When you see on teletext the note veteran MP dies that first though is often I hope it isn't one of ours (followed a microsecond later by how sad for the family).
Todays news I have to say leaves me feeling that it is one of ours that Parliament has lost this week. At a time when too many politicians are little more than lobby fodder for the whips it is vital for our democracy that genuine thinking politicians with a free mind can still find their way to Westminster.
That is the type of person I feel we have lost today, while Labour now praise her memory and her effectiveness I hope they select a fit replacement in the same mould to contest the seat, if not I hope they get well and truly stuffed
Friday, 18 April 2008
Do Labour MPs need reading lessons?
Are some of our poor hard working labour MPs in need of a lesson on how to read legislation?
The reason I ask is they seem to have failed to understand the text of the budget measures they voted for last year with the 10p tax band....
..or did they?
I can just imagine the discussions 12 months ago
MP1: "Gordon I dont like this cut is sounds so unfair on the poor?"
GB: "keep quiet I'll be PM in a couple of months we get another 5 years in September and everyone will have forgotten the change by then"
MP1 "OK but..."
Need we say more?
The reason I ask is they seem to have failed to understand the text of the budget measures they voted for last year with the 10p tax band....
..or did they?
I can just imagine the discussions 12 months ago
MP1: "Gordon I dont like this cut is sounds so unfair on the poor?"
GB: "keep quiet I'll be PM in a couple of months we get another 5 years in September and everyone will have forgotten the change by then"
MP1 "OK but..."
Need we say more?
Friday, 7 March 2008
Could Labour trigger a stock market crash next week?
Its an interesting question but quite a valid one to ask now that the terms of the Bill to compensate Northern Rock shareholders has been published.
The key problem is the terms that have been set in order to determine the valuation
Does this mean any use of the lender of last resort facility from the Bank of England could leave a bank and its shareholder vulnerable to nationalisation for a pittance?
.. and if it does given the state of the credit market at the moment is it wise to hold any substantial amount of assets in this sector?
The key problem is the terms that have been set in order to determine the valuation
In determining the amount of any compensation payable by the Treasury to any person in accordance with paragraphs 3 to 5, it must be assumed (in addition to the assumptions required to be made by section 5(4) of the Act (compensation etc. for securities transferred etc.)) that Northern Rock —
(a) is unable to continue as a going concern; and
(b) is in administration.
Obviously the company was not in administration at the time of nationalisation, and was, and still is, trading normally and as a going concern (as Government Ministers have repeatedly stated).
This means that in setting the criteria the Government is ignoring the facts and could be said to be acting in a way that is ethically and morally unjust in an attempt to contrive to fix the terms of compensation.
As a result of these terms any valuation process will not be objective and independent and as such liable to legal challenge. In essence the terms of reference in the Compensation Order will mean that the panel cannot value the Company in accordance with conventional standards and practices.
Does this mean any use of the lender of last resort facility from the Bank of England could leave a bank and its shareholder vulnerable to nationalisation for a pittance?
.. and if it does given the state of the credit market at the moment is it wise to hold any substantial amount of assets in this sector?
Of course this need never happen all the Government has to do is remove these clauses from the bill. At a stroke they will ensure that any valuation is not prejudged by the very people who have most to gain from it.
In so doing and ensuring the valuation is on a normal commercial basis not only will they remove the main plank of any human rights based claim from shareholders but they will also go a long way to reassuring investors that it is still safe to invest their money in UK financial companies.
And of course with all those small northern investors it won't do them any political harm either
Monday, 25 February 2008
Llandudno 2008
There is something nice about returning to an old conference haunt after a few years away and Llandudno has to be one of the oldest for me.
Last time we bought Welsh Conference here I promised our new conference chair that sunday morning would be a piece of cake and promptly got so drunk on the free post dinner shorts sponsored by S4C I didn't surface until just before midday to find out we had had almost every minor hassle on standing orders possible.
Previous visits had seen me watching the northern lights and learning the set had been involved in a near miss on the way up from london.
Was 2008 any the less eventful hardly is the answer that comes to mind the social side finally wore down between 3 and 4 each morning and the conference dinner with an excellent humerous speech from Ros Scott was one of the most successful in ages. (small memo to self don't ask RW to be the auctioneer next time)
The set piece speeches couldn't have gone much better either. You only need to read the anger of Labours elected members to realise we have hit the nail right on the head in Nick Cleggs comments about the neglect of the Valleys. Sadly the media have not been so hot in picking up on how well we have done when we run the show but you cant win them all.
Then there is the venue itself significantly expanded since we last came here about 8 years ago Venue Cymru is now a real contender for bringing Federal Spring Conference back to Wales
Last time we bought Welsh Conference here I promised our new conference chair that sunday morning would be a piece of cake and promptly got so drunk on the free post dinner shorts sponsored by S4C I didn't surface until just before midday to find out we had had almost every minor hassle on standing orders possible.
Previous visits had seen me watching the northern lights and learning the set had been involved in a near miss on the way up from london.
Was 2008 any the less eventful hardly is the answer that comes to mind the social side finally wore down between 3 and 4 each morning and the conference dinner with an excellent humerous speech from Ros Scott was one of the most successful in ages. (small memo to self don't ask RW to be the auctioneer next time)
The set piece speeches couldn't have gone much better either. You only need to read the anger of Labours elected members to realise we have hit the nail right on the head in Nick Cleggs comments about the neglect of the Valleys. Sadly the media have not been so hot in picking up on how well we have done when we run the show but you cant win them all.
Then there is the venue itself significantly expanded since we last came here about 8 years ago Venue Cymru is now a real contender for bringing Federal Spring Conference back to Wales
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Rock Nationalisation just the start of Labours problems
Todays announcement of Northern Rock nationalisation is just the start of Labours problems.
I like many other demutualisation shareholders have seen the writing on the wall for weeks but at the end of the day the whole fiasco should never have been allowed to happen.
I hope tomorrow that Vince will ask the hard questions.
The questions that seek to understand what the Chancellor was doing in the summer when he knew the problems at Northern Rock were a possibility, the questions as to why the FSA allowed the directors to act in the way they did and the questions that seek to unravel if there has been a false market in Northern Rock shares since the middle of August last year.
Because these are the questions on my mind at the moment, I accept shares go up and down and are a risk but put simply I owned shares in a company who in the full knowledge of the Government were keeping price sensitive information from the market.
In fact the whole story of Northern Rock is enough to shake the foundations of confidence in the banking sector to the core.
Price sensitive information not released to shareholders, dividends announced and then withdrawn, the government inferring that a private deal was possible then pulling the plug at the last minute, rescue terms set with financially impossible criteria. Then terms of reference for compensation set by the people writing the final cheque.
Now as we go down the nationalisation route I ask myself how much less taxpayers money would have been spent with nationalisation at £4 a share in the second week of the crisis than will now have been spent over the intervening time and will be spent in the courts.
Wheter I get a penny out of this I now don't really care, what I do care about is the incompetence of our Chancellor past and present exposed to the full. All the lessons that are to be learnt learnt in full and the relevant people (and I dont mean Northern Rock employees) given their P45 at the first available opportunity
I like many other demutualisation shareholders have seen the writing on the wall for weeks but at the end of the day the whole fiasco should never have been allowed to happen.
I hope tomorrow that Vince will ask the hard questions.
The questions that seek to understand what the Chancellor was doing in the summer when he knew the problems at Northern Rock were a possibility, the questions as to why the FSA allowed the directors to act in the way they did and the questions that seek to unravel if there has been a false market in Northern Rock shares since the middle of August last year.
Because these are the questions on my mind at the moment, I accept shares go up and down and are a risk but put simply I owned shares in a company who in the full knowledge of the Government were keeping price sensitive information from the market.
In fact the whole story of Northern Rock is enough to shake the foundations of confidence in the banking sector to the core.
Price sensitive information not released to shareholders, dividends announced and then withdrawn, the government inferring that a private deal was possible then pulling the plug at the last minute, rescue terms set with financially impossible criteria. Then terms of reference for compensation set by the people writing the final cheque.
Now as we go down the nationalisation route I ask myself how much less taxpayers money would have been spent with nationalisation at £4 a share in the second week of the crisis than will now have been spent over the intervening time and will be spent in the courts.
Wheter I get a penny out of this I now don't really care, what I do care about is the incompetence of our Chancellor past and present exposed to the full. All the lessons that are to be learnt learnt in full and the relevant people (and I dont mean Northern Rock employees) given their P45 at the first available opportunity
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Suggestions for reform on staffing
I have no problem with an MP employing 1, 2 or 200 members of their family so long as they are the best 200 for the job. So let me make a simple suggestion on how reform could be achieved
Set up a common set of job descriptions and expected skills for the core jobs an MP may advertise (case worker, office manager, diary secretary etc). Within each area establish a job ladder of expanded skill levels/ expectations and development needs with an accompanying national pay scale.
The HR team in the commons then work with the individual parties to build up a resource pool of individuals who have been assessed against the required criteria and are available for any MP of that party to employ.
Final pay is based on assessed merit and selection based on employers preference.
Of course if an MPs family are particularly large and particularly gifted they can all be employed if they don't cut the mustard they are out the door before they even get in.
Set up a common set of job descriptions and expected skills for the core jobs an MP may advertise (case worker, office manager, diary secretary etc). Within each area establish a job ladder of expanded skill levels/ expectations and development needs with an accompanying national pay scale.
The HR team in the commons then work with the individual parties to build up a resource pool of individuals who have been assessed against the required criteria and are available for any MP of that party to employ.
Final pay is based on assessed merit and selection based on employers preference.
Of course if an MPs family are particularly large and particularly gifted they can all be employed if they don't cut the mustard they are out the door before they even get in.
Time for some real reform on MPs expenses
Yesterday was the first working day of the new month.
On starting work I extracted all my fuel receipts from the car, pulled out my government credit card receipts opened up three spreadsheets and two web pages and completed my end of month financial return. No doubt many other civil servants did the same thing.
On expenses I am governed by specific rules I have limits on hotel room costs, how much I can spend on lunch and on an evening meal the smallest amount I have ever accounted for is a 20p car park ticket.
The forms then go off to the expenses team and will be checked against the rules if I spend 1p too much on lunch an adjustment is made.
Perhaps all MPs need to spend a week shadowing their civil service counterparts to start to understand what goes on in the real world. Who knows some of them might even benefit from it.
On starting work I extracted all my fuel receipts from the car, pulled out my government credit card receipts opened up three spreadsheets and two web pages and completed my end of month financial return. No doubt many other civil servants did the same thing.
On expenses I am governed by specific rules I have limits on hotel room costs, how much I can spend on lunch and on an evening meal the smallest amount I have ever accounted for is a 20p car park ticket.
The forms then go off to the expenses team and will be checked against the rules if I spend 1p too much on lunch an adjustment is made.
Perhaps all MPs need to spend a week shadowing their civil service counterparts to start to understand what goes on in the real world. Who knows some of them might even benefit from it.
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