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Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Treasury Select Committee looks into PFIs

A fictional account of a brief exchange.

The Treasury Select Committee are interviewing executives of companies involved in PFI or Public Finance Initiatives.
The Chairman welcomed the witness, Mr P Arasite and after a few preliminary questions handed over to A Member, an MP of many years standing.
"In a report in the Daily Planet, they say that last year you took home over five million in wages plus bonuses and other benefits," asked the member. "Is that correct?"
"Broadly speaking, yes," replied the expensively dressed and highly coiffured businessman.
"Can you tell the Committee, what you did to earn such an enormous sum of money?" asked the MP. "People will be intrigued to know."
"I found the investors to put up the money for large public projects such as hospitals and schools. It enables the Government of the day to build these large capital projects today without immediately impacting on the public purse. They can then hoodwink the electorate by saying that they are 'investing' in public services when the next election draws near."
"Thank you Mr. Arasite for that insight," replied the parliamentarian. "Would you agree, that apart from accumulating more cash for your own personal bank account, your work does not, in itself, create wealth? You do not, for instance, make or create something-you merely move money around."
"Well, phrased in those terms, I suppose you could argue that, but ultimately what I do eventually provides work for building companies and others which does lead to job creation and economic growth."
"That may be so, but if you, yourself, don't create wealth," persisted the MP, "then it naturally follows that if you earn a pound, somebody must be losing a pound. When I put this to you, I must add that I'm not against people earning huge sums of money. Good luck to the authoress who wrote books about magic and earned a billion and to footballers who entertain huge numbers of people every week with their skill and sporting prowess. My point is: do you know who are the people who are losing money?"
"No," replied the executive without showing any real interest in the answer.
"Would it surprise you to know that it is likely to be ordinary tax payers up and down the country who will ultimately pay, some of whom can barely afford to live let alone drive around in expensive cars, eat in the top restaurants, reside in the plushest addresses in London. Some like a teacher on thirty thousand a year will have to work for over three years to earn what you take home in a week."
"Is that so," replied Mr. Arasite. "Then it will interest you to know that some of the investors who put money into these projects are Members of Parliament, like yourself. Some of them work at the Treasury and also serve in the Government. There names will not appear on any documents- they are far too smart for that. What do you imagine will the taxpaying public make of that?"

Monday, 28 November 2011

Metal thieves



Thursday, 17 November 2011

Blind faith

Last Sunday I attended the local Anglican Church to remember the Glorious dead who sacrificed their lives in the service of the United Kingdom. As an atheist, I do not see this as an act of hypocrisy but merely a desire to congregate where others congregate to pay our respects to the brave men and women who have paid the ultimate price.
As the clock strikes eleven I weep at the loss of ordinary people who put themselves in danger so that thieving politicians can help themselves at the trough of public money and bankers can unashamedly rake in the money in both good times and bad, neither professions doing a day of useful work in their disgusting lives.
As I stood there I imagined what I might say if a priest confronted me with my lack of faith.
Why would I worship a God that gave us war in the first place? Why would I worship a God that gave the world pestilence and allows the suffering of children? Why worship a God that gave us an imperfect world when, if he was omnipotent, he could have made heaven on earth? Answer me that, you faithful, as you bleat your way to the altar of blind obeyence to a flawed ideology based on the words of a pair of books.
Unless a God can deliver on all these points I do not see the point in wasting my time with them when one can better support one's fellow men such as those we celebrated last Sunday.

New research suggests that Neanderthals were cleverer than was originally thought. New cave art has been attributed to this race of hominids and it is now thought that interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens was more prevalent than previously thought. Did Neanderthals know the Grace of God? If not, why not? Isn't it the truth that God didn't exist until Humans populated the earth and doesn't this demonstrate that all concepts of Higher intelligence and 'Creators' is entirely the invention of man? God didn't create man. Man created God.

Monday, 14 November 2011

Gaddafi's Legacy

A correspondent in the Euro Weekly News, a free newspaper in the South East of Spain, writes of the following benefits available to the people of Libya under the late Colonel Gaddafi.

Electricity, education and medical care.  Free
Banks are state owned and give 0% interest loans.
Prospective farmers receive land, a house, eqipment, seeds.  Free.
Newlyweds are given €35000 to buy their first apartment and on the birth of their first child, the mother receives €3600.
A portion of all Libyan oil sales is given to every citizen.
Cars are 50% subsidised by the state and petrol is 11 centimos per litre.
Graduates unable to find work after graduation are paid an average wage.
When Gaddafi came to power, 25% of the population were literate. Now the figure is 83%.

Libya has no debt and enormous reserves of money held in banks all over the world.

Now you might imagine that with all these benefits, the majority of Libyan people would have been happy under a despotic ruler who without question, had Libya's best interests at heart. Libya, as in many of the Arab countries, is very tribal and there will have been some dissension amongst those from a different tribe to Gaddafi or those who saw no opportunity for advancement under his nepotistic rule. The question is this; to protect a rule that has given the country forty years of some stability, can you blame Gaddafi for coming down heavily, like Assad in Syria, on those who want to spread chaos and unrest; the plotters and dissidents? The so called 'Arab Spring' would have seemed the perfect opportunity for these people to voice their opposition and appeal to the compliant West to lend their support. But now that Gaddafi and his family have gone, will the Libyan people benefit or are their problems under 'Democratic' and possibly Sharia rule only just beginning?

I only ask because Democracy as a way of Government has had its day. You don't believe it? Look at how the democratic will of the Greeks and Italians has been overwhelmed by the bank driven financial markets and the might of the German Fourth Reich. In the UK, the People's will over such things as Capital Punishment are sidelined and election promises for referendum on Europe conveniently dropped. The populace is further dismayed because politicians of every hue, shackled by such as the 'Human Rights' act, cannot or will not tackle the issues of immigration and law and order in a manner that brooks no opposition.
The UK needs another leader in the mould of Margaret Thatcher who puts the interests of her country FIRST. Those who have a different agenda should be hounded out of the country.

Sunday, 13 November 2011

BBC's Children in Need Calender

Have you thought that the cost of the BBC's CountryFile calender at £9 is too expensive? £4 of this money will go the BBC charity, 'Children in need'.

We congratulate the BBC for their effort but must question who is getting the missing fiver. Since the pictures for the calender are supplied free of charge, surely, the calender could be sold for £2.50 with £2 going to the charity. Who is benefitting from this huge mark-up? I think, before we put our hands in our pockets,  we ought to be told.

Thursday, 10 November 2011

Unsettled weather

The Meteorological Office is to issue weather forecasts using percentages of likelihood of events, as in the US. They will no longer anticipate 'sunny spells'; instead they will state that there is a 'fifty percent chance of precipitation'.

I have always been bemused by the oft used phrase 'unsettled weather' because in the UK, when they use this term the weather is always completely settled and awful.