Forget what Cameron did, the Euro summit was a disaster anyway
The European press have almost universally consigned the UK to the outer darkness, and the UK press have generally been pretty critical of Cameron, although some right-wing writers have been more positive.
Reuters concluded that Cameron’s action would be disastrous for the UK, which would end up being isolated. But Felix Salmon, also at Reuters, took a completely different view. And for me, Salmon gets it right.
You see, Cameron’s actions were completely irrelevant.
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Labour: bankers should be liable for failure
Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister Chris Leslie MP yesterday said the law should be changed so incompetent bankers can be held liable for the destruction they cause.
In response to the report into the failure of RBS, he also accepted that the regulators did not do enough and that Labour had to take responsibility for that.
It is astonishing that deeply irresponsible decisions by these bankers could have forced a £45bn bailout necessary to save depositors, and yet no enforcement action is brought, and nobody is punished for this.
Labour is proposing various changes to the upcoming Financial Regulation Bill:
- A change in the law to ensure that incompetent bankers can be held properly accountable for the harm they can cause.
- Ensure that any major bank acquisition in future needs approval by financial regulators and write that into law.
- Ensure City adviser firms don’t bias their advice because fees are larger if big takeovers get the go ahead.
He said governments and regulators around the world, including here in Britain, should have been tougher on the banks before the crash.
Labour will also propose other reforms on corporate governance, on transparency for bankers’ pay, on audit and ensuring European financial supervisors won’t be able to overrule the City regulators so easily in the future.
He added:
We’ve apologised for not being tough enough, but when will David Cameron and George Osborne say sorry for calling for less regulation and complaining that Labour was too tough?
Success! Hamleys change signs for boys and girls after campaign
contribution by Laura Nelson
Hamleys Toyshop in London has changed its signage in response to a campaign against categorisation of toys by gender and sexist stereotypes.
In signs all around the shop, from top to bottom, the mention of gender has been removed.
Toys are now categorised by type: for example, ‘arts and crafts’, ‘dress-up’ and ‘dolls’, without specifying whether they are for boys or girls.
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Ten reasons why Ed Miliband should not embrace Nick Clegg
Ed Miliband made a big mistake as Labour leader yesterday when he uttered the words “I agree with Nick [Clegg]. Below I list 10 reasons why.
1. No one else agrees with Nick: A Poll found just 19% of the UK thought Cameron made the wrong move in vetoing the EU Treaty. 62% of the public back Cameron and the Tories have shrunk Labour’s lead to just 1%.
2. Nick Clegg is not angry with Cameron’s move. He stage managed the tension to help cool off dissent in his own party. Remember, ever since the Lib Dem lows of 7-8% the yellows have been keen to pretend they don’t get along with the Tories. Ed gave that credence yesterday.
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Libdems rail against cuts in by-election!
The definition of chutzpah: this is the Libdem leaflet in the upcoming Heston and Feltham by-election.
Time-limiting disability benefits: a template letter to use
Last week I asked you all to write to a Lib Dem peer and plead with them to vote against time limiting ESA to just one year.
Template letters are certainly less effective – many parliamentarians won’t open more than one or two of them. However, they are better than not writing at all. For every peer who receives 5, 10, 50 template letters, at least they get to see the strength of feeling people have over an issue.
If you don’t have the confidence to write your own, please use this one.
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Cameron is defending his party’s hedge-fund paymasters
Cameron’s claim that he exercised his veto in Britain’s interests has won plaudits from the right-wing media, but needs to be exposed as the most staggering hyperbole, and proof that his Government exists for the benefit of the few and not the many.
The key issue on which Cameron split from the rest of Europe was the Robin Hood Tax – something he claims to support at a global level.
This week saw the Conservative Party’s dependence on hedge funds exposed once and for all by, of all people, the Financial Times.
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Revealed: the controversial characters behind anti-union group
Last year Conservative MP Aidan Burley was feted by Conservative Friends of Israel and invited on ‘fact-finding’ trips to Israel and the West bank (via @Saggydaddy).
Yesterday, it was revealed that Aidan Burley looked on while his friends chanted Nazi slogans at a French restaurant, with one dressed in an SS uniform.
Aidan Burley, MP for Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, was with 12 friends, some of whom chanted ‘Hitler, Hitler, Hitler’. One toasted the ‘Third Reich’ and one taunted a waiter for being French.
He later said on Twitter he deeply regretted the “inappropriate behaviour”.
It is less well known that Aidan Burley MP is also behind a recently launched campaign to undermine Britain’s trade unions, along with three other colleagues.
Aidan Burley MP has quite a colourful history from his university days too, but isn’t alone in this media hit-job operation.
The ‘Trade Union Reform Campaign’ is also staffed by blogger Harry Cole. A few years ago Harry Cole had to apologise for trying to use an anonymous online campaign to discredit the Edinburgh University Students Association. He currently fetches tea for Guido Fawkes, aka Paul Staines.
And then there’s Mark Clarke, a Tory candidate in Tooting in 2008 2010 (lost to Sadiq Khan), who was described by senior Tories close to David Cameron as a “liability”.
The fourth person behind the campaign to attack unions is Andre Walker was sacked when he was caught boasting about a smear campaign.
You can listen to Andre Walker plotting about the smear campaign on this Youtube clip.
I’m sure you’ll agree these are just the sort of upstanding pillars of the community to raise questions about more accountability in public life.
Labour slowly getting it right on Eurozone calamity
It looks like Ed Balls is getting Labour’s approach on Europe right, in an an interview for the FT today:
Mr Balls said the summit had not addressed the crucial role of the ECB to head off the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. He also believes that European leaders – not just David Cameron – must move away from collective austerity and focus on growth.
This position is close to what I suggested yesterday:
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The move to school academy status – a passionless revolution
contribution by Paul Pennyfeather
Michael Gove wants to be a revolutionary. When seeking to prove his revolution, he encourages people to count his beloved academies. Over one in six of UK secondary schools have taken the step and gained independence from their local authority.
Gove crafts an image of school leaders enthusiastically seizing power and, freed from their shackles, dramatically redesigning their schools. In practice, the decision to convert is often fuelled less by passionate fervour and more by tired pragmatism.
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» The real agenda behind Telegraph’s abortion investigation
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» Why work “reforms” in Spain are a warning for workers across Europe
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