Monday, 15 March 2010

Time for another admission. Brown's Bungled Bank Job

Gordon Brown has today, finally admitted that, under his watch, bank regulation was for not fit- for- purpose. His really big error was stripping the Bank of England of it's powers to regulate UK Banks. He should now admit that this was huge error.

Gordon Brown continues to this day to be in denial and will not accept this was a great mistake. Time to make another admission Gordon.

Here is the TIMELINE to the biggest bank bungle ever.
This timetable shows how the cock-up occurred.

January 1997. Gordon Brown and Tony Blair discuss with Eddie George plans to offer Bank operational independence. Removal of supervisory role is raised but George is assured nothing will happen without consultation.

April 1997. Brown decides to offer Bank a package by giving it independence but taking away supervision.

2 May 1997. Brown discusses approach with Treasury officials. Last-minute intervention by senior civil servant persuades him to drop idea of withdrawing supervision.

5 May. Brown informs George of Bank's operational independence. He says there will be no decision on supervision without consultation.

6 May. Brown announces decision at press conference but hints that supervision will be examined.

8 May. Cabinet meets to discuss Queen's Speech contents. Reform of Financial Services Act which would revamp City regulation receives low priority.

14 May. Queen's Speech leaves out reform of FSA but includes bill enabling Bank's independence.

15 May. Brown's advisers suggest regulatory reform can be accelerated by linking it to Bank legislation.

19 May. Brown tells George bank supervision will be transferred to an enlarged SIB. George and other Bank officials are enraged by what they see as a betrayal of trust.

20 May. Brown announces reform to Parliament.

21 May. George tells press he considered resigning. His remarks are used by a Brown adviser to stir up campaign against George.

22 May. City bankers offer public support for George. Pound falls on fears he will be replaced.

23 May. Government officials attempt to patch up rift.

Gordon's self confessed lax regulation also allowed both AIG and Lehman Bros to transact trillion dollar risks in London that were not allowed in the USA.

Meliden - Updated Wed 14th April 2010

CANDIDATES TURN LEFT

Labour's Scary Candidate List

John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) Whatever it is, he’s against it. As an MP between 1997 and 2005, he voted against his own government more than 80 times, rebelling on the Iraq war, university fees and benefits cuts. He previously worked for the Morning Star, the communist-linked newspaper, and is now political officer of Unite, the BA strike union.

Jack Dromey (Birmingham Erdington) Harriet Harman’s husband is deputy general secretary of the increasingly militant Unite. Came to prominence as the organiser of the year-long strike at the Grunwick film processing laboratories in the 1970s, a dispute marred by violent clashes. Replaces Sion Simon, once a political columnist for the Tory-supporting Daily Telegraph.

Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) President of the hard-line National Union of Mineworkers. During the miners’ strike he was arrested half a dozen times. Replaces Denis Murphy, a generally loyal former coalminer who campaigned on local issues.

Teresa Pearce (Erith and Thamesmead) A member of the Grassroots Alliance — “committed to redistributing wealth, income and power from the few to the many” — beat Georgia Gould, daughter of Tony Blair’s pollster Phillip Gould, to secure the nomination. Describes herself as a “left-wing activist” on her Twitter page.

Chuka Umunna (Streatham) May dress and sound like a Blairite, but do not be fooled. He sits on the management committee of Compass, the left-wing group that has called for a renationalisation of the railways and a ban on all outdoor advertising. Replaces Keith Hill, a moderate former minister.

Lillian Greenwood (Nottingham South) Greenwood, an official for Unison, the public services union, and a member of the left-wing Compass group, describes herself as a campaigner for “workers’ rights”.

Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) Adviser to Ken Livingstone, former mayor of London, Qureshi stood unsuccessfully in his former seat of Brent East in 2005, when the human rights lawyer launched a strong attack on the Iraq war.

Nancy Platts (Brighton Pavilion) A former official for the TSSA transport union, she was selected after playing up her opposition to the Iraq war, identity cards and privatisation, which won her plaudits in the hard left Morning Star newspaper.

MPs criticise Trevor Phillips

Equalities watchdog chairman Trevor Phillips has today been criticised by an influential group of MPs and peers.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) raised serious concerns over Mr Phillips' leadership and questioned Harriet Harman's decision to push through his reappointment without a contest.

The report follows the resignation of six commissioners from the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2009. The resignations were a protest at Mr Phillips' continued chairmanship.

Surely he now has to resign.

Adonis calls on Unite to stop Strike

LORD ADONIS yesterday became the first Cabinet Minister to speak out against the trade union behind the British Airways strike, accusing it of “threatening the future” of the airline.To the fury of Unite, the Secretary of State for Transport described the seven days of walkouts planned this month by thousands of cabin crew as “deplorable” and “totally unjustified”. The minister, a moderate Blairite, became the first senior member of the Labour government to break ranks and blame the union – one of the party’s biggest financial backers – for the industrial action.He immediately faced an angry reaction from Unite, whose political director, Charlie Whelan, is a close ally and former spokesman of Gordon Brown. Mr Whelan was recently identified as one of Downing Street’s “forces of hell” who briefed against anyone who dared oppose Mr Brown.Union officials were said to be “livid” at Lord Adonis’s “uninformed” and “blundering” intervention. They contacted Downing Street to insist ministers should not blame them for the industrial action, which could affect 500,000 BA passengers.The row highlights the close relationship between Labour and Unite — the union has donated £11million to the party in the past three years.Mr Whelan has begun working closely with the Prime Minister and the Labour Party in the run-up to the election Source Daily Telegraph15/03/10

Sunday, 14 March 2010

The Observer Magazine, 14 Mar 2010. Pages 38 - 39

Sarah Brown, The Propagandist Wife. Samantha Cameron, The Working Wife.

The Observer Magazine
14 Mar 2010

Saturday, 13 March 2010

Poll Narrows -David Cameron is still trusted by voters more than Gordon Brown on three key issues

A surprising 34 per cent of voters think that Britain’s interests would “best be served” if the election resulted, as most polls now predict, in a hung parliament, despite warnings that such an outcome would gravely hamper the country’s ability to recover from its economic woes and record deficit. More than half (56 per cent) want one party to win a clear majority.

Labour and Lib Dems being disingenuous on UK Economy

Alistair Darling is set to take official public sector net debt breaking through the £1 trillion barrier. This does not include the £500 billion plus bailout of UK banks and pre-election support for General Motors announced today.

From figures published February 18th 2010, UK public sector net debt was £848.5 billion. (or 59.9% of National GDP) – Source: Office National Statistics

The government has used fanciful growth forecasts of UK GDP growth returning to trend growth of 2.5% per annum by 2011. This is unlikely as even the Prime Minister has stated the UK is still in "Choppy Waters". This leaves the forecast growth rates of 0.6% for 2010 well behind.

This opens up a potential black hole in Britain's finances that implies that actual official government borrowing will be some 50% or more higher than he will announce in this month's budget.

The Lib Dems support this level of borrowing . Both Parties know this situation cannot continue.

BOTH PARTIES SHOULD START TO TELL THE TRUTH.

The Guardian, 13 Mar 2010. Page 3

Samantha Cameron. What a lovely person she is.

The Guardian
13 Mar 2010

The Daily Telegraph, 13 Mar 2010. Page 2

Mandelson Hands Over £270 Million in pre-election lifeline

The Daily Telegraph
13 Mar 2010

Hammond: Liberal Democrats are all over the place on the economy

http://www.politicshome.com/uk/article/6545/

Friday, 5 March 2010

Gordon Brown’s cuts ‘cost lives of soldiers’

So says General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank who adds

Soldiers’ lives were lost in Iraq and Afghanistan because Gordon Brown failed to fund the Army properly when he was Chancellor, a former chief of the defence staff said yesterday.
The Prime Minister is due to appear before the Iraq inquiry today at 10am.
General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, who led the Armed Forces from 1997 to 2001, toldThe Times: “Not fully funding the Army in the way they had asked . . . undoubtedly cost the lives of soldiers. He should be asked why he was so unsympathetic towards defence and so sympathetic to other departments.”
The families of servicemen who died on the front line in lightly armoured Land Rovers are already demanding to know why the Government did not send troops out with more helicopters and stronger vehicles.

Brown on Chilcot - Will he deny this story?

In a withering assessment of the “doomed” state of the military, the recently retired Lt Gen Sir Graeme Lamb said that the SAS had been denied even Vietnam-era equipment that could have saved lives.

Monday, 4 January 2010

Schizo Economics by Gordon Brown

Wednesday, 30 September 2009

Evening Standard (First Edition), 30 Sep 2009. Page 1

Evening Standard (First Edition)
30 Sep 2009

Gordon Has Lost It - Time to Leave Gordon

He has lost the plot. I thought he was manic and menacing on BBC this morning with Sian Williams. I thought he was going to attack her.

This is the man in charge of any of our potential Nuclear launches.