Hidden card charges for travel tickets to be banned

Hidden card charges to be outlawed?

The BBC reports that travel companies have been ordered to end the use of hidden surcharges for passengers paying by card. It was an outrage to start with. Rather like the price of a new car, which you could never get for all the extra on-the-road charges. Paying by debit card should be just like paying cash.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has ordered them to make all debit or credit card charges clear immediately. It also wants the law changed to abolish charges altogether for using debit cards. So lets get the clarity and let's get the law changed. We are fools to ourselves. We let corporate Britain run itself like a group semi-house trained gangsters. They are all at it. The utility companies with their deceiving price tariffs, the large retailers with dubious pricing, the banks (hold my tongue!) and others.

It cannot be right for these large corporations to carry on regardless with their corruptions and conniving, just brushing off the odd official condemnation. We want clarity in our business dealings not obfuscation and deception. I hope the OFT acts swiftly and leaves no stone unturned.

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Blue Peter moves out of Television Centre

"Oooh, get off me foot!"

The longest running children's television show in the world is leaving the confines of Television Centre and moving up north to the new Salford Quays operation in Manchester. I don't see Blue Peter these days as it is not a particular favourite of my children. However, I was a fan for quite a time in the Sixties. My time was with Peter Purves (always known by local children to rhyme with curves!), Valerie Singleton and John Noakes. But I also remember Christopher Trace who had that bit more gravitas, no doubt for the older children.

It is still much the same today, although the voices and mannerisms are much changed. My fondest memory is that of the baby elephant visiting the studio. Most people talk of the elephant but I found the zoo keeper to be the best part. They don't make them like that anymore. He appeared to be a smaller version of Oliver Hardy. Here it is on YouTube (thank you YouTube!) - with that famous ditty about John Noakes to follow.

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Corruption in Britain - Debt collection racket

There was a time when overdue debts were followed through by court action. There are such things as debts and there such people or companies who are indebted to others. However in the financial services world debt is a commodity that is bought and sold without much care being given to the law and an utter phobia of courts unless the debtor can be kippered in some way.

Banks, building societies, finance houses, credit card companies, they all flog off the debts of customers to other companies who grandly call themselves Debt Collecting Agencies. The impression is that these agencies have clients and that they are recovering debts for these clients. 99% of the time that is utter hogwash. They buy the debts of others at about about 10 pence in the pound after the seller has rejigged their books, either by cashing in on an insurance policy or by passing the debt around internally. The so-called DCA then attempts to obtain the full whack outstanding for themselves. It's a massively profitable business with the banks ploughing money in so these guys can buy more debt.

If such luxuries as payment protection insurance was added to the original contract this is conveniently forgotten. So is any aspect as to how the debt arose. Disputes with the original lender are glossed over. The debtor is basically abused until money is obtained. It's a form of legalised blackmail. If the original lender thinks so highly of the debt that it is prepared to sell it so cheaply, why should the public think any higher of the lenders?

The government should crack down on these debt purchasing companies and really bite them where it hurts. But do I hope in vain? Possibly, because the government is flogging off debts as well, especially student debts. Debts are big business. If we want these people to wither on the vine, we need a proper system of debt collection. One that is properly regulated. Currently all we have is a racket run by posh and well-heeled spivs.

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Corruption in Britain - Hospital surgical supplies racket

Grinding away at NHS surgical tools

Here is another racket going on in Britain. And it involves the National Health Service, which for some is nothing more than a death service. Cutting costs? Yes they are! By procurring surgical instruments made on the cheap in places like Pakistan. Produced in dust infested hovels, these mainly substandard tools are flogged off to the NHS by corrupt middle men, keen on making money at any price. Thankfully the BBC Panorama programme has exposed the frightful trade. Of course the watchdog in charge of monitoring the wellbeing of patients by making sure surgical tools are cleanly made has taken a leaf out of Pontius Pilate's book.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is supposed to check up on these rogues. Their website boldly proclaims "We enhance and safeguard the health of the public by ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe. No product is risk free. Underpinning all our work lie robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits to patients and the public justify the risks". That would appear to be a load of codswallop. But codswallop and quangos invariably go together like a horse and carriage. Only one hospital employs a technician to root out the dodgy tools. He works for Guy's Hospital and rejects 20% of the stuff he sees.

Doesn't it make you wild? Again another set of people leaching off others, this time also exploiting the Third World as well. Any heads going to roll? If a patient who got a shard of metal flushed round the body due to ineffective tools would be within their rights to sue for negligence. But what a waste of time and money. Most patients want to have a clean and decent operation. Not one done with surgical implements hewn from metals in some coal cellar in Pakistan.

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Corruption in Britain - Personal injury insurance racket

Jack Straw says he has only recently come across this immoral sideline of the insurance industry and agencies associated with aspects of motor insurance. Basically the racket, or dirty secret as it has been called, is for insurance companies to sell information to ambulance chasing lawyers, injury claims companies and other such organisations. The practice of passing on information is called referral fees because the claims guys pay for the information. This is so some call centre operative can phone a person who has had an accident and suggest they claim bigtime for whiplash or any other "injury". A stiff neck will do. Some are encouraged to claim even if no injury occurred. Mr. Straw was on the Today programme. "It's become a huge racket," he said. "The insurance companies are complicit in this. They should and could have said this is outrageous." Of course they didn't and they won't. A weasel wordsmith, with the name of Nick Starling, gave a limp response. He basically said that unless the practice was banned his members would carry on. Whether it was immoral, amoral or any other moral negative, he saw no reason to stop it until the law said no. And who would necessarily believe that his lot would stop then.

The whole practice stinks. There is now a whole set of people leaching off others so that a nefarious income can be made. Mr.Starling should live up to his name and peck at this grubby practice right now. I hope the government outlaws these rackeetering spivs, who help to increase insurance claims. Proper compensation for proper accidents is something nobody can gainsay. But bordering on criminal activity? That's something completely different.

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UK £1 billion offering for Greeks

I thought we were strapped for cash, yet Britain is loaning the Greek government £1 billion to tie it over until the final collapse happens. This dosh is via the IMF, but will we ever know where it is actually coming from? Certainly not from taxation. That's all going to pay our deficit. Perhaps it's being printed in a secret room in the bowels of the Treasury. No, impossible and a waste of time. Somebody just pushed a computer button!

Also today a German banker was quoted as saying that, if the Greeks did default, "ze gates of ze Hell will be wide open!". Blimey, Lucifer, Beelzebub and assorted demons running amok all over Europe. I thought that was already happening.

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Habitat to close retail units outside London

I could see if they switched the lights on

It does not look good this year for the so-called bricks & mortar retailers. That is those with shop units. They are caught in a cross between a spiral and vacuum if there is such a thing. Rents keep going up, shoppers are far more choosy, and VAT got hiked. Not exactly a recipe for success. Plus utilities are on a one-way journey to the skies. So it comes as no surprise to me that Habitat is closing its stores outside London. The one in Solihull always seemed bereft of paying customers. It is said the locations were wrong. This one is on a retail park tucked away from the hurly burly. I'm of the opinion that there are far too many retailers. Locally we are being bamboozled into a new shopping mall, with Asda pulling the strings. There won't be any independents, just multiples all backed by mysterious private equity groups.

Along with the woes of Habitat comes the news that home fittings company Homeform, the owner of brands such as Moben, Kitchens Direct and Dolphin, is to go into administration. That doesn't surprise me, much as MFI eventually biting the dust did not. These brands are naturally suffering in the downturn, but they also featured quite regularly on BBC Watchdog for their sloppy customer service, so it is not all down to the economics of the country.

Comet is not doing so well, Dixons and Currys too. Famous brands in difficulty all around. Are we to be left with just the major supermarkets with a vast online and home delivery service plus a few niche players for added choice? If so, lots of retail staff will be out of a job and just window shopping courtesy of Windows!

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Singer Glenn Campbell has Alzheimer's disease

The Original Rhinestone Cowboy

Alzheimer's disease is probably the saddest of all diseases because it robs a person of mind which in turn limits the functionality of the body. Whilst it is invidious to rank disease in a table of severity and suffering, Alzheimer's does have a particular aspect about it. We are who we are and if that is taken away by illness we are greatly diminished as humans.

Glen Campbell's wife Kim has revealed to People magazine that her husband has the disease. She said if her husband "flubs a lyric or gets confused on stage", she wanted fans to know the reason. I think that's not only very brave of her but also very reasoned and sensible. His fans will be only too ready to accept that and support him as he plans to retire from the music industry later this year with a series of farewell concerts.

"I still love making music, and I still love performing for my fans. I'd like to thank them for sticking with me through thick and thin," Glenn said. When I travelled around the USA in my twenties, Wichita was one place I stayed. The lineman had made it famous for me. It was also the place I tasted the best pizza in America and the worst seafood on offer at a shrimp peel dining event. Huge bowls full of shrimps ready for peeling. I think those shrimps walked all the way to Wichita!

I just hope Glenn Campbell can have a retirement without too much personal pain.

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My Big Fat Greek Bankruptcy

Tartan clad Greek protests against cuts

Not an original slogan, I admit, but one that is truthful none the less. Bankruptcy is on the Hellenic horizon. Greece is now caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock appears to be the Greek people, fed up with conniving politicians who have been fiddling the books as much as the Eurocrats have been. After all, the European accounts have never been signed off, so they are the last people on earth to speak to others. The hard place is the Greek parliament, full of political parties that are demanding austerity that none of their voters is prepared to accept.

The end game may be on Tuesday, it may be a week on Tuesday or this time next year. But the final result will be that Greece will default on their debts and the Euro bigwigs should get that one ringing between their ears. Financial deafness is seen as a virtue in Brussels.

David Cameron says the Eurozone should not fail. It will fail, because it is running a single currency in seventeen separate states, each with its own taxing agenda. You can't have a federal currency in a mere alliance of nations. Quite a few Eurocrats see this and are maneuvering  for a more federal Europe. Without referendums, of course.

Maybe Greece will be a turning point in European politics. The hope is that they don't go down a blind alley but take to the open road for a bright new future. With drachmas and ouzo aplenty.

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Car crushers on the loose

Off the road for good

From today the 1.4 million car drivers who do not have motor insurance risk having their cars crushed after being impounded by the police. According to the insurance industry the fact that there are so many uninsured drivers around means that insured motorists pay considerably more for their premiums than is necessary. The Department for Transport says that 23,000 people are injured and 160 killed each year by incidents involving uninsured drivers.

"Uninsured driving is a serious problem in this country," Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers told the BBC, noting that about 4% of drivers are not covered. "Not only are they more likely to cause an accident, but they also push up cost of insurance, which all honest, law-abiding drivers have to pay."

Does that mean if all 1.4 million cars are crushed tomorrow, premiums will come tumbling down Mr.Tarling? In issues of this kind there are winners and losers. The car crushing industry is due more business, the courts are due more business (but not necessarily more pay!) and the insurance industry rues the day it made a noise.

Let the crushing begin and let's see what happens to those premiums.

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No jokes at the Tea Party

"Heard the one about Sarah Palin and the....?"

The Republican Party is becoming a bit of a sad case. Not really bothered with the US economy, with its stresses and strains caused by relentless immigration and the exports of jobs to China and Mexico countered by relentless government spending backed by "quantitative easing" (or printing money in old talk!). No, they prefer rabbiting on about whether the president was born in the USA, about gung-ho wars abroad, salivating about socialised medicine and generally not knowing much about what lies past their white picket fences. Now, it seems they can't take a joke either.

Reggie Brown is an impersonator of Barack Obama. Doppelganger might be more appropriate. He was booked to crack a few gags at a Republican shindig. The first joke went down well. That's because it was about Anthony Weiner, internet smut trafficker and newly resigned Democrat Congressman. But when the jokes hit home about the Republican candidates in next year's presidential election, they got all rigid with sanctimonious self-importance and turned his microphone off.

I'm following the booing of geese so to speak and it now appears that the Republican Party's higher echelons can't stand their geese being booed (with anodine jokes). Are they really fit for government if they have no sense of humour and have no sense of economic reality? Of course, I remove Ron Paul from this cabal, as he is very much aware of the economic perils and is often seen enjoying a joke. On that score, Republican supporting Americans know where their allegiance should lie.

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Lord Strathclyde speaks with silver forked tongue

Lord Strathclyde performing in the House of Lords

House of Lords reform, eh? What they mean is some second rate gasbags' senate. Lord Strathclyde was once opposed to electing another lot of politicians. Now he's on the bandwagon for an elected chamber. Who are these people going to be? The ones that an AV election for the Commons might have weeded out? And is the proposed "democratic" change going to be as democratic as the Euro elections, with their closed list, follow the party pecking order selection? The whole thing stinks.

I cannot imagine for one minute capable people spending money on election campaigns only to be asked to peruse legislation, not get too uppity and basically nod government bills through so the Queen can put pen to paper that much more quickly.

The devil is in the detail they say. I bet when we get the detail it will contain a score of devils, all bubbling along with brimstone if not fire. A senate like the United States senate is one thing. A poor relation just to appease some whim of liberals and secularists is quite another. I hope the whole thing dies a death. We've far more important things to be doing like fighting the deficit. If anything needs reforming it's the fractional reserve banking system which allows money to be conjured up out of thin air.

Talk of getting your priorities right! The House of Lords is not the enemy, it's the ones in the House of Commons that let the bankers gamble on derivatives and send us all to financial cloud cuckoo land. Greece is far more serious. Default on the loans and we won't be able to afford such luxuries as an expensive senate. Why try to fix something that isn't really broken?

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Cameron's goose gets booed by Philip Davies MP

"Who said boo?"

I was intrigued to see how quickly the Conservative Party dropped Philip Davies like a lead balloon. He is the MP who said it might be better if disabled, in his point mentally disabled, people took jobs at a lower rate than the minimum wage. It was immediately seized upon by the great and the good as being a preposterous thing to think. As if they are the divinely appointed keepers of the nation's conscience!

There is a priggish pomposity about these days when it comes to social politics. Whether it be about the disabled, ethnic minorities, gays or whatever, any comments, thoughts or remarks outside the liberal intellegentsia's code of ethical correctness and you get pilloried as a vile creep that needs exterminating. Basically they want the person to shut up. You have to have the hide of a rhinoceros to fend them off.

Last night on Newsnight Mr.Davies took on a priggish woman from Mind. She dismissed him like a grande dame with a fly swat. He gamely advised her that he was not advocating that they must take lowly paid work, just that it might help them with work experience if they did. She was having none of it, yet did not seem to have much to say on how she would improve matters. I got the impression she'd rather they sat about all day doing nothing rather than capitulate to any argument other than her own.

Now I'd say that disabled people were just as worthy of hire as anyone else. However, here the discussion centred on the mentally ill. Mind feels that employers should "be educated" but exactly how I'm not sure. Such indoctrination by the liberal elite would no doubt be scary. The woman on Newsnight implied that all jobs should be open to those with mentally ill conditions. Sad to say, I find this a crazed argument indeed. I can't imagine a clinically depressed person selling wares over the phone with much degree of commercial success. Maybe I'm wrong, but employers in these straightened times need help and advice rather than shrill admonitions.

David Cameron is signed up to the liberal agenda even if he doesn't practice every element of it. Mr.Davies just fell foul of the free speech threshold. Set ridiculously low at present. I doubt if any politician who happens to be Catholic and relates church teaching on marriage would get very far these days. Look at what happened to Chris Grayling. His opinions were trampled on with a grapecrusher's vengeance. Mr.Cameron is a very shock-proof goose. Witness the surgeon in Guy's berating the camera crew for unhealthy hospital practices. Mr.Cameron was totally unruffled. Which is not quite what Nick Clegg was. (video below)

Free speech is vital in a democracy. I just find it rather sad that some are quite keen to shout others down in a haughty pompous way, yet have nothing significant to add to the debate. As the woman from Mind showed.

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Waverly Hills sanitorium - is it the scariest place?

Waverly Hills Sanitorium (in closed state)

I've just come across Wavely Hills Santinorium as being popular with those who like being haunted. The house is set in southwestern Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky. The haunted crowd think it is the scariest place on earth. So much so that it features in TV shows with people discussing its scariness. Of course, I'm sure these scaremongers (sellers of scares as opposed to spreaders of scares) don't really consider the poor souls that stayed an eternity in this medicating hellhole.

There is a company that does tours of the place, claiming to be the only legitimate tour guide arrangement. The house has a history. It was a place to keep TB patients. Tuberculosis has never been a disease that allowed gentle home nursing, at least not in recent times. Better put them in a house of eccentric construction in serried ranks of beds attended by nurses of strict routine. This hospital is alleged to have disposed of 63,000 in mysterious circumstances, to have a room, Room 502, where a nurse met a grisly end. The show Ghosthunters keeps all this going.

All I know is that most of the time these sort of establishments were in existence the patients had a hard time. But reality of the real sort does not make good television. It's all the speculation and the myth machine that captures the imagination. Just one look at Waverly Hills makes one shudder to think what it was really like in that place. And to think some people think it might make a good hotel. Sweet dreams.

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Police drop Andrew Bridgen MP sex assault case

Andrew Bridgen MP

So Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, has had the case against him dropped. He had vigorously denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were entirely "false and without foundation". The police have found this to be true. But I'm a little wary of one or two aspects. Not only has Mr.Bridgen been subjected to what amounts to a false allegation, but he has been "released from bail with no further action." Does that mean they took DNA from him and still hold it on record? This is the thing about being an innocent caught up in a very wicked world. Whilst there are plenty who cry out "if you've done nothing wrong, you've nothing to fear" there are many occasions, like this, when fear is hardly far from the heart and mind. If it was me, I'd not be certain of the outcome, even if I protested my innocence.

I can't believe there are many people who gladly accept false accusations with a high-minded desire to promote that ridiculous canard. Many innocent people have plenty to fear. I'm very glad Mr.Bridgen has had the case dropped. I hope the "29-year old woman" understands what she has done.

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George Osborne plans £1bn privatisation of Northern Rock

Northern Rock savers waiting to take cash out in 2007

Planning something and effectively carrying out the plans are two different things. George Osborne is keen to get rid of Northern Rock, the gobbler of toxic debts. As it happens, the Rock is cleaved into two halves. The good bank and the bad bank. Osborne is looking to flog off the good bit, which does not have toxic debt fouling its coffers. Apparently Virgin Money and the Yorkshire Building Society are expected to be among the bidders, and the formal sale process could start by the next month. But taxpayers are likely to experience a loss because this is a bit of a "reduced item".

Robert Peston of BBC fame has been talking about all this, and one suspects he's getting a bit weary by it. Having broken the original story of the bank going bust, he probably no longer feels he can dine out on this tale of woe any longer. He did, though, give the interesting point that savers currently attracted to Northern Rock may be there because it is a safe house at taxpayers expense. Put it in the private sector and, well.... he didn't elaborate, but the possibility is some may leave for pastures new.

The Daily Telegraph reports that "Although the sale of the so-called "good bank" part of Northern Rock is likely to generate a loss, this will be offset in the longer term by the repayment of tens of billions of pounds of state aid loans held in the "bad bank", now known as Northern Rock Asset Management". I thought all the bad stuff was toxic debt brought over in some grand recycling scheme from American sub-prime lenders. If the money was completely fake in the first place, how come these "asset managers" can turn the financial toxins into good money?

Maybe George Osborne can illuminate us all on that one?

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Capitalists are destroying capitalism, claims Lord Parkinson

A very true word, or series of words, from Lord Parkinson on the sleazy greed in the City of London. Capitalists seem keen on destroying capitalism. They do indeed. Of course, free enterprise doesn't live by the same rules as those involved in corporate boardroom merry-go-rounding. Most of these huge conglomerates are stuffed with people, well, the sort that end up making idiots of themselves on The Apprentice!

This is the link to Lord Parkinson's thoughts.

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Regional fire centres cost £50,000 per day!

A regional fire centre in a time warp

I heard yesterday that the regional fire centres, nine in all and all closed down, are costing £50,000 per day in rent to landlords. The RFCs were the brainchild of John Prescott. Now they are a liability of huge proportions. The Coalition decided last year to shut these operational centres down, hoping to save money. But the small print of the New Labour deals means that the government is shelling out this cash for no other reason than a contractual one.

£50,000 could pay for a firefighter for a year and a bit. But the cuts mean that jobs go and the scarce resources left go to pay for empty properties. This sort of nonsense is rife in America with shopping malls lying empty bereft of shoppers. Factories left with flapping doors, rats taking up residence in places their parents could only have dreamed of.

One wonders how much more of this property lease back merry-go-round there is out there. A shrinking retail market, some towns with loads of shops closed. Is Southern Cross the tip of an iceberg, or just a one-off? I don't think the fiasco of the bank lending is over by a long chalk. In fact, a few more doors may be opening.

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Southern Cross weasel on Today programme!

If you want to know what is wrong with corporate Britain today listen to the weasel words of Christopher Fisher, who must have gone to a real weasel for training to give answers like he gave to John Humphries on the Today programme this morning.

As Terry Thomas might have said of Southern Cross and their pitiful management - "You're a complete shower!"

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Russell Crowe gets the circumcisers riled

Russell Crowe tweeted that he thought circumcision was barbaric. Then he tweeted some more. It all ended up with tweets going back and forth with it resulting in him being branded an anti-semite. Now in the "you can't say boo to a goose" department, you could be accused of being anti-anything if you express an opinion on a controversial matter. Now he has had to apologise for saying "barbaric and stupid" in this context.

Circumcision is controversial. Most of the world is not bothered by it, but to Jews and Muslims it's part of religious practice and for many American doctors it's what makes the difference to the vacation choices (more dollar income!).

My position is perfectly clear. It's totally unnecessary and contrary to reasoned medical science. However, if adults want to do it, fine by me. It's when it is imposed on children that the issue becomes contentious. Jews have a belief about it and I would not think it appropriate to gainsay that except to say that Christianity has baptism instead. However, for American parents without any doctrinal issues, this is purely their own desire. Little boys born with foreskins are not ill, not impaired in any way or likely to be physically harmed unless there is a medical condition present. Then it is obviously correct for doctors to attempt to correct the problem. Healthy children need no surgery.

Crowe stated that circumcision can be dangerous. It can be. This little boy is dead because doctors botched things when he was circumcised. A one-week-old Ontario infant died from complications after undergoing a circumcision in a provincial hospital. And in Africa it happens quite frequently.

Russell Crowe has been lambasted but one wonders why. Surely if the males of this world are all born like this there is a purpose for it? Or are some mightier than the Almighty?

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Southern Cross care homes bubble about to pop!

Southern Comfort not Southern Cross

When I was at school the general gist of studying history was that we could learn from our mistakes as a people. One subject that cropped up was the South Sea Bubble, that notorious scam about selling shares in a dubious company that was trading as a monopoly with Spanish South American colonies. The moral of the tale, as we heard, was that things which sound to good to be true often are.

Move on to the 21st Century and we got New Labour, a bubble with a political pong in it, doing dodgy deals all round. Banks were encouraged to trade debt rather like putrid bean sprouts. In fact, as Vince Cable kept telling us, the debts were toxic. Not much difference then between a bean sprout with rampant e-coli and a bad debt with a financial toxin. One does your belly and kidneys in, the other scrambles your brain.

Southern Cross is being described as a "beleaguered care home business" on the brink of bankruptcy. Why is this? Because they sold off homes on some leaseback venture to other like minded care home property types who then recycled the cash and, well, it's all going to end up with the Royal Bank of Scotland. When this bubble finally pops, it will leave a trail of debt of over £5billion. All for the taxpayer to sort out. None of this money was real in the first place, or precious little of it. RBS didn't reinvest savers deposits in the retirement homes of grannies and grandads. No, they pushed a button and a whole stream of cash appeared. Little or no control on anything.

So, with the national economy in the doldrums, these devious money shifters are conveniently pushing the blame around like dodgem car racers on a high. The disgusting thing in all this is that the only people to benefit from this crazed money production are those that cream off a slice each time it comes their way. But it's those left when the money creamers leave town that really matter. The old folk in distress and the taxpayers in confusion.

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House prices 'wilted in spring' says Halifax

House prices falling before his eyes

So it wasn't just the daffodils being given a roasting by the April sunshine. The BBC reports that house prices have been falling in spring, according to the Halifax, but that the lender is expecting a stabilisation in prices later in the year. Not if the economic woes of America are not sorted and the unions get all dramatic.

The value of the average home rose by 0.1% from April to May, to £160,519. But prices were 4.2% lower than the same period a year ago - the biggest annual drop since October 2009.

The Halifax, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, said a moderate improvement in the economy and low interest rates would help the market. Nice thought from Lloyds Bank, but they were a key part in this terrible mess. They talk loftily now but they never really said sorry. Can we take them seriously now they talk of forecasts and improvement?

Banking is doing a road show today trying to "interface" with the business and commercial public. Brave deed. Maybe suits of armour would be better that city suits. And whilst they go about telling business they are lending and want to lend, they do so in the face of retail sales also dipping. Confidence is the name of the game. None of us feels really confident. I've got hope, but that's not quite the same thing.

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Richard Dawkins - Is it a case of evil be?

Looking serenely atheistic!

I've just seen Archbishop Cranmer's Blog about the arch-secularist and purveyor of all things atheistic Richard Dawkins. Dawkins has been in Dublin setting up some declaration for atheists in a proposed secular state. He hopes the churches will “wither away”, describing the Catholic Church as “an evil institution . . . by far the worst where the churches are concerned”.

Richard Dawkins is very keen on describing Christians as evil. Of course, for him his life is only a flicker in time. He thinks that when he dies that's it. Only a memory will be left of him. And the memory he is so keen to leave us with is one of a rather petty atheist mocking God and trying to belittle those who have belief. I could say it's water off a duck's back, but many are upset and troubled by his nastiness. It's one thing to be an atheist, it's quite another to be supremely pompous about it.

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, that chivalrous order of knighthood, has the motto "Honi soit qui malypense" (in Norman French) which roughly translates as "Evil be to him who evil thinks." So if Dawkins thinks the Catholic Church is evil, what will become of him? Now there's an evil thought!

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Wayne Rooney's wig - er, hair transplant

Rooney's new hairline

Wayne Rooney is to get a hair transplant or a stylish new wig apparently. He is fed up with his bonce being mocked by his team mates. He may have a few problems but lack of hair is not one of them, surely? He'll look a proper nana with a syrup or a hair weave or whatever. Total waste of money. Elton John's tried all manner of tonsorial tosh on his head and it's not improved things much. Bruce Forsyth has only just got his wig looking normal. The late great Reginald Truscott-Jones aka Ray Milland went wig crazy until someone told him he'd get better parts without a moving hairpeice.

I hope Rooney's brains aren't just in his feet. A wig indeed! Can't he just be man enough to say he's bald. I went bald as did my father. I can't be bothered about wigs and all that stuff. But, if he wants to waste his money, who am I to say nay.

The Sun nearly three years ago about Rooney's baldness. And for the worst toupee ever.

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Indian anti-bribery site set up

"The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane"

India is not the only country where bribery takes place, but it is probably a leader in bribery being rife at all levels of society. Italians tend to keep it to the inner sanctums of officialdom with a helping of Mafia money on the side. The British do it by an elaborate quid pro quo process, sometimes described as "You scratch my back".

Now an enterprising Indian has set up a site to expose bribery and the bribers. "Tell us your story. Using your stories we'll advocate with the government for an improved system. Together let's fight corruption." - the site is full of stories about having to pay bribes. The website was the brainwave of Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan, founders of a not-for-profit organisation in Bangalore called Janaagraha which literally means "people power".

"Bribery is routinely expected in interactions with government officials", Swati Ramanathan says, "to register your house, to get your driving licence, domestic water connection, even a death certificate."

The thought I have is that if the Indian economy is oiled by bribery, what happens when the bribery ceases? Swati says "We are all also responsible because we end up paying the darn bribes because otherwise you can never get anything done in India." So if the bribes stop, will India grind to a halt?

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The long hours worked by MPs

I don't know why our MPs are expected to burn the candle at both ends. Many of the new intake, and it was one of the largest ever, say they expected to work a 60-hour week at Westminster. Surprised, they now find on average it is 69 hours. Which would suggest that some do a lot more. I can't begin to think why we should have haggard and homesick MPs running the country. Britain seems obsessed with long hours. In fact, the longer the hours the worse the country gets. Borrowing still up in the stratosphere. What is it with them?

There was a time when MPs did far fewer hours. The British Empire was overseen by people who had a relaxed attitude to work. Why does David Cameron think he needs to be everywhere, doing everything? It's such a ridiculous state of affairs for the affairs of state.

Delegation is the thing. Surely once a policy has been worked out it can be followed through by lesser mortals. We pay MPs badly, vested interests are all over Parliament lobbying here and there, tying them up in time and trouble. Maybe it's a case of too much talking and not enough doing. We need a proper revision of parliamentary workings. Currently we have a bureaucratic machine checking and stamping expenses. It can't be beyond the ken of some to devise a working week that works well for the 21st century - surely!

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Jai MacDowall is a worthy winner of BGT

The final of Britain's Got Talent was a good show. All the acts performed well, or well enough. In the end it was Jai MacDowall who won. The press are saying it was a shock result. Can't think why, unless they fell for the fixed show thing. Apparently the police think it was all a stunt to boost ratings.

I do hope that come next year all this slimey backstage stuff will have stopped. Each year we are told that applicants queue up at the stage door for auditions. That they come on a voluntary basis having filled out forms. So what are these so-called scouts doing? Some of them are scurrying about the countryside like double glazing salesmen. It's not exactly what the show keeps telling us.

And why these handcuff arrangements? The poor girl who cried, Jessica Hobson, was dumped from the ITV2 show because she blurted out that the song choice was not hers. Is this a talent contest or a Stasi type pantomime? It should not be right for amateur contestants to be gagged and brainwashed so they just parrot out staged words.

It's a good show, but Simon Cowell's paronoia of failure is a real downer on the proceedings. That said, Jai MacDowall was a worthy winner indeed.

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Is Simon Cowell being dead straight with us?

Ronan Parke - Is he the eventual winner?

I like Britain's Got Talent. I think it is generally an entertaining show. The three judges, David Haselhoff, Amanda Holden and Michael McIntyre all seem fairly relaxed and fair with the contestants. But they are hired hands for the night. The semi-finals saw Simon Cowell return. The general opinion in our household is that he is really only hoping for a signing that will make him more money. When the viewing public gives him a whammy he gets irked. He was distinctly rude about Gay and Alan. Almost verging on the cruel, as he held back from mocking Alan. That remembering the order of the bells alone was some feat indeed was missed on Mr. Cowell. And he had one contestant in tears for saying her dress looked silly. Rather nasty, I thought.

Tonight he announced that he was outraged to hear that some blogger has been putting it about that the show is fixed. Well, it may not be fixed but it has a distinct whiff of bamboo backing. The alleged fixing is about whether he wants Ronan Parke, a 12-year old warbler to win and that he is steering the show in that direction. I wouldn't know. But Simon is outraged. He says he never met the boy before. And Ronan says he never met Simon before. And no recording contract has been signed.

But that apparently is not the allegation. The point is that Ronan Parke appeared before the BGT team in 2009 apparently.

From Anorak News -

"Scouts working for SYCO first saw Ronan Parke (the 12 year old singer) some two years ago when he was just 10 and was singing at a birthday party for former Norwich City goal-keeper, Bryan Gunn. Following that, Ronan was privately auditioned by SYCO scouts on two more occasions and, as is usual practice on BGT, he was “invited” to audition for the show as a “preferred” contestant. At the same time, Ronan and his parents were “required” to enter into a contract with SYCO…

As is common for “invited” contestants that SYCO likes and have already signed, Ronan and his parents were provided with a car to drive them to the audition in London. These “invited” contestants don’t have to queue up with everyone else, they don’t go through the preliminary auditions with producers, but perform straight to Simon and the judging panel at a pre- arranged time-slot. And so it was for Ronan back in 2009 when he was just 10."

Well, either that is true or it is not. A contract to appear is not the same as a singing contract. Appearing before Simon Cowell on video is not the same as in person. This is all a bit like Humpty Dumpty sitting on his wall.

On Britain's Got Talent on Friday evening, Simon Cowell said, "There has been an allegation made in the papers - not in the papers actually, on the internet by somebody - that Ronan Parke had a previous recording contract with my record label, that I'd met him beforehand, both of which are complete and utter lies.

"The first time I met Ronan was the first time he appeared on this show; he entered the show of his own accord. He's 12 years old. This is a deliberate smear campaign."

Cowell talks of a "recording contract" but that does not seem to be the allegation. It is all about being contracted to Syco, allegedly, of course! Sooner or later the truth will out. I understand the police are a bit miffed at dealing with Cowell's problems. They think they should be after real criminals.

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Sexy MP? They're outraged at the very thought!

Bessie Braddock MP

A new website is causing a stir with MPs. It is called Sexy MP and is the brainchild of a certain Francis Boulle. He wants people to rate their most fancied MP by asking the lurid question "Which MP would you rather have sex with?".

I've had a look but I've not voted. Not that I'm being holier-than-thou or feeling pompously satisfied that I think it vulgar. I just didn't think that an MP was meant to be fancied that way. Now I have to admit a lot of them are very good looking, and that's not just the women. I see Luciana Berger is way out in front. But she's got a good photo to pull in the votes. There was a time when MPs didn't smile and didn't look like that. My goodness, where would Bessie Braddock have been placed? Or Dame Irene Ward? Could anyone have voted for Sir Gerald Nabarro? They would have had a fit knowing that the voters were ranking them by looks rather than policies.

When you click on the name you get to visit Google images. Caroline Flint was one I chose. Instantly a wall of Caroline Flint photos. But there's an interloper. Caroline Flint has been a midwife for 33 years! Not the Caroline Flint I was looking for, as Facebook would say.

I suppose it's a bit of harmless fun. I've heard that most of the Top 20 had been discussed in the Commons already. It's just that those doing the talking probably never thought they'd end up being included in a grand contest of all the talent.

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