What's the opposite of paranoia? Gordon Brown

I was just reading an article about German Chancellor Angela Merkel who is coming to the UK for a visit with Gordon Brown ahead of the G20 meeting in April. Despite Gordon's claims that Europe is united on the issues of the economy (a claim that was rubbished by News Rage UK last week for different reasons) it appears again that this is far from fact.

Merkel is in fact already committed with Sarkozy of France to send a common signal that spending more money is not an answer to the crisis. In other words, giving industries £billions upon £billions of public money is wrong. "The issue is not spending even more but to put in place a regulatory system to prevent the economic catastrophe that the world is experiencing from being repeated," she said.

Brown seems to be putting his fingers in his ears and singing "la, la, la". He seems to be oblivious to what other people are saying about the crisis. The Germans have never agreed with his handling of the crisis. German finance minister Peer Steinbruck caused controversy in December when he criticised UK policies on the VAT cut which we will have to start paying for sooner than many think. Brown however continues to insist that the two countries are on the same path, with Germany launching its own stimulus package.

Call me crazy, but isn't that a bit like saying black and white are the same colour but they're just used to colour different things. It doesn't make any sense. The government seems to be of the mind that if you keep telling people that things are so, then they will be so or at least people will believe that it will be so. The thing is, whatever way you look at it, black is black and white is white and I think, or at least I hope that people are beginning to acknowledge the whopping great cracks in not only this government's economic policies and management but also in just about everything this government is claiming to have achieved.

My thoughts are that either Brown actually believes that everyone is on his side and agrees with his plans, in which case the lunatics have taken over the asylum! or he is not giving the electorate and the British people credit for the intelligence they possess, in which case again the lunatics have taken over the asylum! We're clearly in a loose loose situation with this government and this style of politics and that really makes me mad!!!

Brown says UK will increase overseas aid despite deficit.

Gordon Brown yesterday promised that Britain would keep its pledge to raise its overseas development aid budget to an internationally agreed target of 0.7 percent of national income in spite of the growing budget deficit.

Britain, along with other G8 countries, promised at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to raise aid spending to that 0.7 percent level by 2013. The prime minister said the UK government was working with its partners in the G20 and at the World Bank to set up a new fund specifically to help the world's poorest people during the downturn. He said the UK would also push to win developing nations a bigger role in international institutions, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Brown also said the Millennium Development Goals 'must remain a central focus of our[G20] efforts.

In related news, Al Jazeera reports that Douglas Alexander, Britain's international development minister, has set out new proposals aimed at helping people in developing countries hit by the global credit crunch. The measures include an international 'rapid response' fund that would provide a safety net for the world's most vulnerable people. Alexander said the multi-billion dollar fund would be specifically targeted at certain groups, including women, children, elderly people and the disabled, with food provided for children and medical care for pregnant women.

Another out-of touch government proposal is branded a gimmick, D'oh!

As soon as the government comes up with ideas these days, it appears that there is immediately someone who wants to rubbish them. The worrying thing however is that it isn't even the opposition who are leading the attack. It seems to be the professionals who actually work in any area that the government hatches a "catch the pigeon" style reform or proposal. Jacqui Smith was decapitated yesterday over plans for her violence against women register. It's Gordon Brown's turn to be rubbished today.

In a speech called "Working Together", he will announce later today that: "We will recruit the brightest and best in our public services - for instance, with a new fast track teacher training scheme, taking six months instead of a year, to bring career switchers into the teaching profession."

However Mary Bousted, general secretary of the teaching union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said;

"It sounds like an employment scheme for unemployed bankers, but this may not be the best way to go about it". she added; "I'm becoming very worried about the plethora of different gimmicks and initiatives the government is coming out with - this looks very much like back-of-the-fag-packet stuff."

If in fact this is a job scheme for ex-bankers, as a parent, I would be a little concerned (and a little sensationalist acknowledged) that these people who have spent the last couple of years of their professional lives ruining the world's economy through sheer and utter greed and avarice would have any input to my child's education and upbringing.

Anyway the point is that I am finding it hard to come to grips with how out of touch and seemingly desperate this government actually is. They should be trying to actively and cooperatively solve problems with the people who are facing them and not sitting in Whitehall pushing the same old "idea peas" round the same old "manifesto plates". They're stale. They're remote and they're failing. We need a change but we won't get one because this government's too arrogant to see that what they are actually doing and suggesting is going to do more harm than good for this country...and that really makes me mad!!!

Launch of ISA to help vaccinate children.

A new ISA (Individual Savings Account) is being launched which will enable savers to help vaccinate children in some of the world's poorest countries, it was announced this week. The International Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm) is planning to raise funds to vaccinate children in more than 70 developing countries.

The Vaccine Investment Isa is available through HSBC branches across the UK and Geneva-based GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, will oversee the inoculations of which the majority will be in Africa.

Its members include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation and vaccine manufacturers. The Sunday Times writes that the idea of converting governments' future aid commitments into immediate funding for projects in developing countries was promoted by Gordon Brown in 2005. In 2006, IFFIm was launched to convert $5.3 billion in future aid commitments (pledged over 20 years by the seven governments) into bonds. The Pope was the first IFFIm bond investor.

Labour Party Gets a Good Bashing - From Within

Peter Hain was on the news over the weekend saying that more of New Labour would loose the Labour Party the next election in what appears to be a bit of "I told you so"ism before the event. This publicity stunt I think is a display of his willingness to throw his hat in the ring again when it comes to party leadership election time after the generals whenever they come (presuming of course that Brown doesn't do a Chavez in the dark). Not that I don't think that Hain would make a good Labour Party leader, he does have an admirable pedigree but I cannot understand why anyone with any political savvy would want to take the helm after Brown.

This move definitely marks the start of the public implosion of the New Labour movement as it will begin to tear itself apart in lieu of certain failure at the next general election. It happened to the Conservative party during Major's term and it took them 3 leaders and ten years after loosing power to rebuild a veneer of cohesion. What the older wiser guys should really be thinking of doing is letting someone like Milliband take the reigns, screw it up and decapitate himself politically before they step in and reunite the party with traditional values, which after two terms of Conservative reign, the UK will probably be ready for again.

It will be interesting to watch and measure the degree to which they will destroy themselves though. Harman already looks like she's already on a leadership campaign as well and I wonder what Straw, Mandelson and others will be up to behind the scenes. One thing I can say is that it's going to be an awful lot better than Saturday night TV, that's for sure!!!

Tory Humour

Just thought I would share this link because it made me chuckle a bit (and angry of course). Tories should be a bit careful not to make the same mistakes in their current campaigning that Major made with Blair and his devil eyes.

http://www.sorryfromgordon.com/

Brown the Saviour Takes Message to God from The EU

Well....not only is Gordon Brown a financial genius but he is now to be regarded as a political svengali as well having united the EU on the issue of the "global recession and is taking its message to Obama in the US. What a load of old tosh!!!

EU member states by the sound of it are far in fact from being united with a rift opening up between Western and Eastern Europe and the French doing what the French always do in a crisis (or at any other time for that matter) and looking after the French interest, in particular its car industry. However states reputedly agreed that they do want better regulation, action on the shadow banking system and hedge funds, no protectionism, fiscal and monetary stimulus and no maintainence of the old status quo on the role of our financial institutions.

Our man Brown says that he will be taking a clear message to Obama when he visits him that "Bold global action, a global grand bargain, is not now just necessary but it is vitally urgent to deal with the challenges of the world economy".

Now...call me crazy but the only clear message I am getting from what has been reportedly discussed in Europe last weekend is that Europe wants lots of altruistic things but doesn't have a clue how to go about getting them by themselves. Not only this but we are about to send the architect of our own domestic crisis to the US with his cap in his hand to ask for a solution on behalf of Europe to the "global problem".

Call me crazy, but I'm not too sure that the best way to solve the current financial situation is to go and ask the new kid on the block in global politics for advice. On the up side, at least Bush has gone otherwise we would probably end up invading another Muslim state in the name of salvation for democracy and capitalism (I wonder by the way if Sadam Hussein is jumping up and down in Hell, saying smugly to everyone, "See! I told you all my system was better").

It will be interesting to see what the political outcome of this meeting of minds in terms of a solution to the problem. It would be nice if it were a bit more that somple reassurances and gratuitous solidarity for the sake of the cameras. It would be nice to think that we could maybe come up with a real global solution and not one where everyone signs up except the US and the UK. In reality however, the US like China and India are not bound by the conventions and restrictions of the EU and they are naturally likely to want to protect their own interests far above all others. That is after all what made these countries economic giants in the first place and will maintain their status for generations to come.

If Europe wants to survive and retain any status as an economic power, it will have to start looking out for its own interests as well and it may even need to be done on a country basis opposed to a union basis. What might be needed to stimulate growth is a reduction or even suspension of EU regulation which has hampered local, regional and national economies since the EU came into being.

What will be just as interesting about this meeting is of course what kind of relationship Brown and Obama will actually have. Will it be one of master and subordinate like Bush & Blair? Will Brown manage to alienate himself from the US president by going in on the first meeting with his hand out asking for help? Will the two become the next "odd couple" and save the world? What is clear to me though is that nothing possitive comes from this meeting then it should be time for a change at the top.

PM Brown is in Danger of Calling the Kettle Black

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is gunning after national scapegoat Sir Fred Goodwin because of the obscene pension he will be getting despite the massive failure of RBS, the bank he was supposed to be running. He is threatening legal action to recover some of the reported £12million pension fund that Goodwin managed to build for himself over the ten or so years he was at the bank.

I'm not sure however that pursuing Goodwin is the most prudent thing Brown could possibly be doing right now. We all know why he's making a big thing about it. He is trying to divert public attention away from the billions of pounds that are required to bail out the banking system by instigating a good old fashioned mob lynching.

There are two problems I think Brown will create for himself by chasing Goodwin. The first is quite simply that Goodwin undoubtedly knows too much about the system and looks like he is going to stand up and defend himself against all attacks. In the cold light of day, he has done nothing it seems but follow the rules and play the system. It seems odd for me to be defending this man but he did not create the system, instead he worked it. Gordon Brown created it.

The second problem I think he could and should face if we are going to start taking away peoples pensions for abject failure is that he might end up facing questions over whether or not he should in fact keep his lovely little pot. The more I think about it in fact, the more that sounds like a good idea....Doh!!!

FSA: Another Broken Government Legacy

It is time to lay into the FSA, the Financial Services Authority, the financial services watchdog. I watched Chairman Lord Turner and Chief Executive Hector Sants answering questions by the Treasury Committee today and as I did, my blood started to boil. Turner stated that the reason that half of the banks in the UK under his watch had gone out of business was because of "political assumptions" that were made by the FSA to use a "light touch" approach to its job of regulating the banks.

The first thing that made me angry was that this organisation which was set up by the current Labour government was in some way it appeared trying to blame its architect instead of taking responsibility for its lack of appropriate activity. The inference that can be taken from these "political assumptions" is that they could only have been constructed from hints and suggestions made directly by the government. This may be the case but the FSA is supposed to be an independent body. It says so on its own website (http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/About/Who/index.shtml). This means that it should not be making assumptions based on politics at all. To do so is to undermine its very existence.

The second thing that upset me was the fact that these two managers, under whose watch we have lost half of our top ten big retail banks think that it is acceptable that they should be allowed to announce plans to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. They have admitted that the FSA is not fit for purpose but that it can be if some changes are made. What the bloody hell have these people been doing for the last however-many-years that they've been in charge? How is it that now, when the heat is on, they can suddenly come up with ideas in a couple of months or even weeks perhaps that can fix everything? If they have come up with a viable plan to fix the FSA then why didn't they do it before the system broke?

The FSA has failed three of its four statutory objectives of late and the two people in charge need to go. They won't! Neither will they resign nor will they be sacked. Why? Firstly because if they're sacked then the government will have to admit that their regulatory framework has failed. That's never going to happen with Gordon Brown in power. If they resign, they will be out of a cushy number which pays a great salary, wonderful pension, flexible working environment and oh yes....a bonus. Lets just remember what the government has said so robustly about rewarding failure before we remember that these individuals will undoubtedly get a nice bonus at the expense of the tax payer. Not a bad deal if you can also manage to reduce your responsibility by 50% whilst on the job...is it?

Barack & Gordon Finally Set a Play Date...Great!

I would like to be happy for Gordon Brown for pulling off a meeting with the US president Barack Obama but I'm not and in fact fail to understand why I should be. The press is jumping up and down with glee because our PM will be the first European leader to see the new US prima donna and that somehow we've beaten the French (again), the Germans (again) and all the others (again or for the very first time).

The problem I have with this unnecessary clamour is that it should be our god given right to be the first to get access to the US head honcho after the amount of lying, killing, robbing, conniving and manipulating we have done together in the name of democracy and capitalism. To get any less preferential treatment would be an absolute insult but not I think unexpected because the UK unfortunately it seems is to the US, what Millhouse is to Bart Simpson. A sidekick at best but not part of the family and totally dispensable to the main plot. I think it's time we changed that relationship and started to say no a bit more like the French or the Germans. Then we might also regain a bit more confidence as a power to reckon with.

It would be nice to think that Blair was the last poodle of the US but Gordon unfortunately it seems in just as keen to bound across the Atlantic with his tongue out and his tail wagging because Obama has whistled for him and that makes me mad!

Government Betrays Public Over Banking, Just Like That!

I just saw a report on BBC News 24 that claimed that the government is pushing ahead with new legislation that will allow the Bank of England and FSA to move quicker if banks get themselves into trouble to bail them out...Hoorah! The new legislation will also help consumers to access their money quicker if things go belly-up...Hoorah!

I cannot find much on the web about this yet but there are two things that really worried me about this proposed legislation. The first is that it allows for an assumption that it doesn't seem to be possible or desirable for the government to regulate and monitor the banks closely enough to prevent them from getting into trouble again, thus eliminating the risk of institutional or systemic failure altogether.

Secondly, because the legislation will allow the regulators to react to trouble in secrecy, without the gaze and scrutiny of the public, we are not going to know what's happening in the financial services industry at all until presumably well after the event. This would remove any remaining shred of transparency in the banking system and would ultimately remove any control we have over our own money. One could also draw the inference that the government is of the opinion that it is in fact a panicky public that caused the banking crisis rather than poorly regulated bankers who were allowed to play recklessly with investors money.

So...in a cynical attempt to be seen to be doing something constructive to re-regulate the banks, the government has shown its disregard and trust in the British public by inadvertently blaming them for the downfall of the banks and barring them from full and timely information. They are also it appears going beyond their power by removing the choice and control the public has over its money and where they put it by allowing the regulators to act in secrecy. Call me crazy...but that really makes me angry! When will this madness end?

Witches of Leftwick are Two Down, One Up.

Two of the three "Witches of Leftwick" who stood so united and confident last year as a defiant shield for Gordon Brown during his comic handling of the election that never was, appear to be victims of a bit of reverse voodoo.

Jacqui Smith's Home Office policies are being absolutely slated in the press, from nanny state to extremist expulsions. She's also about to be scrutinised by the standards commissioner about the dodgy goings on with her commons expenses. She'll presumably have to explain why she resembles a New York city mobster in Havana at about the time Castro deposed Batista, trying to get as much cash from his casino out of the country as he can before the rebels move in and put a stop to it.

Poor old Tessa Jowell is breaking the law by employing "local" Eastern Europeans to build the Olympic Stadium in Stratford and paying them under the National minimum wage. Everyone's moaning (except the French of course who are presently scoffing) about the cost and the financial legacy of the Olympics in light of the unexpected recession/depression. Her husband has just been sentenced to four and a half years in jail in Italy for corruption, which it should be noted also involved the Prime Minister of Italy (who is somehow exempt from trial on this issue).

The third witch, Harriet Harman, however appears to be keeping a bit of a low profile at the moment...or is she? She is conspicuous by her squeaky cleanliness. No rows over expenses, no lies about torture, no crooks in her family.... I can't even really remember the last time I saw her on the news. However, scratch the surface and it seems as though she's been a bit busy. There are in fact, it seems ripples of leadership aspirations coming from 'Arri's camp. It has been alleged that her office leaked the information about PM Brown going to work for Merkel as an international banking watchdog (It occurs to me that Brown in light of his inability to watch and regulate the UK banking system would actually be the worst choice one could possibly make...but that's a different story). She appears to be trying to upstage the G20 in April and is in fact hosting an International Woman's Conference on the same day (wonder if Hillary will be there!). She has also disrupted cabinet meetings with rants against "bonus culture" in the banks in a cynical attempt to garner support from traditional lefties.

Apparently all this activity is beginning to upset those around her a bit, presumably people like Milliband, Old Father Brown himself (of course), Balls, Darling and others. I wonder however if she's the only one in the New Labour camp that is actually thinking about the future and survival of the party opposed to self. Whilst others in the government it seems have given up on producing new ideas and initiatives let alone even trying to implement current policy; whilst others seem to be squirreling away as much cash and perks as possible and asking their mates around the world for a job...'Arri looks at face value at least to be standing up for traditional Labour ideals and values and past the confines of her offshore bank accounts.

I always assumed that she was as shallow as the rest of her piers. She may be, but unlike her piers, she seems to have maintained at least some political integrity even if her rosettes are the wrong colour. I always thought that a woman leader of the labour party and possibly country made more sense than a woman leader of the Conservatives for some reason.

Two Giant Unconventional Tools for Merv

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has said policymakers may need to use "unconventional" tools to control inflation as interest rates come close to zero

I would argue that two "unconventional tools" are already in place and trying to control not only inflation rates but the rest of the economy. (pictured right)

Cam & Ozzy: Stan & Olly

As may be quite obvious, I am a bit of a Tory. I detest everything about the New Labour movement that there is to hate and I do so with a passion. Endless failure and scandal after scandal has marked the government since Blair first stepped into Downing Street and I will be glad to see back of them covered in tomatos or spoiled root veggies when they eventually go.

Their going however is now seeming to be potentially much further away than I was beginning to think and rejoice over. David and George, the fabulous bluo duo are actually doing worse in the polls at the moment than the architect of our financial woes, Gordon Brown and his Darling poodle. How can that be? How is it that everyone trusts Gordon? This is a man who has been in bed with the city as the recipient of good hard fiscal screwing on behalf of the British people since his rise to power with Blair. This is a man who has spent all the money he ever had and then got himself...well...actually us, into serious serious debt. How is it that David and his team can't capitalise properly on this situation and bury the New Labour Abomination once and for all?

I am beginning to think that there is nothing worth-while left in politics or in deed politicians any more if political capital can't be taken against a government who has managed its own and the country's finances and resources in such an appaling way. I can't help but think that perhaps David doesn't have what it takes and that perhaps he couldn't organise an anti-social alcohol fuelled rampage in Croydon, Romford or Wakefield city centre. I am beginning to think that there is a very strong chance that Labour might win a fourth term in office.....and that really really makes me mad!!! Bring on Boris the Giant Killer and lets have done it once and for all.

Non Binge-Drinkers: Kiss Your Rights Goodbye Too.

Anyone with an incling of interest in their fundamental freedom will of course have been concerned by the missuse of terrorism legislation since it was introduced by our Labour government. As well as being used to combat what we're force fed to believe by the government to be an omnipresent terrorist threat, the legislation has been used to curtail the right to protest and assembly. It's been used to increase detention powers of the police despite a total lack of justification and it's been used by local councils to investigate ambitious parents wishing to send their children to certain over-achieving or even just over-subscribed schools.

It should also then be of great concern to many that under proposed legislation to tackle binge drinking and presumably alcohol related anti-social behaviour in general that the government is proposing to allow the police to stop and demand ID from people on the street without any suspission of a crime being committed whatsoever. Presumably those "viz their papers in order" will be allowed to continue to go about their presumably sobre business. What worries me is what would happen to those "vizout their papers in order".

The net effect is that one could be walking along the street minding one's own business and doing nothing wrong, could be stopped and arrested or maybe fined for not having ID. If arrested, one could then be held under terrorist legislation for up to 28 days without charge. Now I don't know about anyone else but in an environment where targets are imposed on our police force by the government in a bid to prove to us, the public that things are actually being done, this has the potential to shift the balance of freedom even further away from us and that makes me livid.

Guaranteed Wrongful Dismissal in Harringay

I was really pleased to hear that the outcome of the inquiry into the death of baby P resulted in a shake up in Harringay. Thankfully two of the three removed went on their own accord and have done the right thing. One, an odious being was sacked and presumably because she refused right to the end to accept that she had blood on her money grabbing hands.

The thing that makes me sad in this is the cruel death of an innocent child at the hands of week, evil people which happened as a result of systemic and opporational failure in the council that was supposed to protect the vulnerable. The thing that makes me mad with anger and disgust is the refusal by one woman to accept any responsibility for what happened on her watch. I will be phisically sick if this worm decides to take legal action against the council for wrongful dismissal which unfortunately I think I can already accurately predict. If she cannot see and understand what has happened, which I think has been demonstrated by her refusal to resign then I think that she will have the audacity and no qualms in suing for millions in compensation.

I hope when she does, the courts refuse her claim and that she crawls away to the dark and shaded part of suburbia I presume she comes from.

The Great Pretender - Don't Be Fooled!

I'm usually quite a passive kind of a guy but there are certain things that make me mad and I'm talking about jump up and down, thump your fists in the air kind of mad. One such thing is when people take over...lets say...a project while the project is beginning to do well. They run the project and take all the credit for its success...claiming that that project could never have been as good as it is without themselves. In effect they steel credit for something they haven't done.

Then, if the project begins to fail they start to blame just about everyone else under the sun for the demise except themselves. Not only that but when they actually do some work and put badly planned and considered knee-jerk provisions in place to save the project (or in fact their ego) they then claim credit for saving the project which in actual fact wouldn't have been failing had they done their job properly in the first place. When these badly thought out provisions fail, they again revert and continue to blame everyone under the sun except themselves.

Now as an employer, I would not be happy employing such a person and in fact I do and have actively avoided these people like the plague because they are usually wholly dishonest and can add nothing of value to an organisation. I wonder how Gordon Brown would feel should anything like the above mentioned example happen whilst he was in power. I am sure that as the prudent and shrewd operator we know him to be, he would not stand for it either and make all haste to remove such a person from any positions of trust and responsibility for the good of the country and its people.

Broken Silence: Broken Economy

I have been away for a bit which has meant that I have neglected this site to an extent. However I don't think that I have been as negligent as some (in power and in finance) have recently been so I'm going to let myself off and er... what the hell, I'll give myself a sizable pay rise, bonus, fantastic perks and a holiday too!!!

Anyway, I have been going out of my mind with anger and rage recently about all this business to do with the economy and the stock markets. I have to say that I think that a great deal of the problem and the rising lack in confidence in the UK and world wide economy is a result of the constant 24hr jabbering of the media who appear to be in something of a feeding frenzy at the moment. However, irrespective of the media slathering at the prospect of planetary economic meltdown, governments actually seem to be panicking at the thought of recession and are running around like headless chickens trying to be seen to be "prudent" in solving the problem.

All governments including that of the UK who previously and apparently had no money are all bending over backwards to pump money into the banks to remedy the problem. This, I think is a fundamental mistake and should be avoided at all costs. Why? The money will disappear and it will not solve the problem. Regardless of any money old Gordon throws at this, we are going into recession and any attempt to stop the inevitable natural cycle of the economy can only be likened to attempts by King Canute to hold back the tides.

The fact is that the present government has for years, unnaturally prolonged the boom part of the cycle and in so doing have claimed economic mastery and genius. Gordon and Tony revelled in good figures like swine in swill for years and our current incumbent actually believes that he was and is a top economist. In his desperation to keep this reputation in tact he is in danger of pushing the UK into the worst and longest recession in history and instead of dealing with the problem logically and rationally he is addressing the problems from a popularity point of view.

Rather than looking at what caused the problem (and in truth a lot of the problems in our society) he appears to be set on reinforcing and restoring policies and practices that caused the problem in the first place. The problem is greed accompanied with a means. It's wrong to blame bankers for the problem because whilst they have undoubtedly been acting like wolves the whole time, it takes two to Tango and in fact it actually takes three. People without any financial security or appreciation have been exposed to cheap and readily accessible credit and have been allowed to borrow without full understanding of the risks and consequences. This has been encouraged by the banks absolutely and it seems encouraged too by the government who have allowed its people to live beyond their natural means and whose regulatory institution, the FSA has done nothing to fulfil their statutory mission. The fact is that all of the players involved have been blinded by greed and all are equally to blame.

This being so, if the banks are given cash to stimulate more borrowing then nobody will learn any lessons and the problem will crystallise in the future. The solution also goes against the laws of natural selection, capitalism and democracy. If banks have misbehaved then they should go to the wall. If people have irresponsibly over borrowed then they should also face the consequences and learn lessons. Government both central and the FSA should also be made to pay. Gordon and cronies will undoubtedly and finally face the firing squad over the next year and a half depending on how long they manage to stretch things out. The FSA in reality has failed, perhaps even worse than the Child Support Agency and should be scrapped, reinstating the statutory regulatory bodies that existed prior to its inception. We need to realise the extent of the mess that New Labour has left this country in and find a way to unpick the tangle that has been created. Not sure if Dave is the man to do it because he seems to be backing the government in some weird attempt to look as prudent as the PM perhaps (who got us into this mess in the first place).

All things said and done, we have to accept that the recession is coming. Like a snake sheds its skin to grow so too must the economy. What is vital is that we accept the loss of things dead in life. in order to go forward. If we don't then we will become constricted or worse become stagnant and infected. Nature must be allowed to take its course.

The Week's Shiny Bits

Funny things happen in politics every day. Some things make you feel frustrated, some things laeve you confused, some things make you mad and sometimes, only sometimes things really make you smile. This week has presented the whole spectrum of feelings for me.

Frustrated...with the refusal and silence of Thabo Mbeki over the elections and violence in Zimbabwe. Frustrated also by a pittyful show of gesturing and posturing by world leaders. Everyone seems to be very keen to condemn Mugabe but as usual, nobody seems to be in any rush to actually do anything...Quelle surprise!!!

Confused...by the Nelson Mandella concert in London last night. I think the idea was actually brilliant but I was enraged by the decision by the TV channel that aired it to intersperse the music with inane interviews by inane presenters with inane artistes (some of whom could hardly string a sentence together and I would be very surprised if they were even aware of things like the Sowheto uprisings). I was enraged by the fact that every time someone farts on TV on Saturday night, they bring out the same prepubescent looking slip of a lass (Fearn Cotton) to jump all over the place, ask crap questions and oversell the occurrence almost to the point of orgasm. Surely this style of presentation would be better suited to children’s TV, QVC or ITV’s This Morning. Coincidentally I believe that’s where the other presenter of the evening cut his teeth.

I was also perplexed as to why poor Nelson was sat in what appeared to be a darkened tent on his own except for the company of Gordon Brown!!!???.... possibly one of the most boring men on the planet. What I mean to say is that Nelson, 90 years old and celebrating his birthday at a massive rock concert in possibly one of the most exciting places in the world was sat with possibly one of the most boring people in the world, a failing politician who probably only wanted to be there for his own image or to pester him for some kind of overt sign of public support, affection or endorsement. It would be like popping into Macky Dee’s or Thornton’s with your personal trainer or watching sex on TV with your parents; it just isn’t fun.

Disheartened...by stories from Italy that they re proposing to fingerprint every gypsy in the country so that they can keep control over them in some way. I find it a wholly shameful thing that what the Italians are planning to do is absolutely reminiscent of what the Nazis did to the Gypsies and the Jews before they made them wear badges, put them in ghettos and then liquidated them (ghettos then inhabitants). Where’s the condemnation from the leaders of Europe and the rest of the world on this one? Bloody nowhere!!!

Happy...about the resignation by the crook Wendy Alexander. It is bout time she went for the good of the country. Lets hope that her boss takes a positive lesson from her example and does likewise...sooner rather than later.

Strange Things Afoot With the Conservatives Methinks!!!

What on earth is going on with David Davis? I understand that he and the rest of his party might be a little upset with the outcome of the vote in parliament the other day, but why would anyone from the Conservative party resign over it. It would be understandably thatsomeone from the Labour party might consider stepping down if in disagreement but the Conservatives are in opposition. This logically means that they will oppose the governments stance and will be defeated on certain issues. If they resign, and risk by-election everytime they are defeated in the commons there is no chance they are ever going to gain any ground. Apart from everything else it almost seems a bit like Davis is throwing his dollies from the pram.

When I heard the news, I started thinking that this was a gesture by a politician who actually has morals and ethics; that he actually feels so strongly about this that he is prepared to give it all up for his beliefs. The longer I thought about it though, the more the nagging doubts and cynicism started to tug at me. David Davis is a man who has on two or three occasions so close to running the party that I can't help thinking that nothing he does is without careful planning and strategic political advantage. It didn't take me long to forget all possible altruistic possibilities (and there is only one) in favour for the possibility that this move can only be politically motivated. The problem I have is that for the life of me, I cannot figure out what the motive is!!!

The first idea was that he was simply doing it to prove that the conservatives were a party of conviction and that the positive vote was so bad that resignation was the only reasonable option. Then I realised that this was not right. The only reasonable option would be to stay put and campaign agaionst the government and defeat them at the next general election.

The second thought I had was that the conservatives wanted to force a by-election based on the vote in parliament which would give the people a chance to tell the government what they really thought about their terrorist and extended detention without charge policies. However any result would be negated by the fact that David Davis would presumably be campaigning for re-election in a safe conservative seat so there is no way that anyone could saliently argue that a win would be a knock at the government. They could be trying to keep up some kind of momentum in terms of beating Labour by-elections and thus try to force a general election but I don't think that Gordon is going anywhere near the polls until the last possible second and will not be pushed.

I wondered if Davis was looking for an opportunity to resign from the shaddow cabinet without making the party look divided and this provided him with the perfect opportunity. It is possible perhaps that Cameron wanted him out and rather than sack him, gave him an opportunity to go with dignity and without tearing the party to shreads.

Whatever the reason, I'm not sure I will ever find out. I cannot even wirk out who benefits and who suffers in this. One thing that seems to be emerging is that it hasn't done the conservatives any good. On the other hand, I'm not sure if it has done them any bad either. All that has happened is that I'm totally confused (doesn't take much to do that though!!!)