Today's philosophical conundrum. Just as honesty is not always the best policy i.e. you shouldn't necessarily tell your Mum that she has a fat behind, sometimes it's best not to know the awful truth. And people are entitled to remain ignorant, if they so wish. But it is a shame when members of the Government pursue this right so determinedly.
So I'm going to abandon all this Socratic pondering for today, be honest, defy George Osborne's rights, and reveal the awful truth:
George, you are an idiot who doesn't have a clue what he's doing, and your pal Cameron is a vacuous twit.
The revelation that Barclay's bank has been manipulating the LIBOR rate confirms what we've suspected for some time: the big banks are crooked and are not to be trusted. The Government may or may not be about to do something about it but I'm not holding my breath. A Parliamentary Inquiry is by definition run by politicians, all of whom will have differing political agendas, and it will consequently lack a clear focus. We saw how disjointed Bob Diamond’s questioning was at the Treasury Select Committee hearing on 4 July.
It has been somewhat pathetic for George Osborne to attribute the blame for the
LIBOR manipulation to the previous administration. The deregulation of the
financial sector took place under a Conservative government during the 1980s
(the so-called ‘big bang’) and, had the Conservative Party
continued in government after 1997, regulation of the financial sector would
have had the same ‘light touch’ now being criticised by Mr Osborne. Moreover,
had the Conservatives won the 2005 general election, Michael Howard would have
been Prime Minister and Oliver Letwin would presumably have been Chancellor. Mr
Letwin is paid some £1,200 per week as a non-executive director of N M
Rothschild’s investment bankers so I think we can guess in which direction his
sympathies would lie. Mr Osborne also has connections with
Rothschild’s. Further deregulation rather than closer scrutiny and better
regulation would have been forthcoming, and I doubt whether Messrs Howard and
Letwin, or Mr Osborne, would have done anything differently to Gordon Brown and
Alastair Darling in trying to deal with the banking crisis of 2007/2008. Mr Osborne should not be trying to score party political points.
As Chancellor he should be putting right the failings of the financial sector
and concentrating his efforts on restoring the public’s faith in not only the
financial system but also government’s willingness and ability to manage it.
David Cameron won't be doing anything substantive to reform
the banking ‘industry’ and financial sector. His inherited fortune and
privileged upbringing arises substantially from his antecedents’ exploitation
of tax havens and financial transactions. This no doubt explains his opposition
to the idea of a ‘Robin Hood’ tax. Moreover, he was Special Adviser
to the Chancellor, Norman Lamont, in 1992 at the time of ‘Black Wednesday’. One
wonders what half-baked advice Mr Cameron was giving the Chancellor that led to
a £9 billion loss to the Exchequer in a single day! Typically, he has had nothing very
much to contribute in connection with the current farrago of mismanagement,
ineptitude and corruption, preferring instead to attempt to obfuscate the issue
by raising (again) the question of a referendum on membership of the EU, and attempting
to lay the blame for the financial deficit on the shoulders of Housing Benefit
recipients under the age of 25.
But we can do something about it directly. Given that what bothers banks most is losing money, we can move our money away from the gangsters in the 'big five' to more ethical providers. See Move Your Money for more info and links.
Today:Very
heavy rain affecting much of the region at first, with a risk of
localised flooding, will gradually move away during the morning or
early afternoon to allow somewhat brighter conditions and a little
sunshine during the afternoon. Maximum Temperature 22 °C.
Tonight:Variable
cloud with a few clear intervals and just a little rain here and there
but dry for the most part. Mist or fog developing in places later.
Minimum Temperature 13 °C.
Saturday:Some bright or sunny
intervals but also with heavy and thundery showers developing,
especially by the afternoon. Maximum Temperature 21 °C.
Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday:Very
unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain, some heavy and
thundery. Outbreaks of rain becoming lighter by Monday. Turning cooler,
too.
The Weather Report:
Met Office figures for June show double the average
amount of rain has fallen, making it the wettest June since records
began in 1910. This is the second record
breaking month of rainfall this year, with April also topping the
rankings. The period from April to June is also the wettest recorded for
the UK. This June has seen periods of heavy and prolonged rain, as well as short but exceptionally heavy showers. The
total UK rainfall was 145.3 mm - exactly twice as much as you would
normally expect compared to the 1971-2000 average. This beats the
previous record of 136.2 mm set in 2007.