Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009
""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that system."
Timothy Geithner US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009
This man may be escaping - if you see him tell the Police immediately. He has been robbed by several banks of many Billions of Pounds ... Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley, Lloyds Bank, Halifax bankof Scotland , Royal Bank of Scotland.
This man is believed to be Scottish - and have Scottish "friends" ...
He is not armed but if you are a tax papyer he is very, very dangerous .... Don't let him get away.
Call us picky but Iain Dale's choice of Rachel from North London in his Top 50 Political Blogs is somewhat suspect as her last post was nearly a month ago - but then it's not what you know ...
He has however done democracy a service and he or the agents he has evidently been grooming - a key public official who has intercepted and re-directed a fascinating e-mail from Harriet Harman's office announcing a meeting taking place tomorrow (Tuesday) which she has rather hurriedly organised.(Poor quality image of e-mail (if genuine) at Dale's Blog)
Those receiving the offical e-mail include Jacqui Smith (the lying bitch is currently and remarkably still Home Secretary) and war criminal Jack Straw, as well as arse lickin' finger lickin' Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell, the rather stupid Jill Pay, the Serjeant at Arms and the Parliamentary Clerk, Malcolm Jack and the Speaker's Office who are asked to send someone along ... time not yet arranged.
HH has attached an interesting and it appears sole agenda item :
The official line from Lord Patel is that Damian Green should be charged at once with conspiracy, grooming, being unkind to Lord Mandelson, whatever ... etc., The prospect of seeing a jury of his peers vote 12-0 to acquit will be worth the cost to public funds... unless he gets Julian Bevan QC as his brief in which case he would be doomed.
PS : At the close , the pound was down 5.2 cents to $1.486, the largest one day fall since sterling crashed out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1992 the FTSE fell sharply - down 5.2%.
Our panel of economic experts have no explanation.
UPDATE : Tuesday 6.00 GST The Daily Mail reports Home Office permanent Secretary Sir David Normington received a call at 1.45pm last Thursday saying Mr Green was about to be targeted. He asked a private secretary to inform Miss Smith, but she could not be reached.
Five minutes later a series of co-ordinated raids began on properties used by Mr Green in Kent and London.
The Home Secretary, was finally contacted on her mobile phone at 2.15pm, sources (?) said sometime it seems after David Cameron and the Mayor of London were warned.
see also Khalid Mahmood: A long-term embarrassment for Labour
Whatever results from the deliberations of the US lawmakers this weekend, access to Bloomberg TV has given the viewer (with the time) a ringside seaton one of the centuries major economic tectonic events. Whatver the outcome this is 7+ on the Richter and well over 5 on the Saffir Simpson Hurricane scale.
Flawless sports styler coverage from sharp, savvy commentators, with slick real time graphics , have performed a far better job in explaining what is happeneing than the elected representatives of the people.
...Not that they have been silent.
A major problem is that, apart from the original 700 odd words of the draft Bill the public have no way of determining what is on offer. Ben bernanke and Hank the Bank have been remarkably reticient. For two guys who are supposed to combine both academic savvy of the higherst kind and commercial credentials and expertise that acommanded the highest "compensation" on Wall Street they were totally inartulcate when they came to explain.
1. What the current problem(s) were
2. The extent of these problems
3. The origins of these problems
4. How the very brief plan - handing over 700 VERY VERY BIG ones to Hank to spray around Wall Street - even onto foreign banks (who may, as we have pointed out, by way of trade, helped US citizens defraud the US taxpapyer)
The two relevant Chairmen Senator Chris Dodds head of the House Banking Committee ... and Barney Frank D- Mass, House Financial Services Committee , present the worst of all possible worlds. Whilst wishing to appear sage and reasonable, ratyional even- they haven't a clue. Indeed Dodd now (NOW) says the original plans was unworkable - he might have saved a little heartache and time by saying so from the get go.
He looks used to all nite , or at least late nite sessions, howevre the florid face usggests the only financial concern of those nights was which lobbying firm from wall Street to stiff with the evening's bar bill and entertainment.
Barney Frank looks well past understanding of many financial matters and seems to have mistaken his role as that of the husband faced with his wife'sdemands for the yearly dress allowance.
"US$700 Bn bucks honey that's a lot of money... I mean you ' ve got lotsa dresses in those closets"
"Dresses - you call those dresses?" .... "Even the Charity store stopped taking them months ago"... "Why if my mother knew...."
" But honey you know you got dresses you never wore even ..."
" Wore ... wore ... do you know the price of dry cleaning, the charity store can't afford it ... and they have to clean EVERYTHING now on public health grounds"... "There , there4 have whiskey to calm you down"
" Honey dear haven't you heard of ... AIDS?" ...."Honey these dresses I have ... they are ... no..no... they could be toxic !!!!"
"So honey you see I really need ...NEED those dresses... or else what am I to do?"
This is where Barney pours himself another stiff whiskey and takes out his cheque book. Which his wife just happens to have handy.
However the Ben and Hank End of the Pier World Show is getting booeed and hissed as lawmakers have called in at the golf clubs, Rotary dinners, masonic halls across the land. Wall Street saved but Main street ignored... is how it plays in Peoria and down town Palookaville.
Fed by a savvy TV educated audience from Bloomberg across Fox, BBC, NBC ... and ansty well hocked land is already seeing gas stations that won't take their credit cards, they know how hard it is to reset that home loan. Inflation is steadily working away. Foreclosures are rising and there are no buyers.
All the while the Barney Franks and the Dodds want everyone to hold hands and jump off the bridge together ... but nobody wants to be held responsible when it doesn't work.
As it won't.
It wouldn't work as originally conceived... and after it's been picked over by this bunch of myopic goons nothing is more certain.
The grinding of the economic tectonic plates is well in motion, lubricated by the remains of CDO's, SIV's and a whole alphabet soup of illusory types of money (money = store of value) which has dazzled too many people and politicians for too long.
Economic power is shifting - even yesterday Bloomberg was reporting speculators moving into Singapore dollars - Singapore hosts its First ever Formula One Grand Prix.
Singapore Airlines (SIA), the first to fly the A380, has just taken delivery of their 6th aircraft. In the airline’s latest financial year (ending 31 March 2008) it carried just over 19 million passengers and its average load factor for the year surpassed 80% for the first time. More significantly, it reported record profits of 1.64 billion Singapore Dollars.
.... and you wonder where all those taxes go ? Well here's a little something they prepared earlier you might have missed in your busy day.
On 22nd July 2008 , Sheila Mitchell, the Department of Health's director of marketing, said the health service was ‘changing hugely'. She added that as the brand now covered a multitude of services, it was time to reassess it.
The announcement follows the unveiling of a fresh brand identity for NHS Direct. Thompson Brand Partners, the Leeds based brand communications agency, created the symbol following a strategic review.
The agency was appointed in January 2008 after a four-way pitch managed by the Central Office of Information's (COI) Publications team.
The blue balloon will now be used as part of NHS Direct's press and outdoor advertising, which runs throughout the summer. It will show the blue balloon in a series of real life situations; snapshots of our normal daily lives.
The campaign positions NHS Direct as being everywhere - whatever your health worries, wherever you are, you can reach them, they are there for you, they can help. ... the campaign intends to show that NHS Direct is everywhere ... now isn't there something faintly Biblical about that message ? Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.... let's hope our many ethnic / religious minorities don't find anything wrong with THAT message.
The supporting message is:
For life's little health emergencies
For help making the right choices
For health advice, right now
For reassurance, 24 hours a day
Thompson Brand Partners has introduced a blue balloon to the logo, as well as the line ‘We're here'. It will be used as part of a press and outdoor ad campaign to position NHS Direct as a fully accessible service.
Ian Thompson, Creative Directorat Thompson Brand Partners, added:
"A balloon is the perfect carrier for our message, it is optimistic, honest and approachable. Above all, a blue balloon is simple and iconic and works to get across our message that NHS Direct is everywhere."
They also go BANG !!!
Just in case you feel this is a fantasy here is the NHS Direct meeting minutes... approving the unknown expenditure
For meta analysis of the comprehensive nature of re-organisation that predicates this change and re-organisation please see Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine "A surrealistic mega-analysis of redisorganization theories " http://jrsm.rsmjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/98/12/563 with thanks to the Jobbing Doctor
Regrettably we cannot furnish you with such a balloon (or even a picture of one) with or without the web address in the same font size as the telephone number.
Except if you access the NHS Direct website the front page does have this fine picture...
Fun loving blonde Siobhain McDonagh Labour MP for Mitcham & Morden was an Assistant Goverment Whip ( since 28 June 2007 when Gordon was "elected") until she opened her pretty mouth and called for a challenge to Gordon Brown as party leader. She believes you should be loyal, straightforward and stick by your values.
Siobhain is the sister of Baroness McDonagh of Mitcham and Morden who was General Secretary of the Labour Party between 1998 and 2001 and she is ultra loyal never once having challenged the Government since 1997 when she dislodged Angela Rumbold.
A great correspondent she spent more on stationery and pstage than anyother MP and as a result a cap of £7,000 per MPper year was installed in 2007.
She wants a leadership contest - and is prepared to put her head above the parapet. She doesn't expect her views to be a surprise to many people. She says there is a huge number of MP's who want a leadership election. She won't knock Gordon Brown.
She thinks GB is a good man whith thebest intentions but being Prime Minister is a very hard job and doesn't thinkshe could do the job.
This garbage taken from he interview on BBC4 News on pm at about 5.30 pm is what passes for being loyal, straightforward and sticking by your values. So she stands by Graham Stringer and Charles Clarke as wanting to defenstrate Gordon but is still unprepared to detail his failings.
Apparently she is honest and straightforward with uncompromising views.
The international credit crunch is no laughing matter says Emily Thornbury , bone headed Member of Parliament for Islington South & Finsbury and thinks Gordon is doing a good job.
Every year Emily sends Christmas cards to constituents who have been in touch with her. Here you can see the different cards that Emily has sent to constituents each year.
The preamble to the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill says it all ...
New rules relating to anonymity of witnesses
(1) This Act provides for the making of witness anonymity orders in relation to
witnesses in criminal proceedings.
(2) The common law rules relating to the power of a court to make an order for securing that the identity of a witness in criminal proceedings is withheld from the defendant (or, on a defence application, from other defendants) are abolished.
(3) Nothing in this Act affects the common law rules as to the withholding of
information on the grounds of public interest immunity.
The full html text of the Bill is here the full parliamentary history from 4th July to Royal Assent (probably tommorrow) is here. Explanatory notes are here.
This is what war criminal Jack Straw said when introducing the Bill Hansard 8 July 2008 : Column 1304
"There has been an intensive period of consultation since my statement, the product of which is reflected both in the Bill as introduced and in the Government amendments standing in my name. I am very grateful indeed to the spokesman for the official Opposition and to the Liberal Democrats for the constructive approach that they have adopted in the course of the consultation. In the intervening period, too, we have sought the most up-to-date information available from the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the scale of the use of anonymous witness evidence. "... ie it's all stitched up and the MP's have been told to shut up.
Mr. Edward Garnier (Harborough) (Con) said inter alia (and to his credit) ..."we do not want to encourage lazy policing, lazy prosecuting or an informal process to emerge under which such orders become the norm" , of course not, but that is what we have had and what we will have more of, and there is nothing to stop it.
The only change made was to institute a so called "Sunset" of 31 December 2009, but orders can continue .....(b) may not be made unless a draft of the instrument containing the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.’. Which makes things even worse ... what should be a judicial decision will become a political decision, thus blurring the control of the Judiciary.
In the Lords , God Bless her Ann Mallalieu expressed her misgivings about the speed of legislation, the slow slide to it's use in magistrates courts and the fact that the bulk of outstanding cases was not to protect public witnesses but state witnesses. This Bill as she points out is " is an attempt to validate retrospectively those 580 cases (!!!) in which it seems, as a result of Davis, that unlawful orders have been made."
It is worth pointing out that Clause 12 (1) a of the Act ..."Interpretation
In this Act— “court” means— (a) in relation to England and Wales, a magistrates’ court, the Crown Court or the criminal division of the Court of Appeal;
Reminded by Baroness Butler-Sloss that Liberty, which has nothing to do with political parties, does not object in principle to the Bill, " she replied that she did ..." My Lords, I am very much aware of that. I have read the helpful briefing that Liberty has sent, but I disagree with it."
Geoffrey Roberston , QC in the Guradian on the 8th July There can be no fair trials with this perjurer's charter said ....
Parliament will this week be asked to make the most serious single assault on liberty in memory. The witness anonymity bill abolishes the right of defendants to know the identity of their accusers. This will result in thousands of unfair trials; and the principles of open justice, which this nation has contributed to the lexicon of human rights, will be gutted by a panic-stricken measure that encourages courts, in criminal cases of any kind, to suppress the identity of crucial witnesses.He adds that safeguards have been overlooked or dismissed ..
There are no safeguards for the citizen. The prosecution does not even have to prove that a witness has been intimidated or fears any kind of mental or physical threat: any "harm to the public interest" is sufficient - a formula that might cover up questionable police operations. There is no safeguard against a conviction relying entirely on the evidence of an anonymous witness; incredibly, this bill does not require judges to ensure corroboration (independent evidence pointing to guilt), or even to warn juries about the dangers of convicting on the word of witnesses who can't be effectively cross-examined. There is no right of appeal against the granting of anonymity orders.He also points out that war criminal Jack Straw makes false claims under EU HUman Rights Legislation
The Bill is prefaced by a statement from Jack Straw that it conforms with the European Convention on Human Rights. It does not: article six of the convention says that "everyone charged with a criminal offence" has, at minimum, a right "to examine or have examined witnesses against him" - and you cannot examine a distorted voice.
This is what Lord King Chairman of the Bank of England said in his annual speech to the great and the good of the City of London at the Mansion House almost exactly one year ago on the 16th June 2007...
"Our central view remains that inflation will fall back this year as the rises in domestic gas and electricity prices last year drop out of the annual comparison, and the recent cuts in prices feed through to household bills."
Since then he has had his term of office extended by a further 5 years. Today he wrote a letter the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His letter started rather abruptly and gave hime some information somwhat at variance with his thoughts just a year ago.
The CPI inflation rate for may ..is 3.3% more than 1 percentage point above our target of 2%.
It didn't get any better
That rise can be accounted for by large and, until recently , unanticipated increases in the price of food, fuel, gas and electricity. These components alone account for 1.1 percentage points increase in the CPI inflation rate since last December
Lord King probably mentioned December as Lord Patel as explained in these post wrote to him about his Mansion House speech on the 4th of January 2008..."Should you seek an explanation from Lord King and the BOE how they, and their serried ranks of Oxbridge double firsts in PPE, economists, econometricians, money jugglers, and forecasters so misread the global and (more importantly) the EU energy market you might contact them at enquiries@bankofengland.co.uk or even enquiries press@bankofengland.co.uk Lord Patel has ... and he will keep you informed of the consequences.
This was mentioned in a post Friday, January 04, 2008 Npower lead the rush with domestic UK energy prices rising over 17% when Npower led the charge putting up the prices of the UK gas cartel. The letter was brief and ..er. ... to the point "Can someone explain how the consistent and constant rise in global and especially EU energy costs had been ignored / overlooked when Lord King made his speech ? Regards Lord Patel PS An early response would be welcome."
Lord Kings reply arrived (eventually) and you can read it here...Friday, February 08, 2008 Lord Patel gets a response to letter to Lord King - eventually ..well a reply from Roger Beaton, Public Information & Enquiries Group which allowed, through the passage of time from Lord Patel's missive to it's reply for Marvellous Mervyn to cover his arse ..."the Governor has already addressed these matters in a speech he gave on 22 January this year. In particular he said “2008 is likely to see higher energy prices, higher food prices and, with a lower exchange rate, higher import prices, pushing inflation above the 2% target. It is possible that inflation could rise to the level at which I would need to write an open letter of explanation, ..." and so it came to pass.
One phrase from Mr Beaton is worth passing on and may be quoted in extenso "There is inevitable uncertainty about the future." ... and so say all of us.
Captured by the Iranian Plod. HMS Superb hitting the rocks and her crew hitting the headlines. "Rusty Lusty" HMS Illustrious off to the Indian Ocean sans her complement of Harriers, sorely needed in Afghanistan - where the intense heat and dust is shortening the life of equipment in a way not expected on the Lunenberg Plains, more T class subs crashing .... nothing about the Senior Service surprises any more.
Now the Portsmouth News tells us that prt of what is left afloat of the mothballed Royal Navy is sailing without armaments.
Royal Navy Type 42 destroyers HMS Exeter (Motto Semper Fidelis ) and HMS Southampton have been working without their Sea Dart guided-missile system since before Christmas. They have been removed to save cash. The ships carry a 4.5 inch medium range gun, which is maintained for use at any time, and, with a Lynx helicopter embarked, the ship gains further offensive power with Sea Skua anti-ship missiles, Stingray anti-submarine torpedoes and Mk 11 depth charges.
The Royal Navy Type 42 website says (very first sentence) ,"The Type 42 Destroyers form the backbone of the Royal Navy's anti-air capability"
The Sea Dart missiles, for protection of the ship and any accompanying larger aircraft carriers (?) against air attack, have been put in store. HMS Exeter has however sailed on exercises to the Mediterranean twice and joined a NATO-led operation in that time. She is the only remaining warship in service to have served in the Falklands War ( also she is the oldest general service warship in the Fleet). She is today entertaining the public at the Barrow in Furness Festival of the Sea , Buccleuch Docks, from 10am to 4pm and Sunday 8 June from 10am to 4pm.
Perhaps more memorably ,on May 27th Captain of HMS Exeter (Commander Paul Brown - who was awarded a prize on the Anti Air Warfare Officers’ Course, as top student of 1998 ), author Sebastian Faulks and members of the Fleming family were aboard HMS Exeter in the Pool of London to receive copies of the new James Bond novel, "Devil May Care" from lissome blonde improbably named Tuuli Shipster with legs all the way up to her bottom. (More pics)
Removing the missiles has, not surprisingly provoked anger from defence sources who claim the navy is suffering from short-term cost cutting. Editor of Warship World, Mike Critchley, said: "As a taxpayer it is not reassuring to see an expensive destroyer like Exeter engaged in not much more than a PR tour."
Sea Dart – first used successfully in the Falklands War in 1982 – will be phased out as the new Type 45 Daring class destroyers come into service, but Southampton and Exeter are still supposed to be fully operational until 2009. The first of Type 45's , HMS Daring, is currently undergoing her sea trials they will be eqipped with the much admrd and much hyped Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) joint French / Italian / British Aster 15 and longer range Aster 30 missiles which use the Windows 2000 based command console (let's hope they never upgrade to Vista). They operate using the BAE /Thales S1850M Long Range/Early Warning Radar which will also be used on the monster Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
HMS Southampton's website claims ;" Our principal armament is the Sea Dart anti-air warfare guided missile, an asset that can protect a surrounding fleet from any airborne threat up to 40nm away from the ship. The team, led by a CPOWEA, keeps the system at top line performance."
A Royal Navy spokesman said: 'I can confirm that Sea Dart was deactivated in both ships last year, as part of a short-term financial planning decision to save money.
'It was carried out in Exeter during the summer, and then in Southampton after her deployment to the South Atlantic at the end of the year.
'The ships have a specific operating staff for Sea Dart and they have been transferred to other ships, and the missiles have been moved to storage. (They are visible on this shot of Exeter abaft (behind) the forward Gun turret.)
‘However, (continues the PR bullshit man ) the firing equipment has remained in the ships and that means Sea Dart can be reinstated if operational priorities change.(Probably difficult with bandist at 2 zero) ‘With regards to HMS Exeter and her visits to the Mediterranean, a risk assessment would have been carried out and the level of danger was not felt to be excessive.’
Sea Dart is a British Aerospace (BAE) surface-to-air missile system which has been in use since 1977. Two missiles occupy a cradle and a specially-trained and expert weapons crew and warfare team operate the system, which can protect a fleet from aerial threats up to 40 nautical miles away. Sea Dart was used veryeffectively during the Falklands War and is credited with 7 kills, including a British Gazelle helicopter downed by friendly fire.
One kill was against a high-flying Learjet reconnaissance aircraft beyond the missile's stated technical envelope. A high-flying Argentinian Canberra bomber was also shot down and other successful strikes were made against low-flying attack aircraft. The Argentinian Navy was also equipped with Sea Dart missiles and knew their capabilities. Because of this Argentinian planes, chose to fly below the Type 965 radar ("sea skimming"), frequently dropped bombs which failed to explode: The arming vane on the bomb had insufficient time to complete the number of revolutions required to arm the fuse, in which case, the fuze remained in safe mode and would not function on impact.
It was originally fitted to both the Type 42s and Invincible class aircraft carriers, but was removed from the carriers during refits between 1998 and 2000 to create space on the flight deck for the RAF Harrier GR9 aircraft - which now darken the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Since then the destroyers, which are supposed to support and protect the carriers, have retained the system.
The Sea Dart continued to be used in the 1991 Gulf War, and HMS Gloucester was credited with the first validated engagement of a missile by a missile when it downed an Iraqi silkworm weapon. The Type 42s have a range of other weapons including the Phalanx gun which is a rapid fire weapon that puts up a shield of metal which not only destroys but acts as "chaff" to confuse incoming missile telemetry.
HMS Southampton is currently in dock having one of the twin Rolls Royce Tyne engines replaced. The Tyne engines (5500SHP) are used as a ‘low’ power alternative to the mighty Rolls Royce Olympus (25000 SHP) as they are more economical and provide greater endurance for normal running.
No doubt her Commanding Offier since 2006 is anxious for this to be completed. He is Lieutenant Commander Morris trained as a Warfare Officer, specialising in Above Water Warfare and was awarded the Commander Egerton and Saint Barbara Association Prize for 1998.
"...a risk assessment would have been carried out and the level of danger was not felt to be excessive." ... welcome to the Pick'n'Mix school of Naval Warfare and Parsimony and landing leggy models bearing books for promotion. Forgive them oh my Father ......
Apparently Gordon Brown is pissing away more taxpayers money with the energy that The Earl of Bamford spent the family fortune on maintaining the Calili cartel in business. The Curiously titled National Policing Improvement Agency say so anyway. 10,000 hand held computers for £50mn - certainly didn't fall off the back of a lorry.
Apparently emboldened by HM Inspector of Constabulary the dumb Ronnie Flanagan some time Chief Constable of Ulster whose staff, lied in court, supplied, money, arms, explosives to paid killers and drug dealers and whose officers handing of evidence at the time of the Omagh bombing was so recently excoriated in court by a judge ......
Emboldend by this dumbfuck, over £50Mn is being spent on providing PC's with PC's which Gordon had mentioned at last year's Labour Party Conference (see Spy Blog).
Richard Earland, Chief Information Officer at the NPIA said,
"Officers who have access to databases, such as the Police National Computer, command and control and intelligence systems while out on patrol, will spend less time returning to the station and more time on the frontline - therefore increasing visibility and reassuring the public. This builds on previous work carried out on a small scale and will streamline access to information at the point of operational decision making."
Ho.Ho.Ho.
Operational Details are scarce but there must evidently be two uses for remote computer terminals / PDA's / Data capture terminals.
1. Access to online databases.
Access to the Police National Computer, DVLC , etc is and has been available for years / decdes by contacting local Police HQ and requesting the information using radio / mobile phone. This ensures that data access is secure , although of course such access has been widely abused for years. Lord Patel has through the use of ex policemen who have become private dicks obtained information for payment ... as evidently does the Press, crooks Unlce Tom Cobbleigh and All. This is not limited to Home Office employees Lord Patel was provided regularly by VAT staff with competitor's VAT payment / Turnover information.
To provide remote access leaves the terminals open to theft, makes access codes more insecure... a friend of Toni Fabuloso , a Police lady was stopped recently by a Lancashire Police car in Burnley, equipped with PC access to the DVLC. It was evident that they were not trained / incapable of using the equipment and were shown by Toni's friend, in front of whom they discussed access codes. It eventually dawned on them that they were in the presence of a Police officer who regularly used the PNC daily for their job.
The Police lady had been stopped because the system showed that she had no insurance for her car. Such are the benefits of providing Plod in his Panda with access to the PNC.
There is no argument whatever for extending access to the nation's secure databases from remote mobile locations. Plod can continue to call in now, as he has done for many years.
2. Data collection
Lord Patel spent over 20 years developing shop floor data collection in manufacturing - which essentially is no different to Plod collecting data for , say, stops under the terrorism Act Section 40. Such a task is deceptively simple ..ask Mr Mc Nulty the Home Office Minister.
A little history is due here. First systems, used in house wall mounted untis with a hard wired serial RS232 interface - Source terminals made by two graduates from Birmingham. Built like brick built outhouse, dust proofed, waterproof, membrane keyboard with programmable keys, 20 inputs and outputs, 2 line 14 character LCD display. Brilliant bit of kit.
Then the first mobile data collector was the original Psion unit, this was soon discarded because they couldn't get an RS232 interface to work quickly enough.
After that the Oyster (same folks who brought you the Oyster card) hand held with a 4 line 32 character LCD screen, tiny QWERTY keyboard and inputs for bar code reader wand. Ruggedised and bright yellow so it was (supposedly difficult to lose / mislay). This came with a cut down basic and it's own MDSOS variant operating system.
Then when Compaq produced the first wireless PDA's , superseded by a never ending series of Hewlett Packard products it became almost impossible to maintain development as operating system improvements , memory capacity, Wi-Fi speeds increased along with security, and other data capture features became available.
If the idea of speeding up Plod's paper work by 99 minutes a day is possible, it will require a massive effort and whoever does it can benefit from many, many , man years, a lot of dosh and patient customers.
1. Battery life is critical. Consideration of this is fundamental to choice of equipment.
2. The elements collected must be minimised.
3. Data entry must wherever possible be automated - eg use of 2D or 3 D barcodes , automatic character recognition etc.,
4. Text entry from a keyboard must be eliminated. In bad light, or with sunshine, pissing rain, wind and maybe wearing gloves nobody can accurately use a hand held device for entering free text - especially when dealing with a crime suspect.
5. The forms Plod fills in were never designed for such procedures and will require standardising and streamlining - which will never happen.
6. Experience shows that the overhead of error checking in data entry routines is always understated (and misunderstood) - for example if a simple Y/N response is required to a question, the chances of hitting M instead of N are about 50%.
If you can imagine the chances of getting these simple design principles across to 44 Police forces, plus other bodies involved , the design / IT teams involved ... and arriving at a single agreed method of remote, mobile data capture ..
However the experience, wisdom and knowledge of Lord Patel is available to make the job easier.
Meanwhile Plod will piss away Gordon's and the taxpayer's money. See more at Spy Blog Police Receive £50 Million For 10,000 Hand Held Computers i.e. £5,000 each - are they gold plated ?
Lord King Chairman of the Bank of England made his annual speech to the great and the good of the City of London at the Mansion House on the 16th June 2007...
"Our central view remains that inflation will fall back this year as the rises in domestic gas and electricity prices last year drop out of the annual comparison, and the recent cuts in prices feed through to household bills."
This total bollocks followed on from the BOE May 2007 report on inflation, the core of which is graphically expressed in this chart (Page 8) ;
Which is discussed ;
Chart 2 shows the Committee’s best collective judgement of the outlook for CPI inflation, assuming that Bank Rate follows market yields. In the central projection, inflation falls back sharply to below the target over the next year as the effect of lower domestic energy price inflation feeds through, partly offset by companies taking advantage of buoyant nominal demand to raise margins. It then edges back up to settle around the target, as the near-term falls in domestic energy prices drop out of the twelve-month rate.
The policy decision
The Committee (The Monetray Policy Committee)noted at its May meeting that the central
projection, under the assumption that Bank Rate followed market yields, was for inflation to fall back sharply in the near term and then to settle around the 2% target in the medium term. Given that outlook and bearing in mind that the balance of risks to inflation was to the upside, the Committee judged that an increase of 0.25 percentage points in Bank Rate to
5.5% was necessary to meet the target for CPI inflation over the medium term.
We know of course this projection was total bollocks, demand, low stocks, fertiliser costs, low yields due to drought were all forcing grain prices up and with them the price of animal feedstocks and food ingedients.
On top of this the massive move to bio fuels, especially the use of corn in the USA was adding a further boost to retail price inflation.
Energy were in the same way being affected to demand worldwide, especially in the far east as emerging economies were growing at growth rates of 8/9/10 percent.
Coincident with energy costs, coal and mined minerals were seeing rapidly increasing demand as manufacturers sought to build stocks and seure furure supplies.
It appears that the only people in the world unaware of these demand driven price increases were the double firsts sat in the Treasury and Threadneedle Street and the self important guardians of the MPC.
Now todaywe have Myopic Mervyn with his new BOE Inflation report for May 2008 Page 8 has the graph with the same title.
Sharp eyed observers will notice there is quite a disparity between the two graphs - which emphasises what a lot of bollocks the one for May 2007 was, as a forecast.
...or to put it another way ...
Now if you were hiring anyone to make sensible, rational forecast on inflation would you rely on this bunch of dumb cunts ?
Considering the triumphs of the Meteoroligical Office in forecastuing the weather last summer, one can only say the performance of Mervyn's masterminds was no worse than any of the other fucking stargazers in Government service.
Yesterday Lord Patel was able, after my Lord Bishop of Norwich Rt Revd Graham James so beautifully intoned the customary Prayers before business, to hear Baroness Hayman, the Lord Speaker announce
"My Lords, I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified her Royal Assent to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act."
This curious Bill has been carried over from the last session and contains a veritable rag-bag of measures from creating new powers to tackle "anti-social and violent behaviour" , changing and (it is claimed) ,"making sentencing decisions clearer" and a much needed attempt to bringcompensation for victims of crime and wrong conviction in line.
All these have been subject a to lengthy, detailed and somewhat squalid series of bargains about legal process between both Houses which the interested observer and legal historian can consider here.
Perhaps the oddest feature of the Bill, both in terms of long term social impact and evident lack of public interest and almost total absence of public debate are sections 64 to 70 which cover the "Possession of extreme pornographic images".
The origins of this lie some years ago when Home Secretary John Reid (and others before and since) was swayed by the public indignation that arose from the violent death of 25 year old Jane Longhurst to introduce legislation to make downloading violent internet pornography an offence punishabl by imprisonment.
Jane was a special needs teacher in Brighton, who disappeared on March 14th 2004 and it was 5 weeks before her naked body was found on a fire at Wiggonholt Common, a beauty spot in Pulborough in West Sussex. A post mortem examination revealed she had been strangled by her tights.
Jane had a partner and they both had known David Coutts (then 35) and his partner for several years - at his trial for murder Coutts confessed to a "neck fetish" and police had discovered on his personal computer over 800 images of strangulation and necrophilia, many of which had been downloaded just prior to and after the murder.
Coutts had been compulsively accessing websites such as Club Dead and Rape Action, which contained images of women being abused, asphyxiated ,violated and murdered.
The prosecution was also able to piece together Coutts' activities after the murder which involved storing her body in an empty flat for 11 days before moving it to a box in a storage facility on the A270 near Brighton. CCTV evidence from the storgae facility showed that Coutts, visited the corpse 9 times in the next three weeks. When police raided the facility they found Jane's mobile phone, a pair of her knickers and a condom bearing traces of both his DNA and hers.
Graham Coutts was jailed for life - although he unsuccessfully appealed , based on the failure of the jury not being allowed to consider a case of manslaughter - Coutts had claimed Jane died accidentally during consensual sex.
Jane Longhurst's mother, Liz, began a 2 year campaign to ban the possession of the sort of images that featured in the case. She collected over 50,000 signatures and successfully lobbied Ministers.
In September 2006 the Home Office announced , in response to Longhurst's campaign, to make it an offence meriting three years in prison to download violent internet pornography.
Lord Patel discussed this at some length in June last year UK Minister of Justice to look at extreme pornography. Devlin Redux - Amazing Pictures and attempted to discuss it's introduction in the light of the (then) seismic effects of Lord Woolfenden's Report on
Homosexual Offences and Prostitution in 1957 and the ensuing and lengthy public debate led by Patrick Devlin and A L Hart .
Briefly Patrick Devlin (Later Lord ) in " The Enforcement of Morals" published in 1965 argued forcibly and with much public support that popular morality should be allowed to influence lawmaking, and that even private acts should be subject to legal sanction if they were held to be morally unacceptable by the "reasonable man", in order to preserve the moral fabric of society (Devlin's "reasonable man" , rather confusingly was one who held commonly accepted views, not necessarily derived from reason as such).
H.L.A. Hart the celebrated Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford ( and also wartime MI5 star - his wife was also widely spoken of as the mistress of Isiah Berlin) ) supported the report's opposing view in his books "Law, Liberty and Morality" published in 1963 "The Morality of the Criminal Law" (1965) and in speeches, articles etc., which he laid out a defense of the limits of law in regulating moral behavior and which drew on the concepts of legal positivism , drawn from Jeremy Bentham and Mill - and used by Woolfenden who took the view derived from J S Mill that the law had no business interfering with private acts that harmed nobody.
At the time Lord Patel took the view, reinforced by events (or lack of them) that probably no one would bother to oppose the Bill. he was correct.
This Bill has silently made considerable changes about the way the law can intrude upon the citizen's private life which to even the most assiduous readers of the press and TV have gone virtually unnoticed and unremarked. (The Register is a notable exception)
1. A new offence of "Possession" of pornography - there is of course plenty of prohibitions on the production and publication of obscene material. In explanation in the debate in the House of Lords, Lord Hunt said the intention was to, " criminalise the gratification of the individual in watching pornography in the privacy of his own home. "
2. Initially the Home Office in September 2006 said they would introduce legislation over "violent" material. The Bill as it now litters the shelves of Parliament now also includes
A) an act which involves or appears to involve sexual interference with a human corpse,
B) a person performing or appearing to perform an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal, where (in each case) any such act, person or animal depicted in the image is or appears to be real.
Naturally there are few members of the metropolitan muttering classes who wish to make a public stand for necrophiliacs, pig fuckers and dog's dick suckers - certainly not on the benches warmed by the seats of Her Majesty's opposition.
It was thefore left almost entirely in the legislative process to the brave , Baroness Sue Miller of Chilthorne Domer , Home Affairs spokesperson for the Lib Dems, who has tried on two recent occasions to raise objections and suggest amendtments to these secions of the Bill.
In the first instance, she attempted to remove this provision altogether, as being too unclear. In the second and latest instance, she attempted to give an objective test to the definition of extreme porn by linking it to (quite reasonably) the Obscene Publications Act 1959.
Lord Hunt, the Minister for rooting out Zoophilia raised the extraordinary suggestion that such linkage might have the effect of widening the scope of the offense.
It is worth quoting at length here what Lord McIntosh of Haringeysaid in the debate :
This is fundamentally about an intrusion in the harmless private lives of ordinary citizens in this country. On Report, I spoke about the Video Recordings Act 1984. I did not repeat one of the juiciest pieces about it. Until that time, we had a British Board of Film Censors, which was not a censorship board. It classified films, and if it refused to classify them, they could still be shown with the permission of local authorities. The Video Recordings Act 1984 changed the
board from being a classification board to being a censorship board because if a video recording was not approved by the board, it could not be shown at all. From being a classification board, it became a censorship board, but its name changed from being a censorship board to a classification board. George Orwell would have been proud.
To highlight the slipshod drafting of the Bill, and the haste to get the damn thing out of the way, , the government decided to amend its own legislation. The first cut defined the offfending images caught by the legilsation that was "pornographic" and depicted "explicit realistic extreme acts". To this was added a virtually meaningless afterthought which will line many a lawyers pockets in future ... that it must also be "grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character".
From having a workable and now generally accepted understanding of what obcene means we now have not a definition but a characterisation which will fit anyone's prejudices.
Well, now it is written law , but it is worth noting the (almost) parting words of Lord Hunt on April 30th.....
"On the issue of policing, I hope that I can reassure noble Lords. The police have welcomed this offence. They see it as a further means to take illegal material out of circulation and an additional tool to deal with individuals whose behaviour may be causing concern. This is not, I suggest, a case of policing the bedroom."
To which Baroness Miller sensibly responded ..."How are they causing concern if they have committed no crime yet? They might be causing concern in all sorts of ways; they might be individuals whom the police do not much like, for a number of reasons, but then they get raided."
It was 5.25 pm
On Question, Whether the said amendment (No. 13) shall be agreed to?
Their Lordships divided: Contents, 91; Not-Contents, 134.
You can now safely go back to the detailed forensic descriptions, pictures, videos, thoughts, images of the activities of a crazed madman in Austria. Forests have been felled for the news print to print it, journalists have toiled to describe, and many hours of TV time have been allocated to inform the prurient public worldwide - and for which many are now settling down to their lap tops to prepare the first books and film scripts of his depravity.
There is a website backlash whch campaigned against the Bill.
....and here are a few more images that could put you in chokey if they are on your hard disk ...
To enlarge - click on the images
“Clearly, the U.S. economy is going through a very difficult period. Much necessary economic and financial adjustment has already taken place, and monetary and fiscal policies are in train that should support a return to growth in the second half of this year and next year.”
“I remain confident in our economy's long-term prospects,”
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke's Testimony to Congress 3-4-08
"The Federal Reserves decision to provide funding to Bear Stearns through JPMorgan Chase was made because, as you have heard Chairman Bernanke testify, Bears extensive participation in a range of critical markets meant that a chaotic unwinding of its positions could have cast doubt on the financial positions of some of Bear Stearns thousands of counterparties, placed additional pressures on the financial system, and caused damage that would not have been confined to the financial system but would have been felt broadly in the real economy through its effects on asset values and credit availability. "
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox's Testimony to Congress 3-4-08
The intensity of the crisis we now face in U.S. and global financial markets is a function of the size and character of the financial boom that preceded it. This was a period of rapid financial innovation--particularly in credit risk transfer instruments such as credit derivatives and securitized and structured products. [ ...]
The deterioration in the U.S. housing market late in the summer of 2007 precipitated a sharp rise in uncertainty about the value of securitized or structured assets. Demand for these assets contracted dramatically and the securitization market for mortgages and other credit assets stopped working.
Randall S. Kroszner Federal Bank Board Member testifying to Congress 3-4-08
...and here's one we prepared earlier by Alan Greenspan
"Where once more-marginal applicants would simply have been denied credit, lenders are now able to quite efficiently judge the risk posed by individual applicants and to price that risk appropriately. These improvements have led to rapid growth in subprime mortgage lending; indeed, today subprime mortgages account for roughly 10 percent of the number of all mortgages outstanding, up from just 1 or 2 percent in the early 1990s.
.....we must conclude that innovation and structural change in the financial services industry have been critical in providing expanded access to credit for the vast majority of consumers, including those of limited means.
This fact underscores the importance of our roles as policymakers, researchers, bankers, and consumer advocates in fostering constructive innovation that is both responsive to market demand and beneficial to consumers. "
Alan Greenspan
Federal Reserve System’s Fourth Annual Community Affairs Research Conference, Washington, D.C. April 8, 2005
Speaking at a conference in Abu Dhabi...on Monday, this ignoramus , said he refused responsibility for the US subprime mortgage crisis and said he tried to warn the investment market of the risks posed by the mortgage products.“For people who say we and the rest of the Central Bank should have raised flags, I say we did,”
Fucking, dumb, lying bastard .... sheeeeeeiiiit !!!! That's the excess of irrational non-exuberance showing.
The (Scottish - by the sound of his accent - Morningside ) Chancellor (AKA The Smuggler's Friend) hit the law of Diminishing Returns with a bang yesterday.
14 p on a bottle of jolly old Vin/Vino will raise £300 Mn in extra Tax Revenues
4 p on pint of beer and 3p on cider will raise £100Mn.
55p on a bottle of Scots falling down juice (now nearly 75% of label price) - tax revenues remain unchanged at £2.3 Bn.
£400 million gain , that will be pissed away on carousel fraud in a month (see previous posts ad fucking nauseam). Or put another way will buy you 0.01% of Northern Rock costs to the taxpayer todate (see previous posts ad fucking nauseam).
Out of Interest Hansard 18th May 1999 Col 366
Ms Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the revenue lost to the Exchequer through smuggling of tobacco. [76050]
Dawn Primarolo: In his Budget speech of 9 March, the Chancellor explained that in terms of the turnover of criminals' tobacco smuggling is now a £1½ billion business. That was an assessment by HM Customs and Excise based on their work in progress to monitor the scale of such smuggling (chiefly of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco). The provisional results of this work indicate that the total amount of revenue (excise duty and VAT) evaded in 1998 was perhaps around £1.7 billion.
Forms of tobacco duty evasion covered by this assessment include cross-Channel smuggling of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco, smuggling by air passengers, diversion frauds and smuggling over very large consignments in freight.
HM Customs and Excise will continue to examine ways of measuring such smuggling, and are discussing with representatives of the tobacco industry ways of improving the methodologies used.
" Customs lost about £2.9bn in excise duty in 2003-2004 and the figure is expected to increase in 2004-2005." BBC
"The government is losing £3.75bn a year in excise duty because of tobacco and alcohol smuggling, an all-party committee of MPs reports today.
Despite a government campaign to crack down on fraud, the Treasury select committee said 10% of excise duty receipts were going unpaid, equivalent to the revenue from 1p in income tax." Guradian March 2005
"Commenting on the Chancellor's decision to increase tobacco taxes in today's Budget, (11p on a pack of 20) Christopher Ogden, Chief Executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (TMA), said: "The increase in tobacco tax announced today will do little to reduce the level of tobacco smuggling and crossborder shopping which lost the Treasury GBP4.5 billion in revenue last year. The decision helps to maintain the UK's position as one of the world's most profitable destinations for tobacco smugglers and this is of great concern to the TMA and its member companies."
"The TMA estimates that in 2007 around GBP4.5 billion in revenue was lost through smuggling and crossborder shopping in tobacco products and over the last ten years these losses exceed GBP40 billion. "PR Newswire yesterday
Few people are aware that live TV of Parliament has been available over the web since 2003 The Main Audio / TV Menu is here http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Home.aspx
You can select a range of very high picture and audio which are annotated live with the Speakers name and / or the title of Question / Debate . There is also a very good facility to search the on demand archives for 28 days. Film can also be downloaded.
The site has links to order papers / background papers and also carries videos explaining how Parliament works.
Up to 18 live streams are available simultaneously. Coverage of debates in the chambers of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, Sittings in Westminster Hall and up to four committees at a time receive full audio-visual coverage.
The Video and Audio site is operated by The TwoFour Group on behalf of the UK Parliament. The full Parliamentary tape archive is administered by the Parliamentary Recording Unit and they can supply (for what they describe as "modest" fees) tape, CD and DVD recordings of proceedings.
Readers with a long memory will recall that Lord Patel wrote to Lord King at the Bank of England on Friday January 4th 2008.
Lord King Chairman of the Bank of England. Speech at the Mansion House 16th June 2007...
"Our central view remains that inflation will fall back this year as the rises in domestic gas and electricity prices last year drop out of the annual comparison, and the recent cuts in prices feed through to household bills."
… that your staff are inadequate readers of the energy market, in relation to the npower announcements today. (They anounced massive rise of 17.2 % in domestic energy prices - which have been followed by others, E.ON followed suit yesterday)
Can someone explain how the consistent and constant rise in global and especially EU energy costs had been ignored / overlooked when Lord King made his speech ?
Regards Lord Patel
PS An early response would be welcome.
Well, mindful of the final request, an answer has plonked into our e-mail in tray this afternoon.
From: Enquiries [mailto:Enquiries@bankofengland.co.uk]
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 9:56 AM
Dear Lord Patel
Thank you for your e-mail of 4 January concerning the Governor’s comments about energy prices and inflation. Your e-mail has been passed to me to reply on the Governor’s behalf.
Before turning to address your particular points, I thought that it was worth explaining the remit of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The MPC’s task is to set interest rates to meet the Government’s inflation target of 2% (as measured by the 12-month increase in the Consumer Prices Index). Only by keeping inflation low can we avoid the cycles of high inflation, high interest rates and recession which characterised previous decades. In setting the official Bank Rate, the MPC has to judge the outlook for the economy and inflation, and to decide what level of interest rates will ensure inflation remains low and in line with the target of 2%. MPC decisions involve difficult judgements about the direction of the economy, the state of overall demand and the pressure on prices. There is inevitable uncertainty about the future. (You don't say !)At any time, there will be some factors that may in themselves point to higher interest rates, while others suggest lower rates, or no change. ( Without enumerating or identifying these factors present in mid-2007)
In reaching decisions, each of the 9 members of the MPC votes independently on Bank Rate, having considered all of the available evidence. You should note it takes around two years for changes in interest rates to work through fully to inflation, and so MPC decisions are based on the Committee’s expectations of inflation, and not on the current rate of CPI inflation. (So, if true, evidently they did not expect any inflationary pressures)
As the Governor indicated the energy price rises seen in 2006 did indeed drop out of the annual inflation comparison in the second half of 2007. In fact, in the first half of 2007 CPI inflation averaged 2.7%, whereas in the second half of the year CPI inflation averaged 2.0%. (Taking no account it appears of rapidly rising costs of gas, oil and electricity in the EU - and the fact that it was only months since the last energy price rises)
There have of course been further energy price rises since the speech to which you refer and the Governor has already addressed these matters in a speech he gave on 22 January this year. In particular he said “2008 is likely to see higher energy prices, higher food prices and, with a lower exchange rate, higher import prices, pushing inflation above the 2% target. It is possible that inflation could rise to the level at which I would need to write an open letter of explanation, possibly more than one, to the Chancellor. Although there is little we can do now to avoid some rise in inflation this year, the task of the Monetary Policy Committee is to ensure that it is short-lived. If inflation expectations were to pick up in the wake of a rise in inflation this year, then only a more prolonged slowdown would allow inflation to return to target. But if the rise in inflation does not affect longer-term expectations, then inflation could start to fall back towards the end of the year. We are determined to keep inflation on track to meet the 2% target in the medium term.”
Thank you once again for writing to the Bank. You might like to know that the Governor is made aware of all correspondence addressed to him along with the points that correspondents make.
Kind regards, Roger Beaton, Public Information & Enquiries Group, Bank of England, Treadneedle Street, London, EC2R 8AH T: 44 (0)20 7601 4878 F: 44 (0)20 7601 5460 E: enquiries@bankofengland.co.uk
Which seems to somehow not address the point about the BOE and it's double first encrusted staff of economists, econometricians, statisticians, modellers etc., managed to deal with the question how the, " consistent and constant rise in global and especially EU energy costs had been ignored / overlooked ".
Naturally Lord Patel has not only asked for an elaboration on this point, more specifically as to the need to forecast events rather than react to them retro-actively. He has, naturally ( and with all the modesty his rank alloes) offered not only to provide a forecasting service and also explained that he would be happy to accept an invitation to sit on the Monetary Policy Committee.
Anyone who thinks that would be a good idea, might wish to suggest the same to Mr Roger Beaton, who will no doubt deal with your correspondence with his customary promptness, courtesy and care.
The picture is of Lord Mervyn King speaking at the Mansion House on June 21st 2006 ( a year earlier) which was memorable for him pledging his support for the Trident missile program upgrade whith an estimated capital cost of £15 to £20 Bn.£65 Bn - less than the amount he , the PM and Chnacellor pissed up against the wall in one weekend in September throwing money at the Northern Wreck black hole - now we learn to be writtten into the National Accounts at a mind blowing, jaw sagging, eye watering capital cost of £100 Bn. That is (only one of the many) the reason why we call him a cunt. He is now a fixture for the next 5 years.
If you work at the Bank of England this handy graph of UK energy costs may act as a handy aide memoire or cut out 'n' keep crib sheet how prices have been moving.....
When Lord Patel attends his first meeting of the MPC he will hand out shiny waterproof encapsulated copies to the remaining members.
To see how food prices had been soaring the BOE might usefully read Lord Patel's post Wednesday, November 01, 2006 World wheat shortages loom - prices soar and the point made 8 months before Lord King's speech to the City in June 2007, that ... Wheat prices ricochet through the food supply chain -
1. Higher prices for cereal and breads eaten directly by humans
2. Higher prices for milk and meat produced from livestock fed a grain-based diet
3. Changes to the economics of using grain as feedstock to ethanol
Now you don't need a double first in PPE to understand that.
The Treaury has issued a regulatory announcement regarding Northern Rock " HM Treasury, on behalf of the Tripartite Authorities, today announces the basis on which the Tripartite Authorities are taking forward discussions with the Board of Northern Rock ...." which you can read at the LSE website.
The Treasury have also issued a bland self congratulatory Press Statement on their Website which sensibly glosses over the fascinating detail of the results of burning the midnight oil in the City.
Probably the most notable feature of these announcements is the continuing delay, dither and extended window provided for City "advisors" , a mixed bag of lawyers , bankers , brokers, shysters and snake oil sales men can continue to bleed the company and the UK taxpayer of funds.
Amazingly both current private sector bidders , the bearded wonder and Luqman are charging the shareholders of Northern Rock all their costs in preparing a sutiable plan to get their hands on £25 Bn upwards of Government Funds. Those costs plus the circling cloud of advisors have probablyseen their income exceed £50 Mn since the end of August.
We are now offered a timetable .."a restructuring plan to be submitted to the European Commission by 17 March 2008 " ... "detailed proposals ... must be received bythe Tripartite Authorities by 4 February 2008" , very much at odds with the hasty weekend decision to offer tax payers money to fund the criminal Directors, who issued fraudulent accounts, issued dividends they couldn't pay (which had to be stopped on Gubment advice) and enriched themselves in various other ways.
It is worth noting that the interim results which contained and sustained that dividend payment were issued on July 26th , 25 days after their half year end - such was their haste to take advantage of the Basel II agreements on Capital structures.
Sacks of Gold have now come up with a wizard wheeze that converts the current Taxpayers loans with the issue of bonds guaranteed by the taxpayer ... and sufficient funds to continue trading. A total exposure for the UK taxpayer exceeding £50 Bn. and maybe even more.
Meanwhile as this leisurely fumbling and bumbling , evasion and failure to make decisions continues ..."The existing HM Treasury guarantee arrangements remain in place. Savers' money remains safe and secure." ... any saver (and indeed shareholder) with any sense will have withdrawn their dosh and done a runner long, long ago. Evidently no-one elses's money is safe or the Treasury would have said so.
A simpleton's guide to Brown / Balls / Darling / Sack of Gold wizard scheme.
1.Bundle whatever assets are left in Norther Wreck over which anyone else has prior claim (Granite and SIV's ect) "residential mortgages, unsecured consumer loans and
certain investment-grade securities," the Treasury describes this disparate collection of near assets.
2. "A financing vehicle" would fund the purchase this ragbag by "the issue of notes in the capital markets" ..."guaranteed by HM Treasury " ... for which HM Treasury gets first dibs ..." a first priority interest in the asset pool" when it all goes tits up (hopefully after the next election)
3. Naturally conditions apply for the lawyers to earn vast fees (again) ..."a robust
and acceptable business plan" Ho.Ho.Ho. "the documentation would need to contain appropriate covenants in favour of HM Treasury to protect its interests " etc., etc., Luvvly Jubbly.
4. "ownership of the company and fulfilment of its management roles by suitable persons" ... No wonder the bearded wonder is not actually a Director of Virgin Money (However that illusory and much traded company is currently defined / valued / owned / managed )
5. HM Tresury Equity Participation: "HM Treasury would require an appropriate share in
potential upside equity returns of the company." Ho.Ho.Ho.
6. Let out clause ..."Implementation of the financing structure would follow receipt of the necessary state aid authorisation." Built in blame of those nasty faceless bureaucrats in Brussels.
7. CONTINGENCY PLANNING (Note the caps) Prudence has been at work again ..." the Government would bring forward legislation which " ...."transfer Northern Rock's share capital, including its preference shares, into public ownership"
Finally, if the dreaded "N" word has to be used ..."In the event of Northern Rock being brought into temporary public ownership, it would be managed on arms' length terms, as a commercial entity, by a newly appointed experienced and professional management team." ... which makes one wonder why this route is currently not a viable or sensible one ... albeit as Vincent Cable endlessly points out it is the "least worst option".
To keep the Labour MP's happy (and no doubt Labour voters in the North east ) ..."Any decision or announcement to take Northern Rock into temporary public ownership would also address the future of the Northern Rock Foundation."
Goldman Sachs International ("Goldman Sachs"), " is acting as financial adviser to members of the Tripartite Authorities " ... and is adding vast sacks of gold to their stores ... why worry ? Why hurry ? When you have found a cow to milk ... keep on milking it.
PS : Toni Fabuloso has just appeared with the coffee and remarks, " If I want to lend money secured by HMG - I can buy Gilts ... and any capital gain is tax free ". The mention that HMG is talking of "potential upside equity returns of the company" is met with a snort.
Sharp lady ... and makes a very fine bacon buttie .. the sounds and smells of which are happily apparent....
PS : The Daily Mail calculate ( how, they don't explain) that Sacks of Gold could clear £25-£50MN from brokering such bonds ... naturally of course there will be a Rights issue , new shares issued which Sacks of Gold and the rest of the City will boost as the new revitalised, sooper dooper , get in at the beginning , fill ya boots for the savvy investor and stuff (yet again the credulous and the "smart money" investors a little bit down the line. fees, fees, and yet more fees.
Don't think of Northern Wreck as a disaster - as Churchill said of Dunkirk it provides a "springboard for opportunity".
UPDATE 5.30 pm BST : Chancellor of the Exchequer - Darling interviewed on BBC4 "PM" admits after much harasing byEddie Mayor that the taxpayers loans / exposure / guarantees are without limit on time and value.
FSA stands by as NR shares increase in value by 33% as a result of overnight statement to 94 pence (ish) .. how can anyone believe there is a "normal" market" in the shares ?
UPDATE : 11.30 pm BST Read Richard Murphy at Tax Reserch on the ultimate and useless Paradox ..."The guarantees will only be called in if Northern Rock has made further losses, but at that same point in time it will not have the resources to pay either the fees or interest due to the government. As such the claimed benefits of this deal exist only on paper, they can never be realised."
(C) Very Seriously Disorganised Criminals 2002/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 - copy anything you wish
