NO COMFORT TO BE HAD FROM THE BANK OF BRITAIN, ER NO, I MEAN ENGLAND

The message today from Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of Britain England is that he can do nothing to help savers, who are receiving interest at far less than the rate of inflation, and effectively losing money at around 3 or 4% per year. 

Nor can he help people who have saved all their lives for a pension and now find that their savings buy a derisory annuity; just enough to put them beyond the levels at which the state will help them. In short just above the level at which the state believes that you would starve or freeze to death without help.


He says that he understands the plight of people approaching retirement age who will get their pittance after a life of saving, but you have to ask yourself in what way Mr King can begin to understand or feel the pain. After all he won't have to buy himself an annuity. His salary is over £300,000 per annum and, although I cannot find any details of his pension, I have discovered that the deputy governors have funds between £2 and 3 million. 



“All groups in society are suffering from the financial crisis,” Mervyn said, insisting that there can be no special help for particular groups. “Difficult though it is, we have to make a difficult judgement about the right course of action for the economy as a whole”, says Mr King.


Well, I don't see Mr King suffering much from the financial crisis, for which the banks are largely responsible, and I can't imagine how he can put himself in the place of a 65 year old with a pension pot of £70,000 and a future of financial insecurity. 

So his difficult decisions won't be hurting him. And chucking another £50 billion at the banks won't make a great deal of difference to the economy as a whole, anyway. It will probably remain in their vaults, helping to pay for bonuses and salaries way beyond anything that is reasonable.


If the Bank of Britain England can create that much money, why not pump it in to the REAL economy, and create jobs putting in place an infrastructure that will be there for the happy day when the economy turns the corner?

Respect agenda? What respect agenda?

A Whitehall review of how treasury money is distributed across the UK has been signalled by government sources, which could ultimately lead to a reduction in how much money Scotland receives each year from London.

Westminster sources have suggested a needs-based assessment to replace the controversial Barnett formula will be flagged up in next week’s Queen’s Speech, which will lay out the Liberal-Conservative Government’s legislative plans for the coming session, and how funding for Scotland will be fitted into the “New Politics”® and the so called respect agenda.

Following discussions yesterday between the Chancellor and Danny Alexander, the Scottish Secretary, a decision has been made to set up a review to look at the Scottish Government’s request to receive a fossil fuel levy worth £185 million. A review? How long will that take? Either its Scotland’s money or its not. They are very quick to fire a starting gun on reform of the Barnett formula, that even Mrs Thatcher didn’t think was too outrageous in her mad rush to reform everything. But when it comes to letting Scotland benefit from her own natural resources we need a review. That will be like the Lib Dem supported Jenkins Commission that advocated AV+ in 1998 but was kicked into the long grass. And now the Lib Dems are happy to take a referendum on only AV which their alliance partners won’t be supporting. And what about Calman; Nick and Dave? When will we be getting the postage stamp tinkering with the Scottish settlement that, that promised? The respect agenda for Scotland is beginning to look like a lot more stick than carrot. “New Politics”® in action yet again but now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Conservative Party!

Meanwhile, David Cameron came under fire last night after making a bid to reform a key Tory committee that has historically been a focal point for backbench unrest. Conservative MPs are being balloted over whether ministers should be allowed to play a full part in the 1922 Committee. Traditionally, membership has been limited to backbenchers, when the party is in government. Not a cynical attempt to hobble the awkward squad is it? What happened to all that guff about decentralising government and parliament? Is there a point to that if at the same time you are going to centralise the working of your party to make it more easily controlled by the leading clique?

The surprise move could give the Prime Minister more control over the influential body amid growing disquiet about the coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats. What’s new about manoeuvring to control your own power base and scheming to stay at the top of the greasy pole?

Also the Lib Dems are apparently attempting to hold on to short money, a kind of tax payer subsidy to opposition parties to compensate for the fact that governing parties have the civil service and paid advisors to help them. But the Lib Dems are not in opposition any more. So is this just a fiddle?

This “New Politics”® is beginning to look more and more like just so much more of the old politics with a fancy name. And the respect agenda for Scotland is looking more like punishing us for not voting Tory, again!

THEY SAY THAT ROME BURNED WHILE NERO FIDDLED...

I’m indebted to the Ranting Penguin for pointing out a peer on the fiddle who had escaped my notice, so here’s another story of greed among the top drawer people.

It seems that Lord Morris of Manchester, for that is the name of the fine looking fellow above, has managed to sting us for £100,000 by saying that a small house in Manchester is his family home, despite having had a family home in London for the past 27 years and more... and despite the fact that none of the neighbours at his Manchester pad have never seen him. Yes, you guessed it. It’s that handy £174 a night allowance with no receipts for peers who live outside the English capital..... AGAIN.

He maintains that no one has seen him because he lives at the back of the house. Ah well, that would explain why he’s never seen in the street or at the shops or anywhere else around the house; never been seen arriving or leaving. On the other hand the Noble Lord’s son, Stephen, who lives in Leeds, has been seen at the home. (He must have been living at the front of the house.) Apparently he uses the house when he comes to Manchester to watch football. Strangely the telephone bill for that address is in his name.

How the upper classes live, eh? They get their telephone accounts in the name of their offspring because they sometimes come to watch football.

Lord Morris says that it’s a wonderful place for him because it is only 600 yards from where his mother was born and three-quarters of a mile from where he, his noble self was born.

Oh well, that’s alright then your Lordship. That makes it worth us forking out £100,000 for it.