Sunday 19 October 2008

what a week

I’m worn out. The world is getting me down. What with the Economy, World Poverty day and Mental health day the ends of my fingers are bleeding, and I have almost worn the letters away on my keyboard.

Aren’t politicians strange people? They come out with all those promises before they get elected then, when we are daft enough to vote for them, they renege and just do what they want.

Take this story from the BBC- PM says markets' flaws exposed, back in 2005 Gordon Brown said this -“ The better, and in my opinion the correct, modern model of regulation – the risk based approach - is based on trust in the responsible company, the engaged employee and the educated consumer, leading government to focus its attention where it should: no inspection without justification, no form filling without justification, and no information requirements without justification, not just a light touch but a limited touch.”

Now, de regulation of the banking system was his idea, “risk based approach” were his exact words, well he took the risk and it blew up in his face.

But now he says “ the current global financial crisis has "laid bare the weaknesses of unbridled free markets".” And “However, he also sounded a cautious note by saying that society should not live by markets alone.”

Let me reiterate, this was his idea.

And then this year he said- “And where I've made mistakes I'll put my hand up and try to put them right. So what happened with 10p stung me because it really hurt that suddenly people felt I wasn't on the side of people on middle and modest incomes - because on the side of hard-working families is the only place I've ever wanted to be. And from now on it's the only place I ever will be.”

Well we are waiting.

But he won’t put his hands up because politicians don’t function like that, they will say that it is a global problem, or the previous government, or the pixies got into the system, or it is all our fault because we took on too much credit.

Which was supplied by the banks, because there was no regulation, because Gordon Brown de-regulated them.

Then they jump up wearing their Superman outfits to save the world, which they managed to cock up in the first place.

And how do you reconcile these stories from the BBC-

Rich and poor gap 'narrows' in UK

More children living in poverty


Aren’t politicians strange people? But we elected them, didn’t we.


Other political issues this week

BBC NEWS Scotland Funding for council tax freezes

The Scottish parliament is freezing council tax rises, very nice for the Scots, but where will the money come from? Us?

Then there is this also from the BBC- Civil servants to strike over pay

Civil servants who are members of the PCS union will strike because they are angry at a 2% cap on public sector pay.

“The union has held a series of pay strikes this year which have hit government services across the UK.

In April, 100,000 civil servants walked out for 24 hours during a strike which coincided with action by the NUT teachers' union.”

General secretary Mark Serwotka said “a quarter of civil servants earned less than £16,500 per year, with thousands paid just above the minimum wage.”

Join the club with the millions of other people in the same boat, they don’t have the luxury of striking, I think words like, selfish, short sighted, sod you and lets screw the public for even more money come to mind.

I am sure that pensioners and the disabled and the sick would be quite pleased with £16,500 per year.

I have a “cure” for the problems with people who have been lent too much money by the banks on mortgages.

Reduce the amount of the mortgage to the price that their houses are now worth, and let the fat cat bankers pay the difference, What do you think?

And again from the BBC- Hoon defends giant database plans

Geoff Hoon the transport secretary said- “He was responding to criticism of plans for a database of mobile and web records, saying it was needed because terrorists used such communications.

By not monitoring this traffic, it would be "giving a licence to terrorists to kill people".

Why is the Transport Secretary getting involved with this? Why doesn’t he concentrate on his “speciality” and leave proper politics to the proper politicians?

And is it just me or does he bear an uncanny resemblance to Rick Parfitt from Status Quo?








And something to cheer us up from the BBC-Stuffed toy foxes 'saved my life'


Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, MP for the Cotswolds, stepped off a ramp outside a hotel in Beijing only to find himself falling down a concrete shaft.







But the stuffed toy foxes, given to him by a Chinese internet firm, cushioned his fall and he escaped serious injury.

"I took this huge bag of stuffed foxes and by pure luck it literally saved my life," he told the BBC.

All together-SHAME.

Any relative to Gord? Because he is good at getting himself in a hole.

And Gord, dont forget what you said in 2008-"Third, responsibility - no member of a bank's board should be able to say they did not understand the risks they were running and walk away from them."

Well?

I must go and put plasters over my fingers, and then, have a lie on the settee with a coffee, and watch the Formula 1.

This is a late entry, I have watched the F1, and am now opening a book, on who will take Lewis off at the first corner in Brazil. my money is on Alfonso.

Angus Dei















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