euro crisis they have been reacting to events, mostly unsuccessfully.  Last week's G20 (and the preceding EU summit) simply confirmed that the Group bungle everything they touch.

Under the thumb?

Brussels hegemony extends its tentacles.  According to Reuters:

Italy, under fierce pressure from financial markets and European peers, has agreed to have the IMF and the EU monitor its progress with long delayed reforms of pensions, labor markets and privatization, senior EU sources said on Friday.  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, his government close to collapse after more loyalists defected on Thursday, agreed to the step in late-night talks with euro zone leaders and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Cannes, France.

Thus do the gauleiters of the Commission impose their will on a once independent nation.  Where will it stop?

A minor miracle of modern technology

Apparently (though I'm not sure I believe it), you may now access this blog via one of those fancy mobile phones.

As I don't possess even a simple mobile phone (spawn of the devil, y'know), I am unable to verify this.

If anyone out there has the means and the inclination to find out, do let me know in the comments section.


 

Bottom of the barrel

The Independent reports:

Andy Murray's quest to win a fourth successive title ended in disappointment yesterday when he withdrew with an injury shortly before his scheduled first-round match against Robin Haase in Basle. Having strained his right gluteal muscle, the 24-year-old Scot must now try to regain fitness in time for the Paris Masters, which begins on Monday.

It's a pain in the arse!








(Sorry, couldn't resist it)

Whistling in the dark

I am striving, somewhat half-heartedly, to keep up with the soap operas taking place in Cannes and Athens. But this statement (quoted in The Independent) has to be the most fatuous of the day:

In London, Mark Hoban, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, referred to the single currency "breaking up" – and told MPs that the Government had contingency plans in place to deal with the potential collapse of the euro.

He said: "This Government is well prepared for any eventuality."

And the band played believe it if you like ...

 

Broccoli's not for me

They're at it again.  The Independent reports:

If the Scots, Irish and Welsh ate like the English it would save 4,000 lives a year.
Researchers made the calculation after studying the average diets in each country and the death rates from cancer, heart disease and stroke. They call for a fat tax, combined with subsidies for fruit and vegetables, to change eating habits and reduce deaths in the UK.
...
"We believe that taxes on salt and saturated fat, coupled with subsidies for fruit and vegetables, should be considered," Dr Scarborough said.

No thanks.  If I have to prolong my life, thus adding to the burden of the NHS, I'd prefer not to bother if it means forgoing the occasional chocolate eclair or avoiding salt on my fish supper.

Not really helping

Imagine the reaction of the Scottish electorate if Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband began laying down the law about how we should vote in the referendum on Scottish independence and promising dire consequences if we failed to do their bidding.

Then think of the Greeks and how they are likely to react to this interference in their political future:

GREECE was given an ultimatum last night: vote for austerity or leave the euro.

The country will now go to the polls in a referendum on 4 December, but it is not yet clear whether it will vote on its latest €100bn bailout package and the attached conditions, or on membership of the euro itself. 

Last night, it was clear that Germany and France would prefer a vote on the latter.In a decisive shift in tone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Greece must make its own decision on membership, but that her priority is now to defend the single currency “with or without Greece”.

(From City AM)

Music of the week

A wee story for you.  Back in 2003, in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, the lead singer of a Texas country and western group, the Dixie Chicks, had a moment of political controversy at a concert in London.  Miss Maines stated: "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States [George W. Bush] is from Texas".  So far, so commendable, you might think. I do.  But the wingnuts of the American Right went bananas.  There followed public destruction of their CDs, banning from various country radio stations and even death threats.  This song is the girls' eventual response.  I think it's a good pop song - see what you think:

Not good enough

I can sympathise when an employee is overworking and gets a bit tired.  The Guardian explains:

Lloyds Banking Group has been thrown into chaos by the sudden illness of new chief executive António Horta-Osório.

The bailed out bank recruited the Portuguese-born banker with much fanfare at the start of the year but he has asked the board for a temporary leave of absence.

The 47-year-old is thought to be suffering from fatigue due to overwork. He is expected back before the end of the year.

On the other hand, this guy received a rather nice signing on fee:

Taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group is expected to face tough questions at its annual meeting today over a multimillion-pound pay deal for its new chief executive.

Shareholder groups the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Pirc have both raised concerns about António Horta-Osório's signing-on deal, worth up to £13.4m, to their members.

As a taxpayer, a shareholder and an account-holder, I think that I am entitled to ask why the bank hired - at vast expense - a guy who can't hack it?

   

The money shot

When the euro-nag is lying prostrate on the ground, snorting its last breaths in agony, there comes a time to stop flogging it.  But the Germans and the French appear to believe that, if the Mediterranean passengers in the back of the cart would only tidy themselves up a bit, the poor bloody horse will prick up its ears and resume its place in the traces.  Well, it's not going to happen.

The fact that last week's grand deal is rapidly disintegrating is neither here nor there.  More pertinent is the absence of any idea how to approach the differing levels of economic performance within euroland, other than continued bouts of austerity for our southern cousins.  And each time, austerity reduces their capacity to grow.  Greece is in a vicious spiral where each new round of public expenditure cuts makes it ever more difficult to repay its debts; and Spain, Portugal and Italy are being prescribed the same medecine.  There is no sensible future in this course.

So now is the time to let those weary passengers jump off the cart and revert to their original currencies.  To be sure, it would be a painful process.  The European banks would take a severe pounding, to the extent that some of them would have to be nationalised.  The inevitable devaluation of the drachma, the peseta and so on would result in a significant blip in inflation for those countries concerned.  But as their exports became cheaper and their tourism industries revived, they would at least have a chance of restoring their economies to some form of equilibrium.

So let them go.  Locking them into an economic straitjacket designed for and dominated by Germany will only come to grief.

Money for old rope

I don't know why there should be such a fuss about Mr Hansen's weekly pay packet of 40,000 smackers.

I admit that his bons mots may be occasionally lacking in insight, but he wears nice shirts and is slightly more articulate than his colleague Mr Shearer.  Not that that necessarily counts for much, given the banality of the latter's contributions.


 

Putting the cat among the pigeons

Well, that's torn it!  The Telegraph puts it politely:

Eurozone policymakers will view with horror George Papandreou's decision to hold a referendum on the Greek bailout package. Less than a week after agreeing a "comprehensive" deal to resolve Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the whole thing already seems to be coming apart at the seams. The Greek prime minister's commitment to a plebiscite introduces a further element of extreme uncertainty.

Merkel and Sarkozy must be jumping up and down with rage.  Even if the Greeks approve the deal (which seems unlikely), Mr Papandreou can say goodbye to any future favours from the EU.  So don't come back looking for any more bail-outs.  Indeed, the Greeks might well be expelled from the Eurozone, regardless of the result of the referendum.

Oh dear

The first signs of unravelling:

Here:

Eurozone leaders were left sweating last night after China played down expectations that it would quickly make a much-needed cash injection to the EU bailout fund.

And here:

Fear made a swift return to the eurozone yesterday as Italy faced record borrowing costs in its first attempt to tap the markets since European leaders came up with new plans to rein in the sovereign debt crisis.

Quote of the day

Yes, it's that great egalitarian, Mr Cameron:

"Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little girl [as their first child], that girl would one day be our queen," Cameron said. "The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic – this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become."

But what kind of modern country continues to insist that the monarch be a member of the Church of England (regardless of whether he or she has married a Catholic or a muslim or a hindu)?

The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate

What a strange thing to do.  The Guardian reports:

The British Empire Medal (BEM), described as the working-class gong, is to be revived as David Cameron reverses one of John Major's signature reforms that was designed to create a classless society.The prime minister, who is consulting the Queen on the change, hopes the revived medal will be awarded to people involved in voluntary work.Downing Street, which has been looking for ways to revive the prime minister's big society initiative, believes that people involved in the voluntary sector are often overlooked in the current honours system. The prime minister hopes that people who are not considered senior enough to receive an MBE or OBE will be able to receive a BEM.

So workers in the voluntary sector are to be fobbed off with what are clearly lower grade gongs.  If Mr Cameron wants to honour more workers in the voluntary sector, why not give them more MBEs?  Or is the Big Society to be stratified by class and seniority?

We're all in this together (part 31)

Now calm down, tell me what's upset you.

It's those greedy fatcats.  It's just been announced that the average FTSE-100 executive director plundered a 49% increase in their remuneration last year.

And you think it's disgraceful?

Damn right.  We peasants are struggling to keep up with inflation, while they are positively rolling in it.

I recognise that the uplift in the remuneration of the boss classes does not necessarily reflect company performance, but you must take account of the need to recruit and retain the best possible talent.

They never say that about the workers.  With us, it's that you need to work harder and longer or lose your job.

That is because you proles are instantly replaceable, preferably by machines.

But how can you justify such massive increases for the bloated plutocrats?

Pay peanuts, you get monkeys.  Now return to your miserable hovel and starving children and allow me to peruse the Porsche catalogue in peace.

Berlusconi = dirty old man?

Just a thought ...

So the FTSE-100 opens 95 points above last night's close.

Would it be cynical of me to wonder if it will come back down again in a day or two when the Grand Euro-Deal unravels (as it surely must)?

What would St Paul have said?

It must be a day for editorials.  I approved of this one in The Independent:

It is not unreasonable for the protesters, and indeed the wider public, to ask whose side the church is on. In initially extending a welcome to the occupation, then withdrawing it, the Dean and Chapter at St Paul's resemble nothing more than a disgruntled householder or inconvenienced road-user. Nor is it the fault of the cathedral, or the Anglican church, that "health and safety" has become synonymous with a culture of excessive caution and a cipher, for many, of Britain's ills. But to cite "health and safety" as a reason for closing a mighty and much-loved building seems at once petty and an overreaction.The protesters were not inside the cathedral; they were, and are, camped outside. Their tents do not even constitute a major obstruction to visitors. Public hygiene may be a concern, but it does not appear to worry tourists overmuch, who are flocking to see the camp – and boosting local businesses, even as they find the cathedral doors locked. The protesters have a valid point to make; it is not incompatible with tourism.It also has to be asked whether it was wise for St Paul's to complain about the financial losses it was sustaining from the closure. Of course, the upkeep of such a major architectural monument is expensive. But many will feel that there is a distinction between a house of worship and a money-making enterprise and that, where substantial entrance fees are imposed, this line risks being crossed. It is not only the protesters who might be tempted to object: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Only Canon Fraser, the guy who welcomed the protesters, told the police to butt out, and is now threatening to resign, emerges from the affair with credit.

A resolution

I faithfully promise that I will never again use any of the following metaphors:

1.  taking a haircut;
2.  kicking the can down the road; and
3.  using a big bazooka.

There you are.  Happy now?

More can-kicking

I might have some sympathy with this Guardian editorial:

So the true test of this Brussels summit and the inevitable next one, as well as the G20 in November, is not, perhaps, whether they free Europe from its troubles in one mighty bound. It is, rather, whether the measures emerging from all this tortuous process can sufficiently minimise and contain the impact of the explosion of over-accumulated debt on economic activity and growth across Europe. That's why yesterday's latest effort to Europeanise the Greek debt write-off matters. It's why the Europeanisation of bank recapitalisation matters. And, most important of all, it is why the strengthening of the EFSF bailout fund matters so much too. The test of the summit is whether it enables Europe to take the punishment and remain standing. Muddling through may not seem much of an achievement. But, if it works, it is a lot better than a heroic disaster.

Well, yes but ...   What if there is a tsunami on the way?  Is it not time to erect a powerful sea-wall, rather than simply moving a few metres up the beach and hoping that the tidal wave will die down a bit?

The Summit, somewhat

OK, it's started.  But don't get too excited.  I've been to these EU gatherings (not a summit of course, but they don't differ radically from those at a lower level).

Remember, there are 27 participants (not counting the IMF, the Commission and various odds and sods).  These are heads of government and they will each want their say.  Allow 10 minutes for each and you have already absorbed more than four hours.  Then there's dinner to get through, say another two hours.  And, then, assuming something has been agreed upon (fat chance!), the non-euro states depart and the Eurozone states go into conclave.  Of course, it is now after midnight, by which time the leading participants are thoroughly pissed off at the failure to make progress.

Do you still wonder why they are incapable of doing more than kicking the can down the road?

Music of the week

Remembering the bad times ...

Kicking the can down the road

The cancellation of Wednesday's EcoFin meetings means that the Euro-summit tomorrow evening is doomed to reach nothing more than agreement on a vague outline framework of the kind of package needed.  No member state will be committed to anything and further meetings will be necessary to thrash out the details.  And that's the optimum outcome; it could be much worse. The Germans (and the Finns and the Dutch) won't subsidise the Club Med unless they sign up to austerity squared, while the latter will firmly resist being sent down the black hole where Greece finds itself.

The effect on the markets will not be a happy one.

For me, it's a puzzler

Maybe I'm a bit dim; or am I being obtuse?  The Guardian reports:

Salmond confirmed on Saturday, in his keynote speech to the SNP conference in Inverness, that the referendum, planned for the second half of the five-year Scottish parliament, will consist of two questions.
On Sunday he gave more details. The first question would be "a straight yes-no question [on] independence," the SNP leader said. Alongside this would be "a second question, in the same way as we did in 1997, in which we'd offer a fiscal autonomy option". He added: "I'm not for limiting the choices of the Scottish people, I leave that to Westminster."

Now let us suppose that, on the first question, the Scottish electorate votes 51% to 49% in favour of independence and that, on the second question, votes 70% to 30% in favour of devo-max.  What then has been proved?  Should independence be abandoned on the basis that it commands less support than devo-max?

And it is no use comparing it with 1997.  Then the choice was between devolution or devolution with tax-raising powers - it would have been inconceivable to have failed to obtain a majority in the first question but to have succeeded in obtaining a majority in the second.

Don't waste your schadenfreude on me!

Hey, it's raining a bit; well it's chucking it down actually, thunder and lightning accompanying.

But I can't complain - it's the first time in seven weeks that I've had to wear long trousers.  Went down to the supermercado to get the makings for a bolognese sauce (which is now cooking happily on the stove).

Stopped for a beer on the way back and the bar manageress (rather unkindly, I thought) poked fun at my trusty yellow plastic poncho.  It's nothing like a giant condom, honest.

No, you're not getting any photographs.

Money-grubbing

Slightly distasteful, I think.  The Guardian reports:

The starting pistol for British firms to pursue contracts in Libya has been fired by the new defence secretary, Philip Hammond, who urged companies to "pack their suitcases" and head there to secure reconstruction contracts. 

As Nato announced that it plans to wind up operations in Libya, Hammond said that great care had been taken during the campaign to avoid destroying critical infrastructure. 

"Libya is a relatively wealthy country with oil reserves, and I expect there will be opportunities for British and other companies to get involved in the reconstruction of Libya," he told the BBC in an interview. 

"I would expect British companies, even British sales directors, [to be] packing their suitcases and looking to get out to Libya and take part in the reconstruction of that country as soon as they can," said Hammond, who replaced Liam Fox as defence secretary a week ago.

I suppose that, for this government, there always has to be a bottom line.

Please Mr Postman

I wrote and sent a letter this week. (It was to a rather special young lady.)  But I doubt if I will do it again.  The Independent explains why:

How much?! The price of a second-class stamp could soar by about half, to 55p, under rules proposed by the Royal Mail's nice new regulator, Ofcom. As for a first-class stamp, don't even ask. There will be no limit at all to what the Mail can charge. Shocked headlines proclaimed that we will see the biggest rise in stamp prices in 171 years.
This is the price of dragging the Royal Mail into the 21st century, fulfilling the exacting mandates of this year's Postal Services Act, including the commitment to a six-day delivery, while at the same time fattening itself up for privatisation.

Booze-ups in breweries?

Let's see if I've got this straight.  They were going to have a summit on Sunday when they would reach agreement on a package of measures to resolve the problems of Euroland.  But now they have discovered that they will not reach agreement on Sunday.  So they will hold another summit on Wednesday where they will definitely reach agreement on the package.  Or maybe not.

I think it's called muddling through.

Music of the week

No, I don't understand it either; maybe some crazy Belgian thing:

The fine art of whistle-blowing

It is never easy, telling bosses what they do not want to hear.  Not that journalists care; The Guardian reports:

The top brass, senior diplomats, MI6 - they all knew what Liam Fox and his friend Adam Werritty were up to. They did not know everything that enterprising journalists from the Guardian and subsequently other newspapers have disclosed. But they knew that Fox and Werritty were pursuing their own priorities and interests - in the US, Israel, Iran, and Sri Lanka. The question which the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, should address in his report, expected on Tuesday, along with how Fox breached the ministerial code of conduct, something the former defence secretary has in effect admitted already, is why didn't they blow the whistle.

The journo in question then admits:

The former chief of defence staff Air Chief Marshal (now Lord) Stirrup, and Sir Bill Jeffrey, former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence, are reported to have expressed their concerns some time ago.

So what happened after this whistle-blowing?  Well, nothing.  No 10 didn't want to hear.  And note that these two luminaries are now former luminaries.  But The Guardian goes on to put the boot in: 

It is "inconceivable" that Ursula Brennan, Jeffrey's successor, did not know what was going on, says one well-placed official. How much we do not know. What is clear is that the affair has demonstrated that officials seem frightened to reveal their anxieties - to speak truth to power. They seemed cowed.

Aye well, what would you do, if your career depended on it, and when you already know that Mr Cameron is not in the least interested?

I used to be decisive but ...

I used to believe, with some confidence, that my fellow citizens would resist the blandishments of Fat Eck on the little matter of Scotland's independence and that they would firmly return a resounding negative when it came to a referendum.  But now I'm not so sure.

It's not just the ComRes poll announced over the weekend which showed that even the English were unperturbed by the prospect of Scottish separation, although in many respects this was quite a remarkable outcome which will no doubt have its impact on the inclinations of Tory MPs south of the border - why should they fight to maintain a bloc of Scottish Labour MPs in Westminster, if the good people of Chichester and Henley and Tatton are not bothered about Scotland going gently into that good (or bad) night?

Then there is the question of North Sea oil or at least the oil lying west of Shetland.  If BP is prepared to invest all those billions and if the oil is going to last until 2050, then the prospect of Scottish independence becomes that much less scary.  I know that it's more complicated than that, but you can almost hear Mr Salmond asking the electorate if they really want to allow the UK Treasury to fritter away - once again - the economic returns from oil on unemployment benefits south of the border.

As for the Labour Party, the only party in Scotland which might have been capable of resisting the SNP, it's not looking good.  So far, the leadership campaign has yet to throw up anyone known to the Scottish population, let alone with the ability to take on Salmond and his acolytes.  Nor do the voices from down south in the form of Mrs Curran and her "crack team" offer any consolation; after all, they're there and not here.  And they are not exactly likely to set the heather on fire.

So, with apologies for being somewhat depressing on a Monday morning, we will await the referendum with trepidation.  As usual, it will probably end in tears.


 

Quote of the day

From The Telegraph (here):

Speaking in his constituency yesterday, Mr Letwin said: "I was walking around dictating responses and I did not want the paper to weigh me down. 

It's a tough life being a politician.  You get up early every morning for a walk in the park to dictate your correspondence (doesn't everyone?) but you can't move for Mirror photographers.  And what are bins for if not to put waste paper in?

He doesn't get it ...

Sad, almost.  The Guardian blog records:

As Severin Carrell mentioned in his piece on the devolution debate in the Guardian earlier this week, ministers are also making an attempt to woo Scotland too. Cameron's visit [to Aberdeen] may be part of that drive, but he started his speech by saying that he would be flying the Welsh flag over Downing Street on Saturday because they are the only British team left in the rugby World Cup. That's because, in the UK, when one team drops out, we all support the other one, he told his Aberdeen audience. The remark was met by silence. Then he had to assure them it was a joke.

I'm not laughing ...

Wee Duggie is back!

No doubt, just dropping by to chivvy the troops.  The Herald reports:

ONE of Labour’s key strategists will tonight warn that the Scottish party has become too backward-looking and negative.Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander, who co-ordinated last year’s General Election campaign, will also say Labour needs to raise its sights to produce a more positive “One Scotland” vision.
His remarks will come in a lecture at Stirling University, in which he upbraids the SNP for focusing too much on its “gleeful assertions of difference” rather than the more positive message of co-operation, unity and diversity.

It is of course only a day or two since the appointment of a new Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.  Mrs Curran is not of course renowned for her positive and constructive approach, being a West of Scotland machine politician par excellence.  But Mr Alexander presumably considers that she may be able to play a more enlightened tune on that weary old Labour fiddle.

Quote of the day

Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian (here):

What if Fox gave the full apology he has so far withheld – would that be enough? No. Only in politics is the mere act of saying sorry deemed to be sufficient punishment. You don't see rioters walk away from court simply because they had the grace to put their hands up. Nor can they evade a jail sentence by regretting that they had allowed "the distinction between legal and illegal to be blurred". Even Wayne Rooney gets a three-match ban for blurring the distinction between his studs and an opponent's leg.

Too damn right.

Music of the week

The late great Kirsty:

Football, bloody football

After the glorious 1-0 thrashing of the mighty Liechtenstein, tonight we get to play with the big boys of Barcelona and Madrid.

The boss-man is optimistic:about his players:

"They won't be overawed by the occasion," said Levein. "We have players who play week-in, week-out in the Premier League and we have players with self-belief and those two things help.

As Oscar Wilde said, the basis of optimism is sheer terror.

Headline of the day

From The Independent (which sees the brakes being put on):

UK at risk as OECD signals acceleration in pace of global economic slowdown

Not sure how you accelerate a slowdown but I think we know what they mean.

Displacement activity

Distasteful populism from Mr Cameron.  The Independent reports:

Foreign nationals could soon have to take a test on British history before they are granted a UK passport after David Cameron set out moves to toughen up requirements for citizenship....
 "There's a whole chapter in the citizenship handbook on British history. But, incredibly, there are no questions on British history in the test," he said."Instead you'll find questions on the roles and powers of the main institutions of Europe and the benefits system within the UK. So we are going to revise the whole test and put British history and culture at the heart of it."

This from the expensively educated Prime Minister who thought that the Americans were our World War II allies in 1940.

It's the way I tell them

People sometimes ask if I benefit financially from this blog.  The answer is that I am not dependent upon any transactional behaviour in relation to the blog to maintain my income.

What?  You don't know what that means?  Liam Fox will explain ...

They must think we're idiots

So it's all sorted, is it?  City AM records:

A highly anticipated meeting yesterday resulted in a bland statement by German chancellor Angela Merkel that politicians “are determined to do the necessary to secure the recapitalisation”, which the IMF has said will cost around €200bn (£172bn). 

Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy claimed they are in “total agreement” but said they cannot answer questions about any of the crucial technical details of any deal until November’s G20 summit. 

Both Merkel and Sarkozy denied that there is a despute over how the region’s bailout fund should be used in the bank rescue. “Germany and France want the same criteria to be applied, and criteria that are accepted by all sides,” said Merkel.

How long do they think that will hold?

Reading between the lines?

The Guardian is being very careful with this story:

Liam Fox was joined by a close personal friend and self-styled adviser when he met senior Sri Lankan ministers during an official visit this summer despite claiming that Adam Werritty had never accompanied him on government business.

Fox has insisted that Werritty, who has distributed business cards describing himself as an adviser to the defence secretary, is not part of his political entourage, but these fresh disclosures are likely to raise further questions about the nature of his role in the defence secretary's inner circle. The Guardian has already revealed that Werritty, who was Fox's best man, visited the defence secretary on 14 occasions in little over a year at the MoD's HQ in Whitehall, prompting Labour to demand an inquiry into whether there had been any potential breaches of national security.

Just in case we did not catch the general drift, the article includes this paragraph:

Werritty, 34, has accompanied Fox on several trips to Sri Lanka, including one in 2009 when the pair reportedly met the president, prime minister and foreign minister. He lived with Fox in a flat near Tower Bridge before the defence secretary married Jesme Baird in 2005. Werritty was a guest at Fox's 50th birthday party at his official Whitehall residence last month.

At what could they possibly be hinting?

Running it up the flagpole

The Guardian paraphrases the Chancellor's economic policies:

Osborne: Some people have said I have no plans for economic growth. This is not true. It's just a nuisance my plans aren't very good and I've got us stuck in the worst depression since the 1930s. But don't panic. I have a new cunning plan to stimulate the recovery by making it much easier to sack people.

Conference: What? Did we miss something while we were asleep?

Osborne: Let me explain. By allowing employers to fire hundreds of thousands of full-time staff we are creating a business environment that will encourage them to take on several dozen part-time casuals.

Conference: That's brilliant! How come no one else thought of that?

Osborne: And that's not all. Oh no! As you may know, I was totally opposed to quantitative easing while I was in opposition so for this reason I now propose to introduce credit easing ...

Conference: What's that?

Osborne: I'm not entirely sure but I'm told it's yet another way of repackaging debts so they appear like assets on the balance sheets. But don't worry about the details. Because I haven't worked them out and by the time I have it won't really matter that the policy is bureaucratically unworkable because I'm only announcing it as Dave told me I had to say something that made it look as if I have a plan.

If only this were not a reasonably accurate representation ...

RIP

From The Guardian obituary of Bert Jansch, surely one of the musical greats of our time:

Jansch, whose forebears had come from Germany in the 19th century, was born in Glasgow but the family moved to Edinburgh, where he attended Ainslie Park secondary school. He worked, briefly, as a nurseryman, spending his early wages on a guitar. He sought lessons at the Howff folk club, wishing to emulate the guitar style of the American Big Bill Broonzy. Soon, Jansch had become resident unofficial caretaker at the Howff, spending much of his time developing his playing skills, with the Scottish singer Archie Fisher as a significant influence.

In the early 1960s, Jansch graduated from playing for his own pleasure to performing for an audience. He was one of the first guitarists to understand and then interpret and popularise Davy Graham's guitar solo Anji. At the time, his personal, self-composed songs contrasted with the usual traditional or political repertoire of folk singers.

And here is that Anji, which - like so many other guitar-playing students in the late sixties - I desperately sought and failed to master:

Quote of the day

Simon Hoggart in The Guardian is on splendid form:

It was the Always Look On the Bright Side of Life speech. The economy may be crucified, choking to death in the burning heat, but David Cameronhas a message for us: "When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle!" (Not the words he used, but what he meant.) We know that all politicians believe you have to be an optimist to win votes, but this was crazy. The worst things were, the more hopeful we should be. He for one was fed up with "can't-do sogginess". It was time for us all to stop sitting down and to start standing up.

As well as standing up, we have to be marching forward. We face a time of challenge, but that only makes it a time of opportunity! We should dry ourselves off, get on our feet and stride forward. (Have you ever tried striding backwards? It's impossible. You'll be arse over tip in moments.)

He marched forward on to the lectern with the possessive insouciance of a hoodie swaggering on to his sink estate. He's stopped doing the speech without notes, and had it up on two tele-prompters, one left and one right, so it looked as if he was umpiring a match at Wimbledon. (I can't have been the only member of the audience tempted to walk up – sorry, stride – and yell: "You cannot be serious!")

It was rough luck that the latest figures showed the economy was in an even worse state than we thought. How did he deal with it? He completely ignored it. ("If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten.")

Or, as noted elsewhere in the paper:

now is not the time to give in to despair; it is the time for blind optimism ...

Quote of the day

Easy for him to say. The Independent notes:

Mr Cameron will say: "The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households – all of us – paying off the credit card and store card bills.

I wonder if he has ever been in debt? Does he have any idea of the financial difficulties of ordinary people? Does it not occur to him that we would pay off credit card debts if we could afford to? So why does he trot out these glib sayings?

Here for the beer?

I see that the McEwan's and Younger brands have been sold on from Heineken to an English brewery based in Bedford. Och well, the beer was never up to much anyway.

Music of the week

It's Emily and Amy: