Unstable Cable

As an honest, reasonable and understanding person who believes that the vast majority of people in the UK are honest, reasonable and understanding, I have no idea where to start with this……let’s try the beginning.

I Told You So……

As I predicted in my blog back in June 2012, (‘Another Day……Another Banking Scandal’ http://stevesmithlive.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/another-dayanother-banking-scandal.html RBS have also got themselves involved in the mass cheating for financial gain (who would have thought it!) with the manipulation of Libor. In short, they got their dirty fingers in the honey pot and must now pay the consequence. The consequence? A fine of £390 million.

Enter Vince Cable MP……

Our current Secretary of State For Business. This guy is no idiot surely……he has a significant economic education, has been economic adviser to a number of Commonwealth countries and has been involved in UK politics for 30 years (now holding one of the big 5 seats at Number 10).

 

 

However……

Give a politician an opportunity to jump on a popular bandwagon, jump they will. And with bank bashing being so vogue, Vince Cable couldn’t resist.  

The day that headlines were awash with details of the £390 million fine for RBS, Vince Cable declared to the world “RBS must pay the fine themselves and not the Government or taxpayers”. Oh dear. It’s as if he had knocked at my door and told me he had a blog for me to write.  

I’m Never One To Miss An Opportunity……

Which leads me on to a couple of important points that I feel should be brought up Mr Cable.

1.     RBS is 82% owned by taxpayers. That is because the Government decided that it would be good value to bail them out to the tune of £45 billion. (£45 billion seems far too easy to type so here’s the harder version……£45,000,000,000). As 82% owners, ‘we’ by very definition must pay for this indirectly……taxpayers ARE paying this. 

2.     I appreciate that you and your political party were not in power at the time that the £45,000,000,000 was agreed. However, you held a seat in Parliament at that time and history shows that you offered little resistance to this. At best this was poor politicking for the constituants you serve. At worst, this was unforgivable as a man of such economic standing.

 

3.     Having realized you have ‘dropped one’ with this, you have now stated that the fine should be paid from past and future staff bonuses. Seems reasonable. However, the current Chief Executive (Stephen Hestor) will still receive part of his £2.4 million annual bonus in March as the Government have failed to put sufficient clauses in his contract to stop this from being paid. After 4 years, two parliaments and many investigations, why is this? Who has failed? What action will you take?

We are run by people who think we are idiots when it seems very apparent they are the idiots.

 

Mr Cable, take a bow.