There is more on RBS to get angry about
contribution by Adam Ramsay
Billy Bragg’s refusal to pay taxes to fund RBS bonuses is the latest manifestation of the question: what is to be done with Britain’s biggest bank?
But as well as bankers yachts, we should also look at the other things RBS-NatWest are paying for with our cash.
According to this report RBS-NatWest are Europe’s biggest funders of fossil fuel extraction. This finance is so significant that this more recent report by Cass Business School fellow Nick Silver found that the government could potentially have more impact on global carbon emissions through responsible ownership of RBS-Natwest than through cutting all domestic emissions.
And it’s not just levels of emissions that we should worry about. In March last year, RBS-NatWest provided around £100 million of, essentially, our money to Irish company Tullow Oil.
Tullow are involved in an extraction project on the war struck border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. In an area that has seen chronic violence, a resource war fueled by RBS loans is a serious prospect.
continue reading… »
Limbaugh slammed for borderline anti-Semitism
Blogger Tim Fenton writes:
If you were to choose one country as the least likely place to find anti-Semitism, you might go for the USA. After all, a whole range of races and religions have made it their home. But that doesn’t mean that the subject is off limits where our old friend Rush Limbaugh is concerned, and he’s been his usual unpleasant self this week.
Limbaugh made the characterisation of “banker as Jew” in his radio show, suggesting that Barack Obama’s move to raise a levy on the banks would by implication cause disquiet – he called it “buyers’ remorse” – among the Jewish community.
The remarks by shock-jock Rush Limbaugh prompted a sharp response by the Anti-Defamation League.
Limbaugh told his listeners: “To some people, banker is a code word for Jewish; and guess who Obama is assaulting? He’s assaulting bankers. He’s assaulting money people. And a lot of those people on Wall Street are Jewish. So I wonder if there’s – if there’s starting to be some buyer’s remorse there.”
It released a statement yesterday saying:
Rush Limbaugh reached a new low with his borderline anti-Semitic comments about Jews as bankers, their supposed influence on Wall Street, and how they vote.
Limbaugh’s references to Jews and money in a discussion of Massachusetts politics were offensive and inappropriate. While the age-old stereotype about Jews and money has a long and sordid history, it also remains one of the main pillars of anti-Semitism and is widely accepted by many Americans. His notion that Jews vote based on their religion, rather than on their interests as Americans, plays into the hands of anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists.
Limbaugh is someone that ConservativeHome’s Tim Montgomerie has previously labelled “centre-right”. So, Mr M, is that the same “centre-right” as you folks over at ConHome? Speak up – don’t be bashful.
We look forward to hearing Tim Montgomerie’s reaction. Or not.
Update: Tim Fenton has an update to the saga
Cameron sinks Boris dreams of ‘island airport’
Poor Boris. The initiative he once described as the “biggest and bravest” thing he could do, has been sunk by party leader David Cameron himself.
Adam Bienkov at Tory Troll reports:
David Cameron today ruled out building Boris Johnson’s airport in the Thames Estuary.
Asked by the BBC whether he would go ahead with Boris Island he replied that: “Boris Johnson is a fantastic mayor, but building airports is not his responsibility”
During his visit to Kent, Cameron said that Boris Island was “not our policy” and repeated his opposition to Heathrow.
Yesterday the Evening Standard reported that Medway council had also attacked London Mayor’s ‘island airport’ plan.
The scheme, which Boris had floated many times, is now dead in the water.
More at Tory Troll.
Also: BBC London report
Tory Whip labels Cadbury workers ‘whingers’
It’ll be interesting to see what Mike Smithson makes of this story over at Political Betting…
CADBURY workers fearing for their jobs have been branded “whingers” by a Midland MP…
Mr Wiggin – whose Leominster constituency in Herefordshire includes Cadbury’s Marlbrook plant – said:
“Who wants to hire a whingeing workforce when you can have a positive upbeat one?”
Wiggin, who’s currently sitting on a hefty majority of 13,167 over the second-placed Lib Dems, from the last general election, would ordinarily be considered to be a safe as houses but he does seem to have a knack of opening his mouth and putting his foot right in it, as the Telegraph noted during its coverage of the MPs expenses scandal:
Mr Wiggin, the MP for Leominster in Herefordshire, has been contacted by John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, over his claims for £13,000 in council tax and household bills between 2004 and 2006.
Mr Lyon is acting on a complaint from one of Mr Wiggin’s constituents who believes that the MP – a contemporary of David Cameron at Eton – may have claimed thousands of pounds too much.
The MP has accused the constituent, Jim Miller, a self-employed writer, of being a “trouble-maker”. He asked whether Mr Miller was “on benefits” and said: “His time would be better spent finding a job than pursuing a vendetta.”
Could Wiggin now be a more attractive target for the Lib Dems than his majority at the last election suggests, especially as his CV prior to entering parliament includes stints as a Forex trader with UBS, an associate directorship with Kleinwort Benson and a management position in the Forex department of Commerzbank?
After all, he seems to be a right merchant banker from where I’m sitting?
Desperately Seeking Bulger
Despite the snarky title, I don’t want to spend too much time raking over the obvious parallels between Cameron’s shameless attempt to gain political capital out of the ongoing trial of two young boys for what is, by any standards, a staggeringly brutal assault on two other children of the same age, and the actions of a certain former shadow Home Secretary who pulled much the same stunt 17 years ago.
The main lesson is all this, such as it is, is that politicians will happily say almost anything if they think there’s an extra vote or two in it.
That said, Cameron’s efforts to jump on this particular bandwagon do serve to reinforce the general impression that both he and his campaign team are desperately inattentive, woefully out of touch and only casually acquainted with real world.
continue reading… »
Goldsmith also goes for shameless pandering
If you thought the Tories’ ‘broken society’ meme was bit dystopic, this will really have you reaching for the bottle. According to Zac Goldsmith, Conservative candidate for Richmond Park and everyone’s favourite uber-green non-dom, we are no longer living in a civilised country. Can’t wait to see that on his election posters.
In a post which implicitly supports euthanasia, Goldsmith contrasts the seemingly lenient sentence given to a convicted paedophile with a seemingly harsh sentence for a woman who ended the life of her beloved but brain damaged son.
The problem, you see, is those pesky “sanctimonious liberal commentators” who “will argue that the mark of a civilised society is its willingness to apply justice in the face of public opinion. For them, this mother is a law-breaker, just like Sweeney, and she should be punished as such”.
Now, if I was going to write about how two court cases reveal what an uncivilised country we are, I’d probably think twice before accusing anyone else of sanctimony.
continue reading… »
MD of firm selling ‘bomb detectors’ arrested
Back at the beginning of November we brought you this bizarre and staggering story of the part played by a British company in the sale of ‘bomb detectors’ to Iraqi security forces that turned out, in fact, to be nothing more than extortionately expensive dowsing rods:
Killing Iraqis with Dowsing Rods
I’m not generally one for being cryptic, but to avoid giving Sunny ulcers, if you want to find out exactly how British companies have been making millions of dollars selling dowsing rods as ‘explosives detectors’ to countries including Iraq, Thailand and the Philippines then you’ll need to pop over to the Ministry and read…
British Company sells $60,000 Dowsing Rods to Iraq as ‘Explosives Detectors’
Just over two months on, we’re delighted to be able to bring you an update on this story:
The boss of a British company that has sold million of dollars worth of “bomb detectors” to Iraq’s security forces has been arrested on suspicion of fraud.
Jim McCormick, 53, the managing director of ATSC which is based in a former dairy in Sparkford, Somerset, has been questioned by detectives from Avon and Somerset Police after a complaint that he misrepresented the devices.
If we’ve played any part at all in bringing this story to the attention of the media or police, here in the UK, then we are naturally delighted both to have been of assistance and with this latest development in the story and are optimistic that, in the not too distant future, we’ll be able to bring you news of this bastard getting everything that he deserves.
Speaking personally, I’d be more than happy to arrange a whip-round for a new copy of Blackstones for the trial judge to throw at him.
What does Liddle think of the Evening Standard?
So what are Rod Liddle’s views on the Evening Standard since it was bought by Alexander Lebedev, his possible future employer?
I only ask because another Millwall thread on that website has been brought to my notice, dated 3rd November 2009.
In the thread ‘monkemfc’, who Rod Liddle claims is not always him, says:
Subject: Re: Evening Standard……….pretty much n/w
No, the nine words were an extremely useful “….moved into the play-offs with a win against Colchester”.
I suppose you might haggle over “play-offs” being one or two words.
What a fcking useless paper it is.
Is that a comment by Liddle or someone impersonating him?
Also worth noting: Rod Liddle’s views on rich Russian oligarchs
Are banks finally losing their grip on the economy?
contribution by Adam Lent
The rather brilliant theorist of economic history, Carlota Perez, argues that after very large financial crashes, economies change their mode of operation.
Systems that have been run by and in the interests of financial speculation become far more focused on the ‘real economy’. Profits and wealth are generated less by playing around with money and more by the search for productivity and innovation in other sectors.
This process often begins with the banks and other financial bodies losing economic, political and popular credibility. Their sphere of influence and their freedom of activity becomes constrained not just by the fact that financial conditions have changed but also by a new regulatory regime and a political backlash.
That Perezian turning point may just have arrived. Darling’s bonus tax, Obama’s insurance levy, a growing campaign for a transaction tax and now, most strikingly, Obama’s new Glass-Steagall, suggest that something significant is finally happening over a year after the crash.
continue reading… »
Osborne accuses Labour of being too right-wing!
President Barack Obama took on a more populist note yesterday by taking aim at the banking industry in a speech which called for tougher regulations.
He said: “We have to enact commonsense reforms that will protect American taxpayers and the American economy from future crises.”
“For, while the financial system is far stronger today than it was one year ago, it’s still operating under the same rules that led to its near-collapse.”
Watch
Even the Daily Mail applauded, saying: Finally, time’s up for the greedy bankers
Curiously, the Conservatives today said they would follow Obama’s lead.
This is a welcome move by President Obama that accords very much with our thinking. I have said consistently that we should look at separating retail banking from activities like large scale propriety trading – and that this was best done internationally.
Coming on top of growing agreement on a bank levy, it shows that Conservatives are part of an emerging international consensus on these issues.
Huh? Really? And then:
Gordon Brown has repeatedly opposed the specific action which President Obama has today announced. He now looks very isolated as a defender of the old model of finance that he presided over for years and that went so catastrophically wrong.
Did Gordon Brown look so isolated over the need for a stimulus too?
Nevertheless, it is a welcome move that the Conservatives are accusing New Labour of being too soft on greedy bankers and the unstable financial system.
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