1. Shane Greer has visa problems. Of the 'entry' kind, not the credit card...2. Wrinkled Weasel wonders whether post Hannan if bloggers can set the news agenda.
3. Tory Bear asks what a Minister has to do to lose a job.
4. Subrosa on the fall of the Dunfermline Building Society. Could there be a political scandal in the making?
5. Stumbling & Mumbling is another lefty who is rather annoyed at my Orwell Prize shortlisting.
6. John Redwood on the why Derek Draper can't be debated with (and the Dunfermline).
Mr S&M [!] says it all really.
ReplyDelete"So who are these imbeciles doing the judging? They seem to be precisely the sort of superannuated old ponces that blogging is a reaction against.
Their belief that anyone of merit gives a damn about their opinion can only be a triumph of ego over evidence.
So, far from fearing that some semi-literate gossipmonger will win the prize, we should hope he does so. The award won’t elevate Iain Dale, but merely show the prize to be the meaningless trash it is."
So if you get the prize the judges are cretins. Does that mean that if you don't you're an equal of those who didn't make the cut?
And anyway, they don't care - but froth about it anyway?
Confused ? I am.
Personally, I thought 1984 had a crap ending. Animal Farm however should be required reading for all 11 yr olds.
*puts on tin-hat*
Many thanks for the mention Iain. It isn't a well written post because I was angry and strangely enough I'm still angry. How can the FSA, which has been proven to be an unreliable setup, go from £20m to £100m even when a reputable independent company such as KPMG said the loan should be £20m. We're talking about millions here not billions.
ReplyDeleteWe're not talking about a bank either but a mutual which is a very different business altogether.
Am I thinking some conspiracy's going on. You bet I am, especially when the Scottish government put £20m on the table and nobody, from the chairman to Alex Salmond was told of this dreadful decision and had to glean it from the media.
1. Poor Shane
ReplyDelete2. Nah
3. Minister would have to do more than have staff who made £20 error 11 months ago (not AFAIK repeated) to have to go. Such a non-story.
4. Probably not.
5. You admitted yourself that Hopi and Tom were more worthy.
6. Derek is a god.
Word ver : Sadstress
Chris Paul,
ReplyDelete5. Actually, I didn't. I said Alix Mortimer was a better writer than me, and I said those two should have been in the final 6.
I know you are a stickler for the facts.
I can't help but wonder if blogs - particularly this one - set the agenda WRT Stuart Wheeler. I can see no likelier reason for CCHQ's sudden volte face on the matter.
ReplyDeleteEr, what volte face. They took action within 24 hours. What more could one ask for?
ReplyDeleteWell, initially they said they weren't even going to comment on the matter. They went from apparent indifference to overt disapproval to active punishment over the course of those 24 hours (it was actually a bit more I think). I reckon 48 hours is a decent amount of time to firmly decide your reaction to something like this, but it's still a (minor) turnaround.
ReplyDeleteOh please do look at the w*nking on taxpayers money lead on BBC Online News. It has this belter:
ReplyDeleteLiberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik said Ms Smith had been "compromised" by her husband, but acknowledged that the expenses system needed a complete overhaul.
"We are allowed to claim for telly communications and it is vital for work," he said.
Standards? BBC? Dropping? Never!
I've pontificated at length over on subrosa's blog (sorry subrosa! :-) ) about the Dumfermline thing. I think this is actually a lot more interesting than it appears. Short version is :
ReplyDeleteBuilding societies have always looked after their own, they've always rescued the ones in trouble. The DBS has been looking for a buyer for a year, and hasn't been able to find a taker on commercial terms. That implies there's a lot of nasties in there. There's evidence that the bosses have been Northern-Rock-stupid in their lending policies and they appear to have been more greedy and reckless than Fred Goodwin. They should be locked up and the company allowed to fail. The politics is interesting though :
1)The losses have been known about for 6 months, but this comes to a head when the local MP has done his McCavity act to Brazil
2)Darling and the Treasury are making Brown look stupid in his own backyard. Is the worm turning at long last?
El sid, no need to apologise at all, it's a pleasure to hear your views.
ReplyDeleteYou have more information that I've managed to find, insosfar as you say the DBS had been looking for a buyer for a year. I understood no mutual could do that without the permission of the FSA.
I learn something every day :)
WV blesses (!)