The Big Clunking Fist and the Super Soaraway Sun

The big news of the day (yawn) is that the super soaraway Sun (so called presumably because all it's fit for is making paper aeroplanes) has decided to withdraw its support from Big Gordy Brown and give it instead to Big Dave (Pilsbury Dough Boy) Cameron. There's a real surprise.

Except, of course, in the Scottish editions for some unknown reason. Perhaps they don't want to lead with the headline in Scotland after the election, 'It Was The Sun Wot Lost It.', because there is as much chance of the Tories doing anything North of the border as there is of us forgetting the Evil Witch Thatcher.

Still, it's good to see that the tabloids are taking a lead from the electorate. This is as shabby an exercise in cynical hypocrisy as it has been my privilege to encounter in a long while. I always thought that the Sun and New Labour were well matched when it came to bullshit, but we now have an outright winner. Well done Murdoch.

Big Dave Cameron and Consensus Politics

I just saw Big Dave Cameron on the telly saying that there is no alternative to Big Gordy's master plan. As I suspected neither he nor the Prime Minister seem to have heard of socialism, even although they seem to be in favour of nationalising banks hand over fist.

Capitalism was failing the people of this country for years before the Iron Woman (she's no lady) finally took away all semblance of restraint. It has finally failed completely. The more freedom the market has to steal the more it will steal from the people of the country. Senior executives will get no bonuses this year, but they will be allowed to retain the bonuses the received while they were seriously failing to do their jobs properly. No doubt bonuses were based on results, but we should go back now that we know better what the result of their greed really is.

Shame.

Credit Crunch, Gordon Brown and My Money

The whole financial system has been changing faster than I can post, but just to update myself, it appears I have bought a number of dud banks which were being run by a squad of disreputable self-seeking gamblers who lost all the country's money. The solution to the problem is obvious, let's give them more money?? As far as I can see only one banking head has had the decency to resign so we should be pressing for the dismissal of the other culprits. Big Gordy, the big clunking fist, is being re-cast as the saviour of the known universe (he has a plan!).

So let's ask the uncomfortable questions.

Who is going to be sacked for their obvious negligence?

Why was there no money to eliminate fuel poverty, because pensioners will die this winter again?

What will be sacrificed to provide the money Big Gordy is going to use to feather bed the rich and greedy who chased the fast buck all over the known world (and Iceland)?

What's to stop the same greedy bastards doing the exact same thing again now that they know that they are so big governments can't let them be losers in the world casino?

How is the taxpayers money going to be ring fenced so that every greedy bastard who has lost money and has a passing acquaintance with an equally greedy lawyer wont be jumping up and down with a writ claiming negligence on the part of some other greedy bastard now that they know the banks have some money?

Financial Institutions and Toothless Regulators

It looks as if they might just about stopped the financial world from unravelling but recent events make my previous comments (12th September) look strangely prophetic. The banks with the most money are gobbling up the lesser banks and we all know the consequences of that for the workers in the financial services industry. The corridors of the Parliament (both in Westminster and Edinburgh) are awash with crocodile tears as the Capitalist system creaks under the strain of unfettered greed. Apparently 'Greed is good' doesn't apply any more.

Meanwhile the regulator issues a toothless ban on short selling of the shares of banks and insurance until the end of the year. The whole system of share trading has turned into a giant casino where no-one really knows the rules, because there are no effective rules. Big Gordy and Smirky Salmond might try to scapegoat the short sellers, but they were acting completely within the law, and it is Governments which still make the law. The fact that there are too many financial institutions in the USA and the UK which have grown so large that if they are allowed to go down they take the country with them is a national disgrace. It means that they can indulge in massively risky behaviours in the knowledge that the taxpayer will cover the losses should they fail.

The real answer is to break them up, and sooner rather than later and preferably put them into public ownership so that the workers who generate the profits share in the success of the enterprise, rather than the present situation where the greed generates massive losses, the workers lose their jobs, the bosses walk away with all the remaining assets, and the taxpayer bears the loss.

This crisis was avoidable, and had the regulators real powers to stop abuse then the people would have been better protected.

Coming Soon ... A New Prime Minister

It looks like the end for Big Gordy, the big clunking fist. The self destruction of New Labour continues apace. Scotland Office Minister David Cairns has put another nail in the coffin of the New Labour project. When ministers of his status (as opposed to his ability) start to resign then it is time to go. Rats and sinking ships spring to mind. Still, I don't suppose he will be on the breadline. Labours big business pals will rally round and get him an earner as usual.

But we still don't know who is orchestrating the coup.

We should remember that he who wields the knife never wears the crown ! Come on, show yourself.

Douglas Alexander and Hugh Henry (Shuggie and Duggie)

Following the fall from grace of Wendy (second trumpet in the Alexanders' rag time band) Alexander (for it is she), it seems as if Hugh (the hammer) Henry and Douglas (the golden one and future anointed) Alexander are getting some training in for new careers, presumably in anticipation of the result of the next Westminster elections. Shuggie and Duggie have little to commend them to the voters next time round. Shuggie has been virtually invisible, no doubt not wishing to associate himself with the rest of the duds in his party. Duggie, on the other hand seems to have his own personal photographer who follows him around while he is grinning and gripping the hand of anyone who still feels that they want to be seen with the man who reduced our electoral system to Zimbabwean levels. One sycophantic Labour placeman described duggie to me as 'one in a million' and my immediate thought was 'Christ, how unlucky can you get?' Still, at least he and his cronies are on the way out.

I think the bin bag might be filled with pictures of Big Gordy, the big clunking fist.

Gordon Brown and the Pensioners (but only some)

He's not helping himself, is he? Big Gordy has fumbled the football again for the sake of childish spin. He was always going to get caught so why does he keep on doing it. He makes an announcement and the next day we find out that it was just half of an announcement intended to mislead us into thinking that the disaster was being addressed when in fact it was just a papering over of the cracks.

He's no different from Bliar

Gordon Brown, the end is nigh !

You know that when you have lost control and discipline in your party then the end of your leadership is in sight. You also know that when junior ministers call for a leadership election to 'clear the air' you have lost control and discipline in your party. Siobhain McDonagh is only saying what the rest are thinking, but the real question is 'Who Convinced her to fall on her sword and what was she promised in return?'.

New Labour is not so much in meltdown as in self-destruct mode. How long can this lame duck Prime Minister soldier on?

My own opinion is that he will take the country into the next election, whenever that may be, and take the battering that Labour will get, so that the replacement dud will not commence the job with the stench of a massive defeat all over him. His Presyterian upbringing would ask that of him, but we'll see, soon.

Gordon Brown and Fuel Poverty

I must admit that, despite my severe misgivings, when Gordon (the big clunking fist) Brown followed Bliar I thought that there might be a slightly increased opportunity for some sort of anti-poverty measures. Today's announcement on measures to relieve fuel poverty show that he is as big a coward in the face of big business as ever Bliar was. Brown/Bliar, it's like a choice between the pox and the clap. Both are awful but one is worse.

Pensioners will die of booty capitalism this winter because power generation and distribution is in private hands and a toothless regulator can do nothing to control price increases. Shame!

The Coronation of Gordon Brown

There was no choir giving us 'Zadok the Priest', but the elevation of Gordon (the big clunking fist) Brown to the status of Prime Minister elect was something of a coronation.

The fact that a left candidate from within the Labour party couldn't even get on to the ballot paper surely tells us that any notional loyalty to the working class, which some Labour supporters were clinging to, has gone completely and forever. There is no way back from this that leads left, the bridge is burnt.

All those, like TKMax, who believe that, as puny district councillors in opposition, they can present any challenge to the inexorable rightward stampede of the Labour party are either liars, clinging to their Labour rosettes in the hope of being able to re-join the gravy train, or fools.

For better or worse we have got Big Humble Gordy, and he has much to be humble about when we consider the growing inequality he has created.

Gordon Brown a New Leader, but How New

'Gorgeous' George Galloway, who gave the US Senate such a battering that I was at one stage (nearly) starting to feel sorry for the US, has described Tony (bye-bye) Bliar and Gordon (big Gordy) Brown as two cheeks of the same arse, so whether we will be able to notice the difference is a matter for some debate.

An arse with two right cheeks is a bit unusual, but it seems like we've got one, so we'll all be watching, I'm sure, to see if it can continue to function. It has been producing crap ok so far.

Smirky the Fishy King, or First Minister Salmond

Well it appears that I was wrong and Gordon (clunky) Brown and Ming (the merciless) Campbell didn't manage to impose a deal on the Scottish Lib/ Dems. Alex (smirky) Salmond is now First Minister.

Great news you might think. I can stop re-paying my student loan (if I ever earn enough to be required to make repayments). I'll stop paying my council tax (surely the income based alternative won't affect people on my earnings). I'll dig out the banners to celebrate our boys coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. There must be some other things, remind me what I'll be free to do now that we have won our freedom that we couldn't do before.

Oh yes, vote in an independence referendum...........or maybe not.

The Greens and the Balance of Power

Following the Scottish election fiasco, which made Florida look intelligent and Zimbabwe look democratic, it appears that the Greens are trying to put together a sort of diddy-coalition with the Lib/ Dems to wield the balance of power in the new Parliament. I think they might be getting ideas well above their station, at least we know we were beaten, but the idea of the Greens in power brings fears to the surface I didn't know I had.

As far as policies went, in the last election they were possibly less envoronmentally aware than we were. They were even using plastic cable ties (perish the thought) rather than proper hairy string (hooray) to put up their posters, and I saw at least one who wasn't wearing brown corduroy trousers. Can we rely on nothing any more?

I'm still tipping Menzies (Ming the merciless) Campbell and Gordon (the big clunking fist) Brown to dash the cup from the lips of Alex (Smirky) Salmond at the last minute, although I am less certain than some days ago

Scottish Coalition Negotiations Cont.

I hear from Radio Scotland News at 10 pm that negotiations between the Lib/Dems and the Nats have broken down over the issue of a referendum on independence, but that the Lib/Dems have already excluded a coalition with Labour.

Time perhaps for the really big Westminster boys to step in. My previous post is looking more like prophecy than comment.

Let's keep watching, it's getting interesting.

Scottish Coalition Negotiations

The idea put forward in the Sunday Herald today has a great deal of sense to it.

It speculates that while the Nats and the lib/dems are negotiating in Edinburgh, down in London, Gordon ' the big clunking fist' Brown (who can't stand Alex 'Smirky' Salmond) and Menzies' Ming the Merciless' Campbell are quietly sorting out a deal which will be imposed on the Scottish Lib/dems.

Watch out for sparks.

Gordon Brown and the Iraq Hostage Crisis

Maybe I missed it, but it just occured to me that we saw nothing at all of 'the big clunking fist' during the recent days when our unfortunate service men and woman were in Iran. Anybody help with suggestions as to big Gordy's whereabouts?

PFI / PPP Schools and Hospitals : BBC Poll and Brown's Lies

Looking at the results of the BBC poll here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6526715.stm#table
it seems that the Scots don't have a very high regard for PFI / PPP as a means of providing public services.

They seem to recognise a pig in a poke when they see one, but to explain the reasoning I offer this.

1. The stated aim of the Government in PFI / PPP is to bring private finance into public projects
2. Contractors are so stupid that they will make a net input to the project
3.The treasury will have a net benefit

No, that doesn't make sense so let's try again

1. The stated aim of Government in PFI /PPP is to bring private finance into public projects
2. Contractors are so cunning that they will manipulate the contracts to make a profit thereby taking money out of public projects
3. The treasury will have a large net loss which taxpayers up to 25 years down the line will have to pick up

Yes, that seems a lot more likely, but the present lot will be long gone by that time, so they don't care about anything but the next election down the line.

But voters (as the poll shows) are not so stupid as politicians think they are. They know that contractors , far from having their money levered into these projects are tripping over themselves to get involved because of the large amounts of money that they can take out. To believe otherwise is just plain silly.

If you want to get this money from big companies into public services, why is company tax about as low as it has ever been in modern times? I await an explanation from Gordon 'the big clunking fist' Brown or even someone more local if Scottish Labour still have any say in the matter.

Pensions Crisis and the Financial Services Rip-Off

It is well known that I am no fan of Gordon ‘the big clunking fist’ Brown, but the current obsession with pensions crisis needs a more simple explanation, so it will be my cause to give it a try

Firstly, private pension provision is only available to those who can afford it, but speaking to some less well off people they believe that it is the state pension which is under threat. They do not appreciate, because the papers do not properly explain it, that if the better off pay more tax, then the less well off might be required to pay less. The papers try to give the impression that what is good for the middle classes is good for the whole country. Obviously in their agenda the less well off who may have no private pension don’t matter.

Secondly, the crisis arises because the financial sector of the economy by buying and selling stocks and shares at ever higher and unjustified values and trousering the profits put themselves in a position that, because of the high value (completely notional) of those shares as assets on their books, they believed that they were financially sound and their pension schemes were in surplus.

Because they imagined a surplus they gave themselves a ‘contribution holiday’; in other words, the money that they should have been investing in the pensions of their employees was paid out to their shareholders. The employees were never told that they had too much money in their pension fund and that they didn’t need to contribute for a while. Not bloody likely.

Now they find that they were too greedy and since their bubble has burst and shares have fallen to more realistic levels it is everyone’s fault but theirs. But who will suffer as a result of the fact that workers’ entitlement was given to shareholders. Well, not the shareholders. Certainly not the greedy directors and financiers. Yes, you guessed it, the employees.

Just another disgraceful episode in the world of high finance (grand larceny) that is capitalism.

I hope that this clarifies my views on the subject, I certainly feel better for getting it out

Scottish Nationalists and the Millionaires Club 3

A bit in the front of the Herald today might throw some light on the attraction of the Nats for the millionaires club.
It reports that a leading financier, one Ben Thomson, chairman of the investment bank Noble Group, backs the Nats because a Nat win would rid the finance sector of 'over-regulation from London'.

He obviously sees an opportunity for the financial sector to benefit from a reduction in regulation, and while I support the independence cause I am not sure that the Nats., who seem to have some unsavoury friends, are the right people to take us there. I hope that this is just a coincidence and not another under the counter deal done in advance of an election (a 'Souter' ? )

Looking back over the recent past it might even appear, when we think about Farepak, illegal bank charges, endowment mis-selling, millions lost in tax avoidance schemes, and the general bolox the financial sector has made of pensions with the assistance of 'the big clunkin fist' that a lot more regulation and scrutiny is required, not a lot less irrespective of whether it comes from London or Edinburgh.