Friday, February 26, 2010
You're so Hain, You probably think this post is about you
Now that I have got Carly Simon out of my system I will note that the Secretary of State for Wales is all over the Welsh media today like a rash. However, unlike the song his tone is rather discordant and misjudged.
Peter Hain is of course quite right to criticise the £1.6 billion in bonuses being paid to certain RBS staff. In doing so he is tapping into the mood that has bankers as the only profession lower in public esteem than politicians.
However, what he has conveniently not mentioned is the role of the Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer in approving these bonuses and the failure of his government to properly regulate the banks so as to prevent this crisis in the first place, despite timely warnings from the likes of Vince Cable.
Mr. Hain is also performing his usual function at this time in the Parliamentary cycle in rallying the troops and once more warning the supporters of other radical parties of the dangers of a Tory Government.
It is noticeable though that his call for tactical voting does not go so far as asking people to switch from Labour to the Lib Dems in seats like Brecon and Radnor. It is not the prospect of a Tory Government that worries him, it is the survival of him and his government. For that reason alone it is difficult to take him seriously.
It has got to the stage where Labour is now indistinguishable from the Tories. Personally, I take the view of one of the commentors on this blog:
Labour had its chance in 1997 and put narrow party advantage obtained via an unfit for purpose electoral system first.
In other words they blew the radical consensus that was built up by Paddy Ashdown and Tony Blair and left us with very little to show for it. They no longer deserve the vote of progressives.
Peter Hain is of course quite right to criticise the £1.6 billion in bonuses being paid to certain RBS staff. In doing so he is tapping into the mood that has bankers as the only profession lower in public esteem than politicians.
However, what he has conveniently not mentioned is the role of the Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer in approving these bonuses and the failure of his government to properly regulate the banks so as to prevent this crisis in the first place, despite timely warnings from the likes of Vince Cable.
Mr. Hain is also performing his usual function at this time in the Parliamentary cycle in rallying the troops and once more warning the supporters of other radical parties of the dangers of a Tory Government.
It is noticeable though that his call for tactical voting does not go so far as asking people to switch from Labour to the Lib Dems in seats like Brecon and Radnor. It is not the prospect of a Tory Government that worries him, it is the survival of him and his government. For that reason alone it is difficult to take him seriously.
It has got to the stage where Labour is now indistinguishable from the Tories. Personally, I take the view of one of the commentors on this blog:
Labour had its chance in 1997 and put narrow party advantage obtained via an unfit for purpose electoral system first.
In other words they blew the radical consensus that was built up by Paddy Ashdown and Tony Blair and left us with very little to show for it. They no longer deserve the vote of progressives.
Comments:
<< Home
Vince Cable is no brilliant economist as shown by flip flopping on the daily politics show. To be fair he was ripped apart by Andrew Neil.
# posted by 
: 9:52 AM
: 9:52 AM
Vince Cable is a highly respected economist and politician. He is also human and like many of us can make mistakes. However, it is esssentially true that he was warning about growing debt and the position of the banks before anybody else and certainly in good time to have averted the worst of this crisis.
But of course he can say as he likes because he will never be in a position to have to do the task. it's easy to tell others when you have no chance of doing it your self. The bonus culture of the banking industry is obscene, sadly it's world wide problem Germany and France have the same problems.
sad fact the structure to send us into another recession is still in place and we will again see this happen again.
sad fact the structure to send us into another recession is still in place and we will again see this happen again.
# posted by : 11:13 AM
: 11:13 AM
Sorry for the content-free comment, but the title of this post made me laugh out loud. Really. Nice one! :-)
Post a Comment
<< Home
