Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Scandal - Banks Are Attempting To Make Profit

A new scandal has emerged - banks are accused of attempting to make a profit. Who would have thought?

Banks have made massive losses and are desperately short of capital. Is anyone really surprised that all the Bank of England base rate cuts have done is allowed them to increase their margins on new products? They have been promised as much taxpayer cash as they need if things go wrong, so why not attempt to make an easy pound or two?

After all, if the customers abandon you, Gordon will be there to help you out.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Fair and Reasonable

Just when you thought she couldn't sink any lower, Jacqui Smith has managed it. Apparently, we're all picking on her because she's a woman and she's only making 'fair and reasonable expenses'.

No Jacqui, we're picking on you because you are fleecing the taxpayers out of tens of thousands of pounds while we are struggling to keep our jobs and pay our bills.

She also says 'If we want people to be MPs who do not start off with two places to live there has to be a process.' Guess what Jacqui. There is. And instead of using that process as it was intended (i.e. to pay for your London living arrangements while your salary pays for your family home), you have deliberately set about to claim as much money from the taxpayer as possible.

A simple question, if you lose your job, where will you live? Redditch with your family, of course. So that is your main home and you know it. You have identified your sisters' spare room as a main home in order to gain access to money you had no business claiming. That, and no other reason, is why we are picking on you.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Who Will Police The Police?

It is not often the Guardian gets news that's worth writing about, but this footage of police abuse during the G20 protests shows just why it is that we don't trust the police anyway.

The man being shoved to the ground is Ian Tomlinson, who sadly died later that day from a heart attack. The video appears to show a man incredulous with the police, presumably because they had ordered him away for no good reason other than 'we are the police and we do what we want', who is then shoved in the back by a cowardly officer wearing full armour (who should of course be named and shamed).

If only we had elected officials who could seek out this bully. Instead, I have no doubt that the police lobby will keep the identity of this vile human being hidden, safe to enjoy the perks of the job for the rest of his life.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

MPs Expenses (cont.)

It's hard to not feel slightly bittersweet about my prediction that we hadn't heard the last from Jacqui Smith and here expenses claims.

While it's nice to be proved correct, it is sad that such fraud has been allowed by Parliament. The sheer scale of immorality in the Home Sec's second home expenses would be comic were it not displayed by the same person who wants to know everything about our lives, ostensibly to protect us.

In two months work, I pay nearly £500 in income tax. Smith spent that much on a stone sink and console. Another two months of my work went into paying for her shower, and yet another two into paying for a sofabed.

All for her family home, I'm sure you don't need reminding. I can't afford to buy a new bed for my home, why on earth am I paying for one in hers?

And as if it wasn't bad enough already, those ministers who are given grace & favour homes have also been allowed to claim for a second home. They aren't even using their salary to pay for their livelihood. One free home, rent out a London property for profit and claim expenses on the family home, and this is all within the rules. It's a disgrace.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

If At First You Don't Succeed...

According to the Telegraph, Gordon Brown is "pushing for his European counterparts to explicitly state they will not rule out further fiscal stimulus packages if deemed necessary".

Just so I understand, the PM wants countries to agree that if the third and latest $1 trillion bail-out doesn't work, then they should not rule out a fourth bail-out. That he is even talking about a fourth bail-out suggests that he feels we're going to be in a position where we need one, probably sometime in the summer given the current bail-out rate.

Prime Minister, you've run out of our own money, you're running out of borrowed money, soon you're going to run out of paper on which to print money. You must stop.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

A 1990s Style Housing Slump

Has anything the government done had any effect on the housing market?

They have taken over banks, raised the stamp duty threshold, lowered VAT to provide a stimulus. The Bank of England has slashed interest rates to their lowest ever levels. And yet, to compare with the slump in the early 1990s, you wouldn't notice that they were any different.

The above graph shows the percentage drop from peak in the First Time Buyer House Price/Earnings Ratio, as provided by Nationwide, for both the 1990s housing market downturn and the current one. As we can see, for all the interventions, money spent and global grandstanding, the HPER is dropping at the same percentage rate as it did when the Conservatives 'did nothing'.

Of course, we'll never know for certain whether it would have been better or worse had the Government not spent all our money buying up the banks, but it seems that the markets are quite happy to continue along on their own path, regardless of government intervention.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Devalued April Fools' Day

Home secretary bills taxpayers for porn and bath plug. Surely this is an April Fools' prank. We've all been had. Of course, we all know that this story is true.

Sadly, the comedy effect in the annual tradition of newspapers printing April Fools' stories is fading away as it is becoming more and more difficult to work out which story is the false one. A few years ago, the Jacqui Smith saga would have been a sure prank.

Nowadays, it's hard to tell where government ends and comedy begins.