Saudi Arabian women to get the vote

Welcome to my council, ladies!

King Abdullah has had a dream come to him in the night. A harridan visited him and exclaimed that she'd have his guts for garters (or whatever keeps his dress up) if he didn't do something about the state of the desert kingdom. So he's done an about change on women's voting rights. The king announced the move in a speech at the opening of the new term of the Shura Council.

"Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulama (the clerics) and others... to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from next term," he said.

Wonders never cease! However, it's about time too. I hope the ulama deliberated spiritually and were not advised to cobble together some well spun plan.

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Is Rick Perry a playground bully?

There are many videos on YouTube about Rick Perry grabbing Ron Paul's arm during the GOP debate. Here's one of them. Very unbecoming. This incident aside, I get the impression Perry is basically a wolf in sheep's clothing. He parades as a Bible-based Christian yet gives me the feeling he's no more than a cheap hustler who will trample on the poor and the wretched in the order to get what he wants. Ron Paul on the other hand is a thoughtful caring man who wants big government off the backs of the people so that the poor and the wretched can be helped as and when they need it.

I hope I'm not too biased!

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Ron Paul gets to Fox News and Rick and Mitt too!

Listen Ron! Don't rain on my parade

Rupert Murdoch runs Fox News. Most of the hacks and hired honchos on that station do his bidding. I bet most of them have Rick Perry or Mitt Romney pics pinned to their bedroom walls. Imagine the panic setting in in the newsrooms when Fox News finds out that Ron Paul has topped a poll on who came out best in the GOP debates. They went ape and demanded that their website pull the offending information. After all it would do Fox News no good telling the unbridled truth, would it?

I don't know about you but I like to watch the ones who are listening rather than talking. It tells a picture that a thousand words couldn't. As Ron Paul gets his say, sometimes the camera lands on the faces of the other candidates (watch video below to see my point. Perry and Romney look a treat!). They are listening to Ron's homespun truths. Like you can't get a quart into a pint pot. Rick Perry listens as if he's hearing stuff from a mad man. Mad in the sense of politically barmy. In Rick's world this would be political suicide. Then Mitt Romney allows his mouth to smile a tad at the corners as if to suggest he knows how to delude the electorate and its not talking about wayward government spending. He prefers to talk about "cutting taxes", so he can attempt to put a quart into a pint pot.

Ron Paul said something rather interesting. The US government is flat lining as far as new jobs are concerned. Yet the population has shot up by 30 million or so. Obvious disconnect here. Many in the audience got it, some didn't and Ron's opponents looked around for their ear muffs. But what are these new people doing to earn a crust? A lot are obviously in the black economy. The sort of person who acts as maid to senators. But many others are just out there doing whatever. Living with family, out on the streets stealing, who knows. Ron Paul has asked a question, the sort of question that Fox News hates.

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Eric Daniels busy doing nothing on £100,000 a month!

I need new shoes too!

Eric Daniels used to be the chief bottlewasher at Lloyds Banking Group but then got sidelined or sideswiped or whatever. Anyway, he went as boss. Now the ghastly thing is he's still getting one hundred thousand pounds a month to do sweet F A! Well, sit back and smile for the Daily Mail photographer more accurately. He doesn't seem to mind. He may not be quite in the Fred the Shred league, but he made his errors of judgement alright.

I don't decry people getting paid well for doing well, but Daniels seems to relish the thought of getting hefty sums for cheesy grins. Perhaps Angela Knight of the British Bankers' Association, no shrinking violet her, could give him one of her waspish routines. We need something to wipe the smile from his face!

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UBS boss quits over rogue trader business

Time to go

So I was wrong in thinking Herr Gruebel would stick it out. He's actually decided to go, albeit a bit after the event. According to the bank he "feels that it is his duty to assume responsibility for the recent unauthorised trading incident". That's quite honest and decent, but the ones left in charge should see to it that never again such a toxic mixture of greed and adrenalin is allowed to course through the veins of young traders. Oh, and a belief that somehow gambling is the same as risk taking. That canard should be nailed squarely to prevent other incidents happening.

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Ex-MP jailbird Elliot Morley flees coop early

Elliot Morley discussing his clerical errors with prison cleric

I'm a little perturbed to see that Elliot Morley is out of jail early having only done a quarter of his sentence. And that being served in Ford Open Prison. How come he gets out so soon? A normal prisoner, if I may put it that way, would have to serve at least half. There should be no special favours for those who think they are special.

A lot of convicted criminals are drug users or drug pushers. Drugs come in somewhere down the chain. Others are taken with alcohol. In the main these people are seen as losers by society. But those in jail for cheating or just being too cocky for their own good are seen as being slightly different it seems. That's not fair at all!

Morley should have done at least half. Anyway, is he totally rehabilitated or not? More questions than answers as usual.

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John Redwood get's it EU right

A personal hedge fund

I've always thought John Redwood was far more compassionate than a lot of people have given him credit for. One of his plus points is that he does not shout about caring from the roof tops. He doesn't even answer back when impugned by left-wing attackers keen to imply that only they care. I've noticed that Mr. Redwood is actually a very thoughtful person. His blog will show that.

His latest entry is on the Greek tragedy that is the Euro Debt Crisis. The Greeks have borrowed more than they can ever hope to pay back. They are bust big time. Eric Morecombe used to quip "what's a Greek, Ern?" and the retort was so many drachmas a day. Now the drachma is ancient history and the Greeks don't earn enough euros for anything.

The bond crisis is, as John Redwood states, a matter of morality. The EU chiefs would have us believe it is all about throwing good  fake money after bad fake money. All cloud cuckoo land stuff. Frau Merkel is all in favour of bailling out the Greeks. The silly thing is she runs Germany in a completely different way. Who is accountable in this debt crisis? Will Frau Merkel be responsible for anything? No she won't and neither will the French President or anyone else.

Bankers were rightly accused of failing in their duties. I agree that personal debt such as mortgages is a two way thing. Those who borrowed in order to buy a house (and that includes me) are equally responsible for the outcomes. However, I would just add this. Morality includes such things as temptation and untruths. Quite a lot of people exaggerated their incomes in order to buy a property and quite a few banks tempted their customers with loans that were too much. Greed and personal gain have been an issue on both sides. Those that may have broken laws should be examined by the prosecutors. But that is about individuals. The corporate nature of banks' failures helped to bring about this crisis. But they didn't do it on their own. The rampant borrowing of governments has been the main aspect of failure.

So should the leaders of government be jailed for their recklessness? It's a point but I doubt it. There are no "crimes against economies" as there are crimes against humanity. It could be considered treason but this is all out in the open and agreed at high level. Not exactly the legal definition of treason.

I think they will carry on getting away with it. And that's because we are all in this together by voting them in in the first place. This is about morality. But the question about who might be in jail is a much harder issue to tackle.

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UBS now puts loss at $2.3 billion

See no evil hear no evil - that's my motto!

I can't understand how bosses stay in place even when catastrophe is all around them. It never occurs to them to ask pertinent questions. In fact most never ask anything it seems so that if anything untoward hits the office fans they can say they knew nowt. The latest dimwitted boss is Oswald Gruebel who told a Swiss newspaper he would not resign as chief of UBS bank over the rogue trading business. "I'm responsible for everything that happens at the bank," Mr Gruebel told Swiss Sunday newspaper, der Sonntag. "If you ask me whether I feel guilty, then I would say no." Of course he doesn't feel guilty. He knows nothing so he can't feel guilty can he?

This is the bank that hired the services of Maureen Miskovic as chief risk officer. She had previously been at Lehman Brothers, which of course went down the tubes spectacularly. Ms Miskovic took over risk assessing at UBS at the start of the year. She arrived from US based financial services group State Street with a strong reputation and had been seen to shake up risk management at the bank. But she was unaware of this disaster until Kweku Adoboli owned up.

I think the problem is that we're dealing with two totally different types of people. On the one hand there is the group in which Gruebel and Miskovic thrive and then there's the techy wiz kiddy group that gets an adrenalin type rush at the thought of gambling with vast sums of cash. I couldn't do it. I find it hard enough not to press the wrong buttons when ordering train tickets online. I can hardly imagine what Adoboli was thinking when his loss hit the $2 billion mark.

But it must be a bit similar to gamblers in Las Vegas. Don't losers always think that another roll of the dice will bring them fortune? What's so different about the two forms of gambling? We should have a Rogue Traders Anonymous and a Blinkered Bank Bosses Anonymous.

UBS say the losses only related to trading positions taken on in the last three months. However, the police say it's three years. Will a court case give us the real truth of what went on? We've got a whole load of nonsense surrounding News Corporation. Will UBS be any better?

Going back to Herr Gruebel. He should hang his head in shame. His responsibilities amount to nothing, it would appear. For starters he's got a crap risk assessment system on his hands. It's a total disgrace for a chief executive to be so detached from reality.

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Rick Perry sleeps at night - Pontius Pilate didn't!

Death Row Cell in Texas - spot the cruciform layout!

Rick Perry lives the life of a politician flipping from religious rhetoric to populist polemic. I sometimes wonder what Bible these politicians are reading. Perry apparently doesn't believe in the New Testament doctrines but prefers a version of religion that suits the hollering hordes he's trying to ingratiate himself with. He is also something of a church flipper. That apparently is a person who "tries out" various denominations but is not firm;y rooted in any one. It a sort of glad handing approach, rather like the rubber chicken circuit in the secular world.

If Rick Perry sleeps at night not bothering whether a person is innocent or not then he's not a Christian in the real sense to my mind. In any event, death is not a penalty for Christians. For those who think they will be snuffed out  like a candle death probably is no problem either. However, it seems that Rick Perry's idea is that a person should see losing his life in this world as some sort of forfeiture. That amounts to a mockery of the Gospel.

Now I don't know whether those on Death Row in Texas have any Christian belief or not. If they have truly repented of their sins then the Gospel tells us that that is fine. Now that may not sit well with the hollering crowd that Perry seeks to influence at the polls. They seem to hold no truck with the Good Shepherd seeking out His lost sheep. Perhaps they would prefer it if the sheep that are not in the pen are given a good waterboarding in the sheep dip.

Perry may think talking tough as the Texan governor will make him electable. But there will come a time when he will have to account for those soporific nights. Will he be so bold in front of the whole company of Heaven? Pontious Pilate had his doubts. Rick Perry doesn't seem to have any. Strange.

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UBS bank trader remanded in custody

Kewku Adoboli in Facebook pose now facing the book in court

The powers-that-be have acted swifty in locking up the so-called rogue trader Kweku Adoboli. He's been accused of breach of trust and false accounting. As if the banks are themselves not in a big way involved in breach of trust with the British public. As for false accounting, I'd say that was a hard one to prove. But try to prove it they will.

These traders never seem to benefit themselves apart from becoming famous. Perhaps we should have a Big Brother session for rogue traders? But as with Jerome Kerviel of Societe Generale and Nick Leeson of Barings fame, the hapless Adoboli was a back room boy also operating front of house. UBS obviously learnt nothing from previous shinanigans.

It was said of Kerviel that he had a motive in proving that Anglo-Saxon banking methods had little place in the Gallic world of France. In Nick Leeson's case he seemed to want to prove that a boy from a humble background could outsmart the Baring toffs. Whatever the motives, someone needs to sort out these computerised money changers before they wreck the world.

And I notice that UBS has been having a hard time at the hands of the IRS in America. Having been in cahoots with tax evaders for a long time Uncle Sam got to the end of his tether and the bank had to do a deal in handing over the details of tax cheats who were preferring to put their money in cuckoo clocks rather than tax coffers in Washington. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman is after the unpatriotic dodgers. 12,000 of them came clean in a tax amnesty. "Americans now understand that if they try to hide assets overseas, the chances of being caught continue to increase." It's a start. After all, we're in this together, aren't we?

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Big Brother has more front than Sainsbury's

Two celebrities looking to be more famous

Big Brother left Channel 4 and moved to Channel 5. There's a celebrity version going on at the moment. Now the word celebrity should mean that a person is famous, of distinction, or just well known. I'd say Sir Bruce Forsyth was a celebrity. He fits the true meaning of the word. But Channel 5 and the Big Brother team think it means "being on the telly" or "having a big gob", so that's why so many that are currently appearing are practically nonentities.

Monty Python once did a sketch based on the rolling credits at the end of a programme. Some names had appendages such as "known only to his mum". This was a comical take on the fact that none of us know who these people really are. These days credits roll so fast or are squeezed to a corner of the screen that they are practical useless as credits. So who are the Big Brother celebrities? There's one big sister I recognise and that's Sally Bercow. She's got where she is by being a prize twitter and an opinionated spouse of another celebrity, Mr Squeaker Bercow. Then there's Jedward only famous for being losers and twits. And the rest I do not know.

Now I'm no expert on celebrities but surely being one means you have to be reasonably famous. Is there a guideline to being a celebrity? Are A listers known to millions whilst the B's and C's are known to thousands? It would appear that the current crop of contestants in the Big Brother House are more in the Monty Python realm of known people than in the household name category.

I remember hanging around a Labour Party conference in Brighton in the 60's trying to get the autographs of Messrs Wilson, Callaghan and Brown. I suddenly spotted the BBC's political correspondent of the day and asked him for his autograph. "I'm nobody famous!", he spluttered. "No, but you're on the television", I ventured. I got his autograph!

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UBS trader alerted bank

Chips are down for casino banking

The banks keep telling us that they have "robust" measures in place to prevent unauthorised trading. Yet one trader felt it necessary to alert his employers, this time Swiss bank UBS, that he'd overdone it on the trading. By a whopping $2 billion! Maybe he pressed the wrong buttons one day. But his employers, upstanding characters that they are, promptly alerted the Financial Services Authority and the City of London Police. An investigation will now take place. Into their failed systems hopefully.

But surely these whistle and bells systems that the banks have should work every time? What is it that they don't know or want to know? I think the chief bottlewashers at UBS should pay a visit to Las Vegas and see how the real gamblers make sure things don't go wrong in their casinos. Vince Cable was always talking of casino banks when in opposition. Now he's in government, he should implement the new banking reform proposals PDQ!

Oh, and get that Angela Knight in and tell her that the banks need to get a grip on things. Robert Peston alluded to the truth. These traders are as clever as the computers but the bank bosses are not nearly so wired up. But I don't like the idea of the bank bosses trying to blame the traders every time. Let the UBS high command take a long look at themselves in the mirror of truth and ask whether they know the meaning of ROBUST.


Postscript - I'm curious to know why Bob Diamond pops up so much in a Google search on "casino banker". His image is well represented in the search results!

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9/11 Remembered - Twin Towers Ten Years On

The second plane hits the World Trade Center

Today is the tenth anniversary of the bombing of the twin towers of the Word Trade Center on September 11th 2001. President Obama will be at Ground Zero leading the commemorations. Those of us old enough to remember, and that probably is everyone over the age of sixteen or so, will know where there were on that day. Rather like I know where I was in 1963 at the time of the assassination of President Kennedy, in 2001 that September I was summoned by my wife who was in shock surprise having left attending our first born's nappy changing requirements. We spent the next hour or so glued to the TV screen.

We will no doubt see much of the ceremonies and it is good to remember. But has it changed anything? Has any good come out of this tragedy? We've had two wars that have killed many and put democratic values to the test. Osama Bin Laden is dead and President Obama says the world is a better place as a result. I'm not so sure about that. What I do know though is that the acid test is whether we come together as human beings. Apparently more people are chatting to each other on the subway in New York City. This is based on the notion that the person opposite you may be your potential rescuer or the last person you speak to before meeting your Maker. Personally I'd prefer to speak to people on the basis that they were just interesting pleasant people. It's a step in the right direction, but do we need the constant threat of personal obliteration as an excuse to strike up a conversation.

In these days of mobile phones, iPods and all manner of earpieces taking people off into their "personal space" surely a return to friendly conversation will help to rebuild community spirit for its own sake. We don't need to be intrusive busy bodies but a friendly exchange can harm nobody.

9/11 is said to have changed the world. I think that's a bit over the top but I get the idea. What I do think is that the ones to benefit are not just the terrorists but the arms industry and the security industry. Especially the latter who are regularly getting into hissy fits at any suggestion that security be down graded at airports. John Humphrys on the Today programme asked if it would ever get back to post 9/11. He was told it was unlikely. Security is big business, so the killing of Osama Bin Laden is of no consequence to the body scanning merchants who scan all and sundry. They need a terrorist threat to keep in business.

So I see this anniversary as a time to be with those who grieve, if not in person in spirit. A time that allows reflection and a determination not to let our lives and democracies be curtailed by those who see liberty as a lesser matter compared with restrictive practices.

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Injury claim referral fees to be banned

Referral fees being discussed at accident scene

At last the government is going to clean up the matter of so-called referral fees. From insurance companies to those who pick up the cars from accidents, the whole aspect of car crashes is infected with spivs and those on the make. Solicitor spivs, police spivs, insurance spivs, there is no part of this that hasn't got a finger in this pie.

Legitimate claims should be handled by insurance companies. Everyone else should only be involved if they have a proper reason to be. Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly has said that honest motorists were seeing their premiums hiked as insurers covered the costs of ever more compensation claims. "It's certainly a racket. It's a sick culture that we have to turn round."

If we are to get back to honest business we need to root out the spivs once and for all. I find it very hard to understand why the police, legal profession and insurance companies have been quite happy to be involved in the racket for so long. It just goes to show how far a racket culture goes.

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Murky world of Libyan and MI6 spy friendship

Moussa Koussa talking to the press

It was bound to happen. The victorious army of the rebels in Libya rifle through the files of the former spy ring of Gaddafi and find that MI6 spooks have been enjoying a friendship of sorts with the Moussa Koussa brigade. Some stinky revelations are coming out. I never believed Tony Blair and his syrupy talk about why he was cosying up to Gaddafi. I think we shall have a lot revealed, especially about these so-called renditions.

But the one thing I think that needs a root and ranch investigation is how Sir Mark Allen, a former senior MI6 operative is now advising BP. He was involved in this Libya friendship. If transparency is the order of the day for the Coalition government, let's hear how he got mixed up with it, because there does appear some unfortunate link to oil as before in the Iraq business with Dick Cheney and his chums. The BBC tried to interview Sir Mark but he's gone to ground.

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G4S back in the headlines

Going home in orderly fashion

Security is a tough old business. Getting it right is a hard thing especially for G4S the security firm regularly at the centre of controversy. They are back in the headlines, this time for having operatives using racist talk as they deport refused asylum seekers back to Africa. G4S, which is a shortened version of Group 4 Securicor, act as the muscle for the UK Border Agency. It appears that no government agency actually deals directly with the transport of prisoners, asylum seekers or the like. Whether it be the Prisons Service or the Border Agency, G4S does the physical work. And they have contracts worth £4.6bn with four government departments, including the Home Office and Ministry of Justice. As my father would tell me when little, this is "BIG MONEY"!

So shouldn't some of this taxpayers' largesse be spent on proper training so we don't get these constant tales of inadequacy on the part of G4S workers? Last year the company received more than 700 complaints regarding the way they treated detainees at reception centres. It seems that each time the country hears of G4S they are trying to play down their inefficiencies. But surely with so much money being passed over to them, they could start to invest in a better image?

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Tony Blair's global ambitions

I see from a link on the BBC website that there is something called The Office Of Tony Blair. I clicked on the link to find out more. Tony Blair seems now to be some cross between the Pied Piper of Hamlin and Mother Theresa in male form. In those halycon days at Fettes when a young Blair knocked on his housemaster's door and chirpily asked if "there is anything I can can do for you, Sir?" I bet the bemused housemaster can have had little idea the boy would turn into a global brand.

By the way, according to Facebook 21,936 people like Tony Blair. As Tony Hancock said to himself in the Radio Ham "friends all over over the world! None in this country. but...."

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Greedy bosses bag bonuses 187% up on 10 years ago

I'm in favour of free enterprise. That means I support the idea of people being allowed to create their own businesses in their own way to suit the demands and preferences of their customers. However, I don't tend to put the corporate bonus bagger into the same bracket. The only freedom they seem to enjoy is making the most of other peoples' money without necessarily being responsible for any negative outcome.

New reasearch suggests that the average bonuses for directors of FTSE 350 companies have risen by 187% since 2002, without a corresponding rise in share prices. So they feel perfectly at ease taking the cash whilst their shareholders have to make do with what's left. I find it staggering that the shareholders don't rise up in revolt and behave rather like the White Queen demanding "off with their heads". Whatever else it is it is not a win-win situation. It is far too one sided for that.

Barring the total lack of any investment logic, it is also a morally bankrupt situation. These head honchos believe they are worth this money even if they have not performed that well. If they don't get the bonuses they squeal and suggest they will work elsewhere. Well, maybe we'd all be better off if they buggered off to China. Let them live in autocratic style in some Shanghai mansion surrounded by amenable Chinese workers.

CBI director general John Cridland told the BBC high rewards for real business achievements were necessary and acceptable, but soft targets or payment for failure were not. The trouble is he only speaks up when forced to. Most of his working week is involved with turning a blind eye to it all.

We need a far more invigorated method of corporate governance. I get the impression that a lot of these FTSE companies are a law unto themselves. If we let it continue we have only ourselves to blame.

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David Cameron says rioters need tough love

David Cameron outlines the tough love concept

I heard David Cameron being interviewed this morning by Evan Davis. His rhetoric on rioters was somewhat subdued compared with his initial reaction right after the events. What I find surprising is that politicians were surprised by the whole sorry episode. Davis brought up the Bullingdon Club days and Cameron fended this off with the "we all did silly things in our youth" retort. The fact is we all probably did. I am no exception. I didn't do anything to hurt or upset others and I doubt if the prime minister did either. However, the fact is that our behaviour is what makes society tick. And the ticking of today is far more steered towards greed and self-gratification than it is towards helping others. If the Big Society is to work we need tough love all round and a sense of pride in our community. Not the silly talk of "communities" as if we are all living in a 100 parallel universes.

I still think the MPs are themselves to blame for a lot of the ills. Leading by example is very addictive. If those at the top of society behave badly why should those further down think they should be the only ones sticking to moral rectitude? We are very much in mote and beam territory here. The link has been made between a friend of a looter receiving a flat screen TV by way of favours and Sir Gerald Kaufman MP trying to claim on expenses for a whopping £8,865 for a television. Other MPs were trying it on in similar vein. Do two wrongs make a political right? Or is it left? If the latter, very sinister indeed!

Also Cameron was quizzed on the bankers, those cheeky chappies (and chappesses now) who see nothing wrong in gambling with other people's futures and fortunes. The fact that they are baulking at banking reforms suggests that they still want the system to suit themselves. And the moral blackmailing continues with this childish idea of them leaving the country. We should not be held ransom by the moneychangers.

We ask for footballers to set a good example but surely we should all set good examples. Not because we want to be twee types sitting like some set of pharisees in judgement over others but just because it makes sense to be honest, decent and reliable.

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