19 February 2013

Compare and contrast

Our friend, Slasher George, does not have to seek his troubles.  Here, he is desperately defending bankers' bonuses:

Britain and the City look set to be the losers in the battle against the European parliament's plans to bring in the toughest restrictions on bankers' bonuses since the financial crisis began in 2008.
The UK appears to be leading a minority of just three countries that oppose a new rule which would limit bonuses to no more than 100 per cent of salary, or 200 per cent if approved by a super-majority of shareholders.
His argument is not helped by his chums at Barclays (here):
Five top bosses at Barclays will share a jackpot worth up to £17million despite being tainted by a string of scandals. 
Those in line for the ‘wildly misjudged’ bonanza include chief executive Antony Jenkins and Rich Ricci, the controversial investment bank boss.
Meanwhile, Big Dave is getting excited about the virtues of morality:
Speaking in Mumbai on the first day of a three-day trip, Cameron likened "aggressive" forms of tax avoidance by multinational companies to illegal tax evasion, saying that its most extreme examples raise questions of morality.
But it was only yesterday that his government's own morality was brought into question:
Small arms weaponry, ammunition and various other military equipment were among millions of pounds' worth of goods exported last year from Britain to Sri Lanka under licences for arms and other closely regulated exports.
Statistics taken from the British government's own database for strategic export controls show items ranging from assault rifles and shotguns through to weapons sights, pistols and ammunition were sold last year to the South Asian nation's government, which has been accused of extensive human rights violations in relation to its treatment of its Tamil minority and the suppression of armed separatists, who have also been acused of abuses.

And then Dave pushes helicopter sales, despite more than a whiff of alleged corruption.

All very confusing ...

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