Where do you find an ark when you need one?

Rain, rain, rain.  The Independent reports:

Seven people were killed and hundreds evacuated after flash floods caused by torrential rain swept through the southern Spanish regions of Andalucia and Murcia, emergency services said yesterday.

Roads were closed and some public transport was disrupted after heavy rains that started early yesterday, flooding streets and homes after months of drought.Four of the victims were in the coastal provinces of Malaga and Almeria, which are both popular tourist destinations.

And today it's been chucking it down all morning.

I don't expect much sympathy from my UK readers (who have apparently been experiencing their own deluges).  But it's a bit of a shock, having to wear long trousers.  But, according to the forecast, it'll be back to shorts by Tuesday.

 

Night fever?

Is it John Travolta, strutting his stuff to the BeeGees?

Nah, it's only Nick Clegg ...

Quote of the day

From The Independent (here):

It is seldom easy choosing between contradictory accounts of the same conversation, but can anyone doubt Andrew Mitchell, the mannerly Chief Whip, when he denies calling a policeman a “pleb”? This is exactly the kind of archaic, public-school insult that would flash into a copper’s mind. I mean, how often did The Sweeney’s Jack Regan yell, “Shut it, you pleb,” as he banged a villain against a wall?

Re-inventing the wheel

The Government is already the majority shareholder in one of the big four banks, RBS.  And it has what amounts to a controlling stake in another, Lloyds.  Each of these has offices all over the UK; each of them the staff and the resources to do whatever the Government tells them to do.  So why go to the trouble of setting up a new bank from scratch, which is what the blessed Vince wants to do?  Think staff recruitment, think offices, think computer systems, think loan procedures.  Crazy, isn't it?


 

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

The Flashman tendency

Apparently, he was known as 'Thrasher' at his (public) school, ostensibly for his love of discipline.  Quite appropriate for a Chief Whip, I would have thought.  But he might want to be more careful about when he loses his temper:

The recently-appointed Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell has been forced to apologise after an altercation with armed police in Downing Street that is alleged to have involved foul language.Mitchell issued the apology following claims he was threatened with arrest for ranting at officers who prevented him leaving on his bicycle.

The Sun newspaper reported that Mitchell demanded: "Open this gate, I'm the chief whip. I'm telling you – I'm the chief whip and I'm coming through these gates." [Actually, The Sun suggested a rather more ribald version.]  Tourists and other members of the public were said to have been within earshot. The alleged incident, which happened just days after two police officers, Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, were shot dead near Manchester, is likely to cause embarrassment for David Cameron. The prime minister entrusted Mitchell with enforcing party discipline in this month's cabinet reshuffle.

Mitchell, a keen cyclist, denied using offensive language but admitted he had behaved badly after he was barred from leaving Downing Street via his usual route through the main gates.

Is bullying inherent in the Conservative philosophy?  Or does it only affect most of the Cabinet?  I suppose that it must be the influence of these public schools ...

The biter bit ...

... or it's not the same when you're the one being harassed:

Quote of the day

More foot in mouth from Mitt Romney, the candidate who keeps on giving:

Speaking in what appeared to be a hotel function room, Romney claimed that the overwhelming majority of voters who support Barack Obama's do so because they are "dependent" on government and "believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing".

"There are 47 per cent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what, all right?" he said. "There are 47 per cent who are with him, who are dependant upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."

"They will vote for this President no matter what," he continued. "These are people who pay no income tax... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

  

Music of the week

Yeah, it's bubblegum pop, but it's good bubblegum pop.  (Better than tractors, anyway.)

You learn something every day

You may not find this terribly exciting.  Indeed, it may not be the most useful addition to the sum of human knowledge.  Nevertheless, who can fail to be thrilled to learn that Iceland has more tractors per hectare of arable land than anyone else in the world?

Now calm down and go back to sleep.

    

A disaster waiting to happen

There are some who say that Iain Duncan Smith means well.  But, when it comes to reforming social security, good intentions are far from enough.  The nearer we get to the introduction of the universal credit, the more problems emerge.  The Independent reports:

Welfare reforms being pushed through by the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, will cut into the household budgets of hundreds of thousands of low income families, according to new research.

In total, the switch from tax credits and other benefits introduced by Gordon Brown to the "universal credit" system being pioneered by Mr Duncan Smith is expected to cut the annual welfare bill by £500m. Labour says that is money taken from families in the "squeezed middle".

It has been calculated that 300,000 families where both partners are in low-paid work will be worse off, because they will lose 65p in benefits for every extra £1 they earn, which is 60 per cent higher than under the present system. Up to 100,000 low-incomes families will see the help they get towards the cost of childcare reduced by up to £3,980 a year, taking away much of the incentive to look for work.

Then there is DWP's insistence on an on-line system, ignoring the needs of those without access to the internet.  In addition, the move to monthly payments will add its own complications.  It is of course possible in certain circumstances to mitigate the effect of these problems but it all adds to the complexity.

The biggest bugbear, however, is the need to underpin the whole arrangement with a new computer system.  Is it likely to be ready in time?  Has any big government computer system ever been ready on time?

 

The demagogue awakes

Is there anything that Boris won't do to get his name in the papers?  City AM reports:

BORIS Johnson yesterday launched a hard-hitting attack on the power of trade unions in a move that revived suggestions that he is positioning himself to run for leadership of the Conservative party.

Setting out his proposals to combat hard-line union activism, the Mayor of London called for a clampdown on the ability of organised labour to cause "endless disruption and buggeration".

In a move sure to please many in the Conservative party he called for legislation that would limit the ability to strike by forcing key public sector workers - including firefighters, paramedics and London Underground staff - to maintain a minimum level of service at all times.

Hard to believe that this is the same man who gave in so weakly to pre-Olympic threats of industrial action by transport workers.  Yet now he's pandering to the Tory neanderthals.

Reasons to be cheerful (on a Monday morning)

1.  Edinburgh lying third in the RaboDirect Pro12.

2.  Hibs lying second to Motherwell in the SPL.  (Who said Celtic would run away with it?)

3.  The mighty Malaga lying second in La Liga.

(Incidentally, we refuse to gloat over the travails of a certain Scottish Third Division side.)


 

Is this meant to be an apology?

The Independent on Sunday sees the error of its ways:

Earlier editions of the London-based national press may have given the impression over the past few years that Andy Murray is an immature sour-faced, slovenly, Scottish choker who could not win a Grand Slam title even if his opponent were a one-legged, short-sighted octogenarian equipped with a banjo.

We now accept that, on the contrary, Sir Andy (as we hope you may style him come the New Year's Honours list, Ma'am) is a true-born British world-beater in the tradition of Sir Francis Drake and the Duke of Wellington.
...
Furthermore, it is possible that some readers may have formed the idea from our coverage of major tennis tournaments that his mother was a shrieking, coarse-voiced, hatchet-faced harridan who, having given birth to a loser, unwisely invested much of her time and money in the fruitless task of trying to turn him into a player capable of winning something. We now realise she is in fact an attractive, vivacious, sweet-toned shining example to the country's mothers, having recognised her son's unique talents and made many sacrifices to ensure they are fulfilled. We salute you.

Aye weel, you're still not forgiven.


 

Deep waters

Here we go again.  The Independent reports:

The President of the European Commission has stepped into the row about an independent Scotland's place in the European Union by saying all new states will have to apply to join.

José Manuel Barroso's comments contrast with the SNP's claim that Scotland would automatically become a member state if voters back independence in 2014. Mr Barroso told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme that he couldn't comment on specific cases, but he added: "A new state, if it wants to join the EU, has to apply to become a member, like any state."

If an independent Scotland has to apply for membership, should that not mean that the UK rump should also be obliged to apply?  If not, why not?

Conversation of the week

From The Guardian (here):

Cameron: Why does everyone love Bozza so much?

Osborne: They don't know him.

Cameron: Well, I think serious times call for serious politicians.

Everyone: So do we. Unfortunately we've got you and Osborne.

Clegg: And me!

Everyone: In your dreams, loser.

   

Is bigger always better?

How big should a company be?  Is there a stage when economies of scale cease to deliver benefits?  And where governments are involved in defence-related companies, is there any real sense of competition?

The Guardian reports:

BAE Systems, Britain's largest manufacturing employer, and EADS, the owner of Airbus, have announced plans for a $48bn (£29.8bn) merger. The deal creates the world's largest defence, security and aerospace group, while giving France and Germany an interest in the UK's main defence contractor.

The new business would generate annual revenues of £60bn and employ 220,000 people worldwide, including 48,000 in the UK, producing a staggering array of state-of-the-art civil and defence equipment under one roof, from Britain's nuclear submarine fleet to the A380 superjumbo.

...

Under the terms of the British government's golden share – worth a symbolic £1 – BAE must have a British chief executive and a majority of its board members must be British, while non-UK shareholders can own no more than 15% of the business.

EADS is 22.35% owned by a combination of the French state and the French conglomerate Lagardère, while German carmaker Daimler controls a further 22.35% – part of which is being bought by a German state-owned bank. The Spanish state also owns 5.45% of EADS, which was formed by the combination of Daimler's aerospace unit with France's Aerospatiale Matra and Construcciones Aeronáuticas of Spain. The companies are not corporate strangers to each other – BAE owned 20% of EADS's largest business, Airbus, until 2006.

I am not saying that this is a bad idea but if I were a shareholder in either company (which I'm not) I would like to see the economic rationale for such a merger.

Practising what they preach

How the TUC has changed.  No more beer and sandwiches:

Women make up 30 per cent of union general secretaries and 40 per cent of the TUC General Council. That compares with 18 per cent of David Cameron's Cabinet, 17 per cent of directors of FTSE companies, and less than 16 per cent of Conservative MPs.

Good for the TUC.  

Not all the perfumes of Arabia ...

Just because he's the richest man in France and he wants to take Belgian nationality, there's no excuse for vulgarity - or, at least, maybe in this instance, there might be ...

(He is Bernard Arnault, boss of LVMH, the company that makes Moet & Chandon, Glen Morangie, Christian Dior perfumes and Louis Vuitton luggage.)

    

The euro soap opera continues

The story so far:

Super Mario has promised to buy up the debts of Mariano and Mario (the other Mario) and Angie has gone along with it, somewhat reluctantly.  But there are conditions; before Super Mario can do anything, Mariano and/or the other Mario need to ask nicely for help.  Mariano and the other Mario are a bit worried about this, because that would bring Christine and Jose into play and they would insist on more austerity.  All very difficult.

Meanwhile Angie has problems with the law.  The Judges will decide on Wednesday if Angie has bitten off more than she can chew.  In which case the whole shooting match might be back to square one.

Francois is watching all this from the sidelines, trying to achieve the impossible by staying friends with Angie, as well as with Mariano and the other Mario.

Confused?  You will be ...