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“Good for bankers”? Are you sure, Vince?

By Julian Harris
December 10th, 2009 at 12:45 pm | 6 Comments | Posted in Economics, UK Politics

darlingIt was somewhat disappointing to receive yesterday’s post-pre-budget report response from Vince Cable.  As impressively prompt as it was, I couldn’t help suspect that the title and opening line were written before the increasingly-destructive Mr Darling had even uttered a word.

“Good for bankers but bad for taxpayers”

So shouted Vince’s headline, seemingly implying that the former is not included in the latter.  An odd response, really. Those of us who live and work relatively near the City aren’t hearing much cheering. Rather, word on the street is how this disastrous PBR will harm everyone, but particularly bankers.

The absurdly populist destruction of Darling’s PBR is to be expected from Labour.  The anti-bonus measures portend all manner of unintended consequences (or at least I assume they’re unintended) and smack of unfairness.  As explained in today’s City AM, a commodities trader at a hedge fund will receive unaffected bonuses, while a commodities trader at a bank will be hammered – causing the bank to restructure its payment system, fiddle its accounts, or risk losing talent to hedge funds and similar groups.  Or, of course, they can just move their people to Dublin, or further afield. But never mind all that because “bankers’ bonuses caused the financial crisis”. Right?

Wrong, of course, but let’s move on: the budget is appallingly bad for the rest of us folk who work considerably less hours than bankers and are thus less reviled.  The usual surreptitious hiking of NI further increases the burden of income tax, while our unprecedented deficit of £178bn is well reported. According to Darling it’ll all be ok because the economy will grow by at least 3.5% the year after next.  Sure it will.

But the point here is that there’s ample scope for attack from a good Liberal like Vince–without resorting to populist attacks on a minority of the workforce.  Sure, banker bashing may win votes, may be popular among the greater mass of voters, but that doesn’t make it right. And call me sanctimonious, but we’re supposed to be above all that.  As Cicero rightly bemoaned the other day, we mustn’t become just another party.  Sadly Vince’s missive, or at least its headline message, present us as just that.

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Ed Balls bust up with the BBC…

By Angela Harbutt
December 10th, 2009 at 7:46 am | 7 Comments | Posted in UK Politics

I am not sure whether Ed Balls got out of bed the wrong side yesterday morning, was just a bit “interviewed out”, or whether he was…as it sounded…revealing his true colours – a bully who knows the cause is lost and hopes that by throwing his weight about on BBC radio,  he can somehow influence media reporting.

I caught the most bizarre interview about the PBR late yesterday afternoon. And as interesting as any analysis of the PBR might be…I think this one interview says more about the Labour party and its ministers than any learned tome on the substance of the chancellors plans ever could…

You see what I heard was a Government minister come as close as I have heard in a very long time to threatening , albeit obliquely, the BBC. 

And…. full marks to Peter Allen (BBC Radio Five Live Drive) for standing up to him. There will always be a difficulty for any modern state broadcaster (even in a so-called free society) in “taking on” the ruling powers. And,  noting my many previous criticisms of the BBC,  I have to say the BBC did that and did it well –

despite immense provocation… including several pronouncements  from Ed Balls (to a BBC journalist) as to how he (the state broadcaster) and his employers should behave.

Unsurprisingly…. Peter Allen won outright. No question. Bullying may work elsewhere – and may have worked in the past – but frankly…..Alistair Campbell he aint.  And if there really is anyone in control of the Labour Party (ha!) …they will take Bully Boy Balls to one side and tell him just how monumentally he f*cked up yesterday.

Editors notes. The full interview was approx 2 minutes longer than shown here. I have edited out the ministers statements about how wonderful the Labour party has been over the last decade and in particular how it has saved the country over the last 18 months. I think you have heard it all before … but if you want to hear the whole interview (including all of Ed Balls contributions) then please go to  BBC iplayer  here where you can listen to all of the interview for yourself…it was broadcast approx 18.08 (i.e. 2hrs 8mins into broadcast).

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