Blair, Palin, and Picasso

We now know that Tony Blair is to give evidence in the Iraq inquiry sometime in the fortnight after 25th January. If he has any conscience left, or any respect for the families of those whom he helped send to an untimely death, I would hope that his semi permanent smirk will be missing from his dial. 60 seats are being allocated to the public, but only a third of those are to be given to families who have lost their loved ones. Those folk are understandably upset – as far as I can see, all the seats should have been given to them. Instead of that, a ballot is being held to determine who will be given the remaining seats. Presumably, this will consist of other members of the public who’ve had no direct contact with the conflict, and who just want to go there to gawk, for want of a better word. Shameful!

America seems to be all mixed up at the moment as regards politics. After the euphoria following Barack Obama’s election to The White House, it now appears that Sarah Palin is very much in vogue again. Her debut as a political pundit has been hailed by a lot of the public as a success, and her book of memoirs is on top of the US bestseller lists. I’m not sure how true some of the comments attributed to her by critics were, such as being experienced in foreign relations because she could “see Russia” from Alaska, her home state, or that she was of the opinion that Africa was just the one country. Whatever the truth of the matter, she is either a very smart lady, or she has some very smart individuals advising her. She resigned as Governor of Alaska last July, ostensibly to shield her family from criticism, but in reality was probably a move which allowed her to escape ethics probes which subsequently found her guilty of numerous violations. Going by her popularity at the moment, it seems that a lot of the American people have short memories, and are quite happy to support someone who oozes sex appeal, and looks like a TV star.

Congratulations are in order for Flight Lieutenant Wills Wales, he who is second in line to the throne, for graduating from his RAF helicopter course. His girlfriend, Kate Middleton, will undoubtedly feel that much safer stepping into his chopper the next time that he drops into her garden to collect her.

I received my electricity bill today – not too heavy, I must admit, but it reminded me of Pablo Picasso, who, when he was poor, used to burn his paintings in order to keep warm. Unfortunately, we cannot all be painters!

For Whom The Pell Tolls

I sometimes wonder if bosses in the UK and elsewhere DO actually live on the same planet as the rest of us. This week we have the Deputy Chief Executive of  the Royal Bank of Scotland, Gordon Pell, telling MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee that 2,700 job losses were in the pipeline, despite an RBS spokesman later saying that no firm figures had been set. Mr Pell, who earns a paltry £908,000 a year, also sprang to the defence of Sir Freddie Goodwin, the former boss of RBS, saying that history would recognise the banker’s many skills, and the huge contribution he had made to Scotland. This Mr Pell was a member of the board during the disastrous takeover of ABM Amro, and admits that RBS expanded into areas that they didn’t understand. If he and his fellow board members didn’t understand things back then, I doubt if even a brain transplant would help him to understand anything nowadays either, apart from the number of zeros in his salary.

Not to be outdone in the stupidity ranks, Northern Rock carried on lending high risk 125% mortgages for six months after getting a multi-million bailout from the taxpayer. This was happening from September 2007 until February 2008, while the Treasury was pouring public money into the bank, and thousands of its depositors were queuing up to try and withdraw their money. In all, £1.8 billion was lent, although some of the loans had been made as a result of prior commitments. Some financial authorities had noted the need for further investigations into the bank’s lending, but the matter was not considered to be a priority by the Treasury. 

In America, the “retention bonuses” that were to be paid to executives of the failed firm AIG (arrogance, ignorance, greed, as one wit called them) has caused widespread anger and demonstrations. Much more serious for the US leaders was a statement issued by China’s Premier Wen Jiabao -- “We are very concerned about the economic developments in the U.S. economy.  We have lent a huge amount of money to the United States and of course we’re concerned about the security of our assets and, to be honest, I am a little bit worried.”   China is the largest holder of U.S. debt, passing Japan in September for that honour. The country now owns roughly $1 trillion in U.S. Treasuries and other government-backed bonds, or about $1 dollar for every $10 in U.S. debt. China’s key financial position means that as Washington borrows record amounts to spend us out of recession, Beijing’s economic power grows stronger. In effect, the Chinese leader now feels that he has the power, and the right, to tell the US President to cut down on America’s spending.  

With unemployment in Britain now over 2 million, it is shocking to hear that the Government is running a number of free courses to encourage companies to legally employ non-EU workers in the country. This is to cost £20,000, and is to be funded by the long suffering taxpayer. What on earth is wrong with recruiting people from the increasing number of British workers whose only chance of doing anything constructive nowadays is to sign their name in the nearest Job Centre.