One Labour MP said last week that the only way back for Gordon Brown was an equivalent of the Falklands War. Some on the left cling to the hope that the financial crisis has achieved that, but as I wrote earlier today, they are counting a few too many chickens. Their reaction has been like the victims of a nuclear strike. They see the mushroom cloud go up and because they are not immediately killed they think they're OK.
Donal Blaney, on the other hand, thinks Iceland might be persuaded to provide a real war. Yet another way we can all carry on reliving the 1970s.
"A war with Iceland?"
ReplyDeleteNot if there are Russian Warships in the harbour...
Yay !! Great idea !!
ReplyDeletePayback time for those bastards cutting our fishermen's nets in the 'Cod War' !!
Back to the Seventies !!
If European countries are going to be adopting 'beggar my neighbour' policies, why not suspend the 'open borders' policy ??
ReplyDeleteWith Iceland having Russian backing?
ReplyDeleteJust what Brown needs.
Lets hope he does it.
Its odd that Labour MPs seem so happy. After all we have a major crisis costing unimaginable sums of money all happening on Labours watch and under a regulatory structure personally designed by one G.Brown. So why are they so happy.
ReplyDeleteIn an earlier thread a labour troll was in glee because TfL is £40million in hock to Iceland 'on Boris' watch.' Well Boris has only been in power a few months - so what price brown's responsibility after running things for nearly 12 years?
it seems to me that Labour are drawing comfort from the Brown mantra that this all "came from America" that this is a 'global crisis'.
Surely the fact that everyone is guilty of neglect does not mean that Brown is innocent. In this 'global crisis Brown is as guilty at least as everyone else and looking at the size of our current account deficit as we go into this recession we are probably one of the worst placed to weather the storm.
So, yet another NuLab diversionary war. How many is it so far? What about Blair's Wars - whilst Brown was at the Treasury?
ReplyDeleteYes indeed when things are just a little bit sticky at home start a war. That'll take people's minds off things for a while, eh?
Yeah: "Pay us back or what we'll do to your capital will be to wreck ya, Vic!"
ReplyDeleteOr something like that...
If you were in the army would you fight a war on the behest of Snotty?
ReplyDeleteCan't we just negotiate with Iceland's leader, Kerry Katona?
ReplyDeleteThose would be the Cod Wars the UK so comprehensively lost against a country with no Navy?
ReplyDeleteYes, but we had a Labour government then, which had cut the Navy ... Ah, I see your point. :)
ReplyDeleteIceland could always release its most devastating weapon - Bjork.
ReplyDeleteMind you, we'll never have another Cod War, now that Cod has been wiped out.
ReplyDeleteAnyone up for a Coley War?
320000 people and an economy based on fish. Where else would my local council put its money?
ReplyDeleteWill any of them be sacked. Will they have to cut back the number of out-reach workers?
A cheap action by a PM to score cheap political points.
ReplyDeleteVery big of him to kick a whole country that is on it's knees and destroy the one bank that might weather the storm.
He has now shown how much good it is to have the UK as an ally these days. When things go bad he thinks the best thing to do is to stab them and take the wallet.
One thing that seems to be missing at the moment are those toxic loans of mass destruction.
ReplyDeleteJust where are they?
I repeat - Just where are they? They must exist because everyone is talking about them, but who has got what and how did they get them.
Huge sums seem to be being flashed about - and we gullible numpties are mildly acquiescing in all this - but who has got toxic what.
Do we have a right to know?
We already have 2 I think due to defence cuts and undermanning we'd be sending the boy scouts to fight this one transported by the sea cadets in a dinghy
ReplyDeleteNothing like a good war to stimulate the economy.
ReplyDeleteSome questions which need answering. How come so many local government bodies placed funds in Icelandic Banks?
ReplyDelete1. Who were the Financial Advisors that advised such action – please list each Authority and the relevant Financial Advisor.
2. Did any of these Advisors receive brokerage or fees from the Icelandic Banks, if so how much, how does this compare with brokerage or fees available from Major British Banks.
3. Have any of these Advisors (or their senior officers) ever made donations to political parties, if so how much and to which party?
Some on the left cling to the hope that the financial crisis has achieved that...
ReplyDeleteI should have thought it would sink his boat.
It is true Ian.
ReplyDeleteLast week Gordon created an economic war cabinet.
Yesterday Gordon's war cabinet accused Iceland of economic terrorism acts.
Today Gordon's Britishness is at full war with Iceland's acts of terrorism agaianst all things British and all things Gordon.
Iceland is now terror enemy number one!!
Mr Brown is very fortunate IN DEED that Mr Cameron backs every decision Mr Brown takes in this economic war.
Good point from 7.01. Are these toxic loans of mass destruction of exactly the same provenance as Blair's Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction"? Has this entire "crisis" been fabricated, at least in this country, for short-term political purposes? Maybe that explains what Peston and his Government puppet masters have been up to.
ReplyDeleteBrown talks big and does very little. Even this rescue package he dithered and dithered and says they wanted to get it right. For this man there is no shame , no regrets for selling all us down the river through credit boom and bust. Now he thunders he wants to take on the city fat cats. Mere sound bites. Just how will he achieve it? He may have to take on investment banks like Goldman Sachs, where a certain somebody is closely related to his personal secretary and gate keeper, All he can do is to limit high street bank CEOs pay, but even that is doubtful in the long run. In companies like Goldman Sachs, the bonus runs into tens of millions for each senior managers and partners, the real fat cats.
ReplyDeleteThen he says he will sue Iceland. He will find that at the end either he has no case or he will be flogging a dead horse. Iceland is bankrupt. Can't get a penny out of them. They are blaming his dithering.
Gordo shouts loud and does zero.
Now, the Labour rebutal machine will be cranked up all night!
JUST WHY?
ReplyDeleteCan anyone tell me why?
Is David Cameron backing Brown's economic war?
Why haven't we realised that New Labour CAN NOT BE TRUSTED to conduct any war?
Cameron should come out against this disgraceful bullying of a small country. The Icelandic govt are in a desparate state and we should be offering solidarity, not attacks.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually quite chilling that the instruments of anti-terror legislation have been reached for. Does this make it clearer what the 42 days internment will be extended to? Imprisonment for daring to critique an NL policy for example? Why not?
So Brown and his regime are turning on fellow members of the NATO alliance now.
ReplyDeleteIain,
ReplyDeleteCould you please condemn in the strongest possible terms PM Gibbon Buffoon's decision to invoke terrorist legislation to confiscate Icelandic bank's assets?
The English Councils that were stupid enough to invest money in the Icelandic banks must defend their own positions and not start looking for someone else to blame nor hiding behind the concept "oh, we took professional advice".
If you won the lottery, would you put all your money in the highest interest account abroad you could find? They are the masters of their own downfall. Greed before common sense.
I nearly choked when I heard anti-terrorism legislation is being used to sequester a bank's assets in what amounts to a financial dispute. What the f*** are we going to get next?
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be public protest about this. Is the Tory front bench just going to sit quietly whilst Brown runs amok?
@ Alistairwat50n
ReplyDeleteExactly.
And then we should examine the more intricate relationships of those in the Town Hall and those in, or advising, Government.
May be terror legislation should be used to seize Lord Sleeze's bank account. We can't see how he was able to buy his reportedly 3.5 million pound home with the salary he had as an EU Commissioner.
ReplyDeleteI agree that anti terrorist legislation is totally out of order against Iceland.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, can we stop the outpouring of sympathy for these Artic Shysters.They allowed monies, far in excess of the GDP, to flow in. They did nothing about regulating their banks, nay even encouraged them in their greed. They cynically set up a compensation scheme, KNOWING that it was useless to start with. Suddenly the tide turns and they expect help and sympathy.
My Ass..On this occasion I`m with Brown, he needs to stick the boot in, take whatever we are owed, and leave them in no doubt they dont ever try to play the big boys again...
Tough???..you bet..these shysters are jacking with our peoples lives, dreams and hopes.
Pay council tax?
ReplyDeleteGuess who just lost their money
Kent County Council - £50 million
Nottingham City Council - £42 million
Norfolk County Council - £32.5 million
Dorset County Council - £28.1 million
Hertfordshire - £28 million
Barnet Council- £27 million
Somerset County Council - £25 million
Northumberland County Council - £23 million
Surrey County Council - £20 million
Hillingdon Council - £20 million
Neath Port Talbot Council - £20 million
Westminster Council - £17 million
Brent - £15 million
Caerphilly County Council - £15 million.
North Ayrshire - £15 million
Plymouth City Council £13 million
Havering Council - £12.5 million
South Hams - £12.5 million
West Sussex - £12.9 million
Breckland Council - £12 million
Gloucestershire County Council - £12 million
Cheltenham Borough Council - £11 million
Lancashire County Council - £10 million
Scottish Borders Council - £10m
Cambridge City Council - £9 million
Wakefield - £9 million
West Oxfordshire District Council - £9 million
Wyre Forest District Council - £9 million
Cheshire County Council - £8.5 million
Bassetlaw District Council - £8 million
Bristol City Council - £8 million
Daventry District Council - £8 million
Wiltshire County Council - £8 million
South Lanarkshire Council - £7.5 million
Derwentside District Council - £7 million
North East Lincolnshire Council - £7 million
West Lindsey District Council - £7 million
Cherwell District Council - £6.5 million
Redcar and Cleveland Council - £6 million
Lancaster City Council - £6 million
Canterbury City Council - £6 million
Ceredigion - £5.5 million
North Lincolnshire Council - £ 5.5 million
Sutton Council - £5.5 million
Bracknell Forest - £5 million
Bromley Borough Council - £5 million
Buckinghamshire County Council - £5 million
Stoke-on-Trent Council - £5 million
Braintree District - £5 million
Cornwall County Council - £5 million
Exeter City Council - £5 million
Ipswich Borough Council - £5 million
Oxfordshire County Council - £5 million
South Ayrshire - £5 million
South Ribble - £5 million
Wokingham Borough Council - £5 million
Gateshead Council - £4.5 million
Oxford City Council - £4.5 million
Colchester Borough Council - £4 million
East Lindsey District Council - £4 million
East Staffordshire Borough Council - £4 million
North Wiltshire District Council - £4 million
Powys Council £4 million
Restormel Borough Council - £4 million
Rotherham Council - £3.8 million
Flintshire Council - £3.7 million
Aylesbury District Council - £3 million
East Ayrshire - £3 million
North Somerset - £3 million
Doncaster Council - £3 million
Nuneaton and Bedworth - £3 million
Peterborough City Council - £3 million
Rhondda Cynon Taff Council - £3 million
Solihull Council - £3 million
Stroud - £3 million
Slough Council - £2.5 million
South Oxfordshire District Council - £2.5 million
Wycombe District Council - £2.5 million
Cotswold District Council - £2 million
Gloucester City Council - £2 million
Great Yarmouth - £2 million
Moray Council - £2 million
Newark and Sherwood District Council - £2 million
South Ham District Council - £1.25 million
Monmouthshire Council - £1.2 million
Mid-Devon - £1.1 million
Charnwood Borough Council - £1 million
Dover District Council - £1 million
Bridgend Council - £1 million
Bridgenorth - £1 million
Hertsmere Borough Council - £1 million
Kirklees Council - £1 million
Perth and Kinross Council - £1 million
Tewkesbury Council - £1 million
Vale of White Horse District Council - £1 million
Winchester - £1 million
Sevenoaks District Council - £1 million
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council - £1 million
Lewes District Council - £1 million
Burnley Council - TBC
Chorley Council - TBC
Wychavon District Council - TBC
Other affected bodies
Transport For London - £40 million
Metropolitan Police - £30 million
Dorset Police Authority - £7 million
Sussex Police Authority - £6.8 million
West Yorkshire Police Authority - £6 million
Northumbria Police Authority - £3.5 million
Hertfordshire Police Authority - £3 million
Gwent Police Authority - £1 million
ooops
The Channel4 ran a documentary of Iceland banks I guess in March/April? I cannot understand why people put their life savings in one bank trading solely through a cyberspace. Local councils have done the same. Hope nobody loses the money.
ReplyDeleteBut why does Gordon accuse Icelanders of being Terrorists?
ReplyDeleteAnyone watching what is happening in NY with the Dow?
ReplyDeleteHasn't Eric put Cameron in some Pickles ???
ReplyDeleteFTSE100 now stands lower than when Labour took office, so added to the 55billion or so Brown has stolen from pensions, most schemes will have made zero growth on their investments & we're living longer so payouts are reduced accordingly. Wonder if the nws will pick up on this?
ReplyDeleteUnderlying all this is the "War on Terror". It was never a war and it was never a war on some abstraction called "Terror". Yet somehow, the US and the UK are nevertheless contriving to lose it. One cannot lose major conflicts without a concommitant flight of capital and income. We will now pay the price for profound ignorance and imperialism on the part of Messrs Bush and Blair, the silly little self-deluded christianoids.
ReplyDeleteThe real parallel with the Falklands is between Brown and Galtieri. Beset with problems of his own making at home, he picks a fight with some foreigners to distract attention.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Galtieri I suppose Brown deserves a little credit for at least having the sense to pick on someone who can't really hit him back... Nah, he's just a cowardly thug.
I wonder with GB has been reading Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books, in which, to distract the populace from his domestic policies, a would-be authoritarian dictator declares war on all things Danish....
ReplyDeleteJust wait for the organised burnings of Icelandic literature...
President Formby - inspired! Avid reader of Jasper FForde, but I have to say I think Brown is far more evil than Yorrick Kaine, and not half as clever.
ReplyDeleteCod War II - and this time we're going use the nukes.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I am rather surprised at how much money these councils have kicking around.
ReplyDeleteMy council, Westminster, just lost £17 million, and the leader of the council is basically saying that it doesn't matter because they're loaded.
Err, well, couldn't you cut my C-Tax then?
Local Authorities have loads of money swishing around because they are agents for collecting it for the government for one thing and it has to be left on deposit for a period..
ReplyDeleteThe govt have to admit though - as Tony McNulty says,
"We're slowly getting to a stage where the slowdown may well turn technically into recession, and then we'll be talking about the nature and depth of the recession."
'technical recession' - Diane Abbott was repeating this propagandist mantra tonight on TV.
As if a technical recession makes it any more palatable.
Your Brown is a fool. Terrorist laws? Really?!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is a long story and my english isn't that great so please read this blog post which is from a fellow Icelander about this war:
http://icelandweatherreport.com/2008/10/osama-and-us.html
CODSWALLOP
ReplyDeleteINIT,
DOUBLE BROWN TIGERFISH CODSWALLOP
FROM
MISTER MONEYBAGS
UP TO HIS NECK
IN A THINKTANK FULL OF SHARKS AND
TIDDLERS
THAT SUCKER NEEDS SUPERSIZING
M8*
I'm not sure our 'armed forces' could even cope with Iceland.
ReplyDeleteWho are we going to fight? Bjork? Eider Gudjohhnson? The Inter City Firm? Iceland has no army. www.skynews.com/foreignmatters
ReplyDeleteJust a thought, but as Bodger & Badger have no problem spending money we haven't got, shouldn't we offer Iceland a bailout and a Parliamentary Union? There's bound to be some (eventually) recoverable oil in their waters and they could have three Westminster MPs as well as some cod representation in the House of Lords (or does that sound a bit fishy?).
ReplyDeleteOn the Rothchild maxim, now is the time to buy.
So much for Brown wanting an international "rule of law" solution to the Global Crisis - first thing he does is act like a pirate against Iceland. Outrageous
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is the GB is going to confiscate all Icelandic Assetts in the UK
ReplyDeleteWill that mean that West Ham is Britain's first nationalised Football team?
Bridgend unaffected by Icelandic bank crisis
ReplyDeleteContrary to reports in the media (including the BBC, GMTV and Channel 5) that Bridgend County Borough Council has ‘£1m’ invested in Icelandic banks, this is not actually the case.
http://www.go-bridgend.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=533&Itemid=26