gordon brown

We, the leaders of the Group of Twenty...

Jock — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:13:59 +0000

...a society made up almost entirely of mendacious megalomaniacal psychopaths, do declare that the causes of the current economic crisis are basically nothing to do with us:

3. During a period of strong global growth, growing capital flows, and prolonged stability earlier this decade, market participants sought higher yields without an adequate appreciation of the risks and failed to exercise proper due diligence. At the same time, weak underwriting standards, unsound risk management practices, increasingly complex and opaque financial products, and consequent excessive leverage combined to create vulnerabilities in the system. Policy-makers, regulators and supervisors, in some advanced countries, did not adequately appreciate and address the risks building up in financial markets, keep pace with financial innovation, or take into account the systemic ramifications of domestic regulatory actions.

4. Major underlying factors to the current situation were, among others, inconsistent and insufficiently coordinated macroeconomic policies, inadequate structural reforms, which led to unsustainable global macroeconomic outcomes. These developments, together, contributed to excesses and ultimately resulted in severe market disruption.

God it makes me sick. Lying miserable tossers. Understand this well. Maintaining low interest rates, in order to get more people borrowing more to put into a land price bubble which would enable others to borrow to spend our way out of a mini-recession at the beginning of the century was DELIBERATE PUBLIC POLICY. Deliberate public policy the effects of which were to make the poorest and weakest in society attempt to take on unacceptable levels of debt and risk just to prevent themselves from being ripped off even more in the future.

Not only that, but they knew at the time it would lead to problems later (Eddie George said: "My legacy to the MPC, if you like, has been 'sort that out',"). They simply hoped their successors could get us out of those problems. I think we should take their prescriptions for recovery with all the salt in the world's oceans. read more »

A government of all the talents?

Jock — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:38:53 +0000

When Gordon Brown came to power last year he promised a "government of all the talents". A year or so on and with what, 45,000,000 adults to choose from (most of whom of course would not touch his government, probably any government, with a very long barge-pole), one has to wonder just what talents he had in mind to bring this motley crew together:

Come to think of it, there's probably not one talent between them. These three, and this choice by the "dear leader" to bring them into government, just highlights for me how hopeless the very idea of state government is. There is no way that these people are somehow uniquely capable, any more than anyone else in the country, to make the momentous decisions we stupidly cede to the state to take on our behalf. read more »

gordon brown

Labour at odds over football plan

Jock — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:57:35 +0000

Apparently Gordon Brown's plan to micromanage British sport for the next four years is hitting trouble...

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Labour at odds over football plan

Labour at odds over football plan Mr Brown has been talking with football officials about his plan Acting Scottish Labour leader Cathy Jamieson has set out an alternative to the prime minister's plan for a British Olympic football team. Gordon Brown said he was "determined" to have a men's and a women's football team playing in London in 2012. There has been no UK Olympic team since 1960 partly because of fears it could jeopardise individual sides. Ms Jamieson suggested a home nations play-off, with the winner going forward to play as the British team. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said the plan was a "massive own goal".

...but I can't see what all the fuss is about personally. After all, the British Lions combined rugby team does not jeopardise the competitiveness of the various home nations' independent rugby international teams does it?

Mind you, if they do keep on tinkering with the sporting bodies themselves don't they stand a chance under IOC rules of getting the entire team GB banned from the next Olympics. Wouldn't that be somewhat embarrassing. On the other hand, if they ban us now, perhaps we can stop spending all that money on a hole in the ground in East London... :-) read more »

It depresses the hell out of me...

Jock — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:17:42 +0000

...to think that, in a few short weeks , it looks possible that party activists of all political colours will be expected to trudge the streets once again asking people to believe a lot of spin, unachievable promises and heartfelt apologies and vote for for a "change", or maybe that should just be "vote, for a change".

Actually, I tell a lie, it doesn't completely overwhelm me. Sometimes there is a little frisson of excitement at the possibility that the people of Britain might just once collectively call time on this comfy carousel of political clap-trap. Just say no! as the song went...

No, Gordon! No, Dave! No, Jack, Hillary, Harriet or whoever! No, not even you Nick!

We've had quite enough for these past decades, nay centuries, of being shunted up the gary glitter by folk who think they know better than us but whose ambitions so clearly exceed their abilities.

What would happen if we all got up one "Good Morning" Polling Day and simply voted "no"? At what point would the Westminster clique conclude they had completely lost our confidence and call a halt to their corruption and crookery? Or at what point can we refuse, with impunity, to submit to their authority?

And then, how do we create a new, bottom up, rather than up its own arse, democracy? This has much to commend it. read more »

gordon brown

Gordon Brown: no mere human?

Jock — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:25:52 +0000

I've often thought how extraordinary a person must be to be able to feel competent to "run" a country of tens of millions of people. Of course, personally, I don't believe anyone can. The cult of leadership is unhealthy for society. The notion that one person is somehow supremely capable above all the rest of us to make decisions affecting us all as comprehensively as the tentacles of government reach into our lives is repugnant to me.

But clearly blogging John Prescott buys in to this cult of leadership:

Labourhome » Campaign for a Fourth Term not a Fourth Leader

I’ve been honoured to work very closely with the last three leaders -
John, Tony and Gordon. I’m also proud to have worked with all of
Labour’s cabinet ministers since 1997. We have undoubtedly some very
talented men and women. But with respect, none of them at the present
moment, has anywhere near the skills and experience, nationally and
internationally, to lead this great party and country as we tackle
these unprecedented major global problems.

So, wait a second; we have a former postie in charge of a £100bn plus budget, including, ultimately, decisions of life and death importance and he's still lacking a certain "je ne sais quois". We have a trained lawyer who's held more of the great offices of state, and cabinet posts traditionally associated with the senior minister - Lord Chancellor, Lord Privy Seal, Leader of the House of Commons, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Secretary of State for the Home Department - and still hasn't the "skills and experience"?

Of course we can all see that the incumbent whom Prescott holds in such esteem has been promoted beyond the level of his competence anyway. But the idea that there is some step change in skills and experience between Prime Minister and other ministers is just bonkers. Don't get me wrong, I hate the man with a passion, and this is a backhanded complement at best, but at least Tony Blair had the skills and helpers to spin his way through, to sound convincing and to persuade people, but he had no practical ministerial experience at all.

Of course, nobody has such skills, and perhaps especially those who have surrounded themselves in the political system for most of their adult lives. As the concentration of power into the hands of the Prime Minister in the UK has continued apace ever since Walpole was first in office so the world has become immeasurably more complex and fast moving, making it all the more ridiculous to expect one person to be an adequate representative for so many of us in so many aspects of governance and diplomacy. I daresay that, when the House of Lords in 1741 decried the idea that any minister should have primacy over others' departments, the daily work of those departments probably could have been handled by one person. Now, it is completely impossible and we should ditch the whole edifice. read more »

gordon brown

Labour's local election confusion

Jock — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:37:47 +0000

I just listened to a BBC report on the launch of the Labour party's local elections campaign. It majored heavily on the police's Neighbourhood Action Groups where every neighbourhood is supposed to have police on the beat and everyone has instant access to them by email, mobile phone, even perhaps telepathy.

Sounds nice? Yeah, but, dare we point out the minor flaw - nobody voting on May 1st will be voting for anyone who can do remotely anything about this policy since it is controlled by the unelected Police Authorities. Their budgets are unaccountable to local people, uncappable by the communities secretary and, as the "Hapless Band of Staff and Regulars" noticed last week, can impose a huge cost on helpless local tax payers.

But I suppose it is at last a belated admission that ASBOs are not the answer so much as eyes on the street. Such as most of us had been saying since the Crime and Disorder Act of Labour's first year in power. Ten years to achieve something - hardly what I would major my local elections campaign on. read more »

Seven minutes from Suss

Jock — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:32:36 +0000

Apparently wavey Davey Cameron was flouncing about with a "foot long form" that takes police "seven minutes" to complete in PMQs today, demanding that Mr Bean adopt their campaign to stop this bureaucratic nonsesne.

I rather hope that I am as unlikely as Davey or Gordon to be stopped and searched for whatever reason, but if I were, I would want a full justification for it, and there and then, in writing, and not on a tape that I would have to seek access to through some kind of data laws.

I am quite sure there is plenty of "bureaucratic nonsense" that the police have to carry out - like arresting people for possession of drugs say - that could be cleared away to better effect rather than a ticket that tells you, when you are wrongfully stopped and searched, why they suspected you, what for and what redress you can or cannot seek for the inconvenience. read more »

Nice - Gordon to Tony on EU Presidency

Jock — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:07:46 +0000

Over at the Social Affairs unit you can read the whole of a no doubt fictitious letter from Gordon Brown to Tony Blair pleading with him not to take the Euro-prez job...here's just a snippet from the end:

I know that you feel that you have outgrown national politics and in the post-modern post-democratic world we live in the old conventions don’t apply. But I also know that you have always been concerned about your place in history. If eurosceptic opinion in this country hardens in the coming years many will view your role as that of a Quisling. It is the destiny of prophets to be reviled in their own country even while acclaimed in others, but a false prophet runs the risk of universal opprobrium.
read more »

Brilliant, Vince...

Jock — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:34:17 +0000

Tory cartoonists seem to think so too:

ConservativeHome's Mr Bean posters:

There are more where that came from .

Whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man...

Jock — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:20:16 +0000

Maybe it's just the ethos of the new era in Britain under the Son of the Manse, and the Tories running hard to keep up with what is being seen as a neo-puritanism stalking the country, but there's been a lot of talk of new or increased restrictions on things like drugs and drink. Most recently of course we've had the outbursts by Chief Constable Peter Fahy of the Cheshire Constabulary wanting to prevent "lesser adults", prospective alcohoodies, whose misfortune is merely to be older than we allow them to vote, to fight for Queen and country (or at least Tony Blair and George Bush), to serve in most elected offices, and to stand trial as adults, but less than the arbitrary age of twenty one from consuming the demon drink for fear that they all turn into murderous fiends.

I am a Libertarian and a Christian, and I want to share with you a favourite little passage from the good book that I believe sums up the libertarian response to such nonsense, and shows that it is inconsistent to see "things", substances and the like, as the culprits such that we should not be allowed to touch them. Temperance once meant not abstinence, forced or otherwise, but self-restraint, personal responsibility, and it's just plain wrong to blame the inanimate for what state people get into by abusing them.

From the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7:

18 And [Jesus] saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Christianity is not a po-faced, prohibitionary puritanism, but a way of life that emphasizes the virtue of true Temperance. I wish I could find it now, but I once read one of the works of the Cictercian monk and philosopher Thomas Merton in which in one passage he explains that things like alcohol and tobacco (he might feel differently today about the latter of course but let's suggest he might choose cannabis today) are both gifts and temptations. As a gift, alcohol can be enjoyed in moderation for its ability to lubricate social interactions, but as a temptation can be used to blot out one's other problems or to remove the inhibitions that prevent us doing harm to others or ourselves.

It's up to us all to learn, if we want to use such things, how to do so responsibly, to use them as gifts, and without endangering others or making complete fools of ourselves, abusing them as temptations. We cannot achieve that by banning them, or keeping them from young enquiring minds.