The Price of Keeping Power

So there you have it…… Theresa May has made a pact with the Democratic Unionist Party (the DUP to you and I) to bring the total farce of a General Election to an end.

 

In short, the Tories have done a ‘deal’ in return for the DUP voting in line with the Conservatives at W1 and propping up the minority Government for the two years (which in theory is necessary to deliver Brexit).

 

Here’s the kicker……the Government has promised a sweetener for Northern Ireland to the tune of £1 billion (for investment in health and infrastructure). Or to put that another way……that’s £1 billion of our money to buy 10 DUP MPs voting rights.

 

Which begs the question……is this deal in the national interests?

 

The money that has been found down the back of the Number 10 sofa for Northern Ireland may be worth it for Theresa May as the price of holding power……for now.

 

What is very striking is that she has not signed the agreement with the DUP……it has been signed by her chief whip Gavin Williamson. The rationale for this? The deal will survive her resignation or eviction.

 

Which all leaves me feeling that democracy is deformed.

Barclays Bashed

The fallout from the banking crisis has been long, grossly incompetent on so many levels, calamitous, moral sapping and lacking logic to so many (well, to pretty much everybody outside of Westminster and the Banking sector). Yet, here we are 9 years on and headlines are still dominated by bank corruption and greed from that period.

 

The moral corruption of the sector seems to be just an accepted part of ‘what goes on’. The illegal corruption has been harder to pin down given the few instances that have actually ended in charges, the law courts or in fines……but Barclays look like they are going to get a bloody nose.

 

The Story……

Barclays took £12 billion from Qatar in 2008 as foreign investment, as banks scrambled to avoid nationalisation. These emergency funds allowed Barclays to avoid a Government bailout in 2008 at a time when rivals Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland were forced to rely on a taxpayer rescue. Investigations have focused on a £2 billion loan advanced to Qatar by Barclays after the fundraisings were negotiated - the implication being that there was a money-go-round at work. Or to put that another way, Barclays was handing Qatar some of the money it was using to support the British bank. There are also instances of Barclays paying for fictitious ‘advisory services’ to the tune of over £300 million.

 

Interestingly, it has taken over 5 years to untangle the web to get this far and issue criminal charges. Even more interesting is that these are the first criminal charges related to the financial crisis that have been brought against a bank in the UK.

 

Which begs the question why are there so few criminal charges ……is it the complexity of the financial interactions, lack of investigating resources or limited financial experience of the investigations? More worryingly, is the moral corruption actually legal?

 

As we have seen over the years, fines have failed to stop banks pushing the envelope. Perhaps taking the liberty away from those involved is the only way that the message will get through.

 

Finally we are getting somewhere.  

Hollow Election

The recent General Election marked my sixth trip to the polling station as a voter but it all felt a very hollow experience.

 

You see, political parties put a manifesto together as a public declaration of policy and aims. However, such is the significance of leaving the EU and Brexit negotiations commencing over the next week, manifestos can be put out for recycling for the next collection. They are pretty much worthless now.

 

The majority of declarations and aims in the manifestos are linked to (a) money, with a direct consequence of spending in particular areas as cuts or further borrowing will be  required to support / fund it or (b) EU legislation.

 

In 2016, the Government brought in £744 billion and spent £802 billion……the gap was funded by borrowing. However, we currently have no idea what the associated costs will be to leave the EU and over what period these will be paid……some estimates are scary. That has a huge implication on how the Government prepares budgets, taxes individuals and companies, decides what can be spent on public services, what cuts need to be made, etc., etc.

 

Then add to the financial aspect that we have to negotiate an immigration policy with Brussels and decide which laws we will keep or bin (around half of our laws come from the EU), it makes it increasingly difficult to place any significance or importance on manifestos. Brexit negotiations dictate so much.

 

The most bizarre and infuriating aspect of the build up to the General Election was the lack of focus on Brexit……this was the biggest issue that will have the biggest impact on the elected party’s ability to deliver manifesto promises. Yet it was given so little focus from all. So exactly what were we meant to base our vote on?

 

All in all, the General Election build up and result was a right royal mess. All very avoidable and at a time when it simply wasn’t required going into a political fight with the EU. It just feels a politically arrogant and selfish act by Theresa May that she will now live to regret.

 

Which begs the question……just what was the point of it all?  

Deadline To The Breadline

The results of a detailed survey on income and savings have been published recently.

 

The significant headline is that the average employee has only about a month's savings to maintain their lifestyle if their income suddenly stopped. Equally concerning is that 26% of people said savings would run out in a week or less, 23% said they had nothing to fall back on at all and 22% had less than £500 in savings.

 

Whilst concerning, should we really be surprised?

 

Unemployment figures may be at their lowest level since (insert the latest politically spun figure) but it is the level of income that is the issue. With inflation running close to 3% and rising, income simply isn’t keeping pace with the cost of living.

 

Whilst Labour may be exploiting the message that ‘real’ income is falling, they have a point and it can’t keep going on forever.

 

The alternative……higher unemployment but those working on higher wages.

 

It’s a dilemma for sure.