Quote of the day

From The Guardian (here):

Osborne has always been too spectral and aloof a presence for the Tories to love him and as he outlined his plans, it began to dawn on them they had been right to be wary. If the message from the Labour conference had been that Miliband was on the side of incompetence, the message from Osborne was the Tories would be fighting the election as the party of hard bastards.

   

Music of the week

Tramps like us:

The Andalucian Desert

Ah yes, climate change.  The Observer goes big on how Alaska will become the new Florida,  But what about my modest hidey-hole on the Costa del Sol?  Here is the answer:

As Europe continues to heat up, energy demands are expected to drop in northern countries, but equally they are destined to soar around the Mediterranean and in the south where there will be a desperate need for cooling and air-conditioning that will drive up power costs.

By the middle of the century, forest fires and severe heatwaves will be increasingly common while crops will be devastated and vineyards will be scorched.

Similarly, in the Alps, lack of snow and melting ice will make skiing, walking and climbing far less enticing for tourists. So if you are planning to cash in that little nest egg you have been nurturing to buy a retreat on the continent, think very carefully which part of Europe you pick. By this reckoning, Norway looks a good bet, as does Scotland.

Not a happy thought.  Mind you, as I write this post, thunder is rolling round the skies and the rain is chucking down.  Nevertheless, we must expect the Sahara to move northwards.  And it is little consolation to realise that by 2020 I will have reached my allotted span of three score and ten.


   

Deja vu again

Once more, the West's warplanes are flying over Iraq.  As ever, we are presented with a choice of black or white: the do nothing option or the use of armed force.  Far from clear that the spectrum of other options has been exhausted.

As for the war aims, is there an acceptable achievable outcome?  Or an exit strategy?  The Guardian records:

Air power alone seldom results in a comprehensive victory. Over the last few weeks, all the US air strikes have succeeded in doing is largely stopping the expansion of Isis. Apart from the vital Mosul dam – which Kurdish and Iraqi army forces retook with help from US planes – Isis basically still holds the same territory as it did at the start of US bombing.

In the end, defeat of Isis requires troops on the ground. Neither the US nor Britain wants to put combat troops back into Iraq, so they are relying on the Kurdish peshmerga and the Iraqi army to do the fighting on the ground – neither of which has shown any sign that they are capable.

   

Silly money

Daft as a brush:

Manchester United will have to pay at least £140m to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford with Real Madrid reportedly ready to cash in on a move that will also alert Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and other European heavyweights.

It is understood that around 18 months ago Ronaldo and his advisors spoke to the majority of Europe’s blue riband clubs regarding potentially leaving Real. In the event he signed a fresh deal last September with the Spanish giants that made him the world’s highest paid footballer.

Ronaldo earns €21m a year, which is £16.4m or £315,384 a week, with Real paying all of his 52% tax. He costs the Spanish club £34.1m a season. Given his pay equates to £693,844 gross under the UK’s 45% tax bracket for high earners, Ronaldo would have to agree a sizeable pay cut on his basic terms if he were to return to United.

United could further boost his take-home pay by offering him a lucrative image rights deal and other sizeable commercial incentives beyond the normal bonuses awarded for successful on-field performance.

It would make more sense (and cost a lot less) to buy a decent centre-half.

Motes and beams

Extraordinary report in The Guardian revealing the BBC's attitude to its listeners:

The editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today has said the programme needs to find new ways of covering “bad foreign news” stories after the summer of conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and Gaza proved a turn-off with listeners.

Jamie Angus said some listeners had stopped tuning in to Today and had told him they could not take any more of “this terrible thing that I can’t influence”. This follows a period when the news has been dominated by the escalating civil war in Ukraine, with the threat of Russia and Nato being drawn into a wider conflict, the Israeli assault on Gaza, and most recently the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

The difficulty in getting BBC journalists in to the conflict zones, he added, resulted in “a lot of argumentative phone interviews with angry people on either side”, which also proved a turn off.

Angus, a former acting editor of Newsnight who has been in charge of Today for a year, said the programme would not stop covering foreign news but had to investigate different ways of doing it at a time when BBC News has faced across the board cuts in funding.

“The confluence of Gaza and the Ukraine over the summer was a difficult listen for audiences,” Angus told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch on Thursday, adding that the conflict in Syria posed similar problems journalistically.

“There was a burst of rather difficult foreign news and a lot of listeners who stopped listening said they stopped because of the preponderance of really difficult and distressing foreign news.

So, it is all the fault of the listeners; the news is just too difficult for them.  Nothing to do with supercilioua presenters, incompetent interviewers or patronising editors.

Bad investment

As Brenda Kelly of IG notes:  Tesco, Mess co:

Story here.

And there goes another of my investments down the tube ...

   

"She stood on the bridge at midnight"

So, let me get this straight.

The EU, in the form of the European Banking Authority (EBA) banned the payment of bonuses to banking staff amounting to over 100% of salary (except in special circumstances).  The banks got around this by paying a form of allowance (in addition to the 100% bonus) to keep their bankers happy.  Accordingly, the EBA is now proposing to ban these additional allowances.

A fairly logical consequence, you might have thought.  But the bankers are up in arms.  It is not enough that they receive a bonus of 100% on top of their generous salaries.  And, guess what, the Treasury and George Osborne agree with the bankers.

Crazy old world.

   

Trying to make sense

Lots of stuff in the newspapers this morning about the implications of the No decision and the promises of further devolution.  It seems to me that there are (at least) three strands in the swirling world of controversy.

First, the promised increase in powers for the Scottish Parliament.  Although the parties differ in the detail of what they have proposed, it should not be impossible to come to an acceptable compromise within the timetable set out by the Clunking Fist and endorsed (apparently) by the three Westminster party leaders.  But Cameron's cynical attempt to link developments on this front with those on English devolution in terms of the timetable throws the matter into considerable doubt.

Second, the West Lothian Question where Cameron seeks to deprive Scottish (and Welsh and Northern Ireland) MPs of the ability to vote in the Commons on English domestic matters.  There are all sorts of problems with this, notably for the Labour Party.  And although the Tories may not admit it, it is to nobody's benefit if an elected UK government were unable to legislate on domestic English matters.  Nevertheless, the concept of English votes for English affairs has a superficial attraction on the voter's doorstep; and UKIP is ready to jump in with simplistic solutions.  I cannot see the shape of an acceptable compromise in any foreseeable timescale.

Third, the issue of wider devolution to English regions/local authorities.  The Labour Party seems prepared to consider this in the context of a constitutional convention meeting over the next 12 or so months.  The Tories seem less keen.  But viewed from afar, there appears to be a groundswell of English opinion that something needs to be done, even if that opinion is divided among calls for regional assemblies and appeals for greater responsibility for local authorities (or something in between).  Again, there seems little prospect of agreeing a destination within the next few months.

Finally, all of these potential discussions will be overlaid with the imminent General Election next May.  Not the sort of time period for constructive debate among the Westminster parties.

Hey, we live in interesting times ...

   

Quote of the day

From The Independent (here):

When Cameron joined the other party leaders in making his “vows” to the Scottish voters, he did not add that they would only get their powers as part of a package for England.

Cameron has every right to raise the England question, but to incorporate his proposed solution into precisely the same timetable for Scotland is a very big addition to the original vow. For the Scots, it is the equivalent of buying a house only to discover the deal will go ahead when a blazing row over planning permission nearby is resolved at the same time.

   

So farewell Alex

Like him or loathe him, his place in history is secure.  And his decision to resign as SNP leader and First Minister can only enhance the lustre which will be associated with his career.  Against all the odds, he led his party to outright victory in a Scottish General Election, a task thought to be impossible.  And then he fought a glorious if unsuccessful campaign for independence, a campaign that panicked Westminster and aroused the Scottish community to unheard-of heights of political participation.

It is at times like these that we should remember that politicians are only human.  The daily struggles inflict a severe toll.  Mr Salmond deserves some time to himself.  A time to reflect, a time to enjoy life.

If all political careers end in failure, Mr Salmond may content himself with the thought that at least he had a damn good try at success.

   

Who is Lord Smith?

Baron Smith of Kelvin, Knight of the Order of the Thistle, is to oversee the implementation of the new devolution arrangements for Scotland.

Originally a banker (score one against him), Lord Smith has a number of irons currently in the fire.  He is the Chairman of Scottish and Southern Energy (score two) and of the British Green Investment Bank.  Also the Patron of Foundation Scotland.  And he used to be the Chair of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games organising company.

Now 70 years old, you might have thought he was pushing on a bit for his new role.  But, hey, the Great and the Good go on forever.

Oh, and he and his missus own the island of Inchmarnock in the Firth of Clyde.

 

Here we go again

Ah yes, the English Question.  It used to be known as the West Lothian Question.  Nobody ever found an answer.

If Scottish MPs are excluded from voting on English matters, it gives rise to the possibility that a government could command a Commons majority on UK affairs while being unable to put through domestic English legislation.  Result: instability.

In reality, there are only two real solutions.  One, go the whole hog and establish an English Partliament and an English government, separate from the UK Parliament and the UK Government. Two, stop asking the bloody question.

 

Quote of the day (2)

From Fraser Nelson of The Spectator (here):

 If it’s a ‘yes’ result tomorrow, then it will be the result of of first-class politics from the separatists and first-class incompetence from the unionists.

It is often said that Westminster has been captured by a professional political class. This Scottish campaign has shown how amateurish these professionals can be.

   

Quote of the day

The Guardian interviewing voters (here):

A man in a van said he was “nervous if it goes the wrong way. My wife says she’s back off down to England if it’s a no.” He paused. “I’m no’ sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. But I’ll miss her.” 

   

Still indecisive

Well I have done my duty and cast my ballot.  I hope that I have done the right thing.

Lunch yesterday with some old chums in a swanky French restaurant.  Not surprisingly, being of a certain age and utterly representative of the Edinburgh bourgeoisie, they were No voters to a man (there were no women).  What I did not expect was the vehemence with which they held their views: not a shadow of doubt, not a scintilla of hesitation.

Call me a wimp if you must, but I found it difficult to make a choice.  Far from sure that certainty is a good thing.  Whatever the result, we will have to live with each other.  (Except for me - I bugger off back to Spain next week.)

   

Yes or No?

Phil Ochs said it best:

Oh, the shadows of doubt are in many a mind
Lookin' for an answer they're never gonna find
But they'd better decide 'cause they're runnin' out of time
For these are the days of decision

Oh, the games of stalling you cannot afford
Dark is the danger that's knocking on the door
And the far reaching rockets say you can't wait anymore
For these are the days of decision

In the face of the people who know they're gonna win
There's a strength that's greater than the power of the wind
And you can't stand around when the ice is growing thin
For these are the days of decision

I've seen your heads hinding 'neath the blankets of fear
When the paths they are plain and the choices are clear
But with each passing day, boys, the cost is more dear
For these are the days of decision

  

Just the start

From The Telegraph blogs (here):

Cameron is not smart. He thinks he is smart. So, lazily, he went for an all out gamble, Yes or No – which he might well lose, as things stand. And he did that because he was arrogantly confident that he would win. Cameron is inept on a fundamental level. He is an old Etonian, born to govern, unhappily devoid of the basic skills of governance, and politics.

...And on to Ed Miliband. ... the truth is Miliband is a gormless muppet more suited to running a Montessori nursery than an ancient nation.

No doubt, there will be more criticism to follow on Friday, whatever the result.

   

Picture of the day

h/t Paul

Music of the week

Hard to believe that this was released 49 years ago.  Seems like Yesterday ...