Singer-songwriter and political activist says he is ‘no longer prepared to fund the excessive bonuses of RBS investment bankers’. Read the story here.
Boris quote on the tax on bank bonuses: “The Government is doing nothing more than fast-tracking the departure of this talent pool out of Britain”.
Here, with a satirical twist, is Dungeekin with his take on the situation – check him out @dungeekin
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjUA3RU4B8E&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Stalinist liars,
Fraudsters and troughers,
Traitors and warmongers,
These Labour whores,
Now every family,
Is taxed into penury,
To pay for the policy,
Of Labour’s whores,
Even the unions, as times have got harder,
Can see how this government has screwed the working man,
Consigned for eternity, to the dustbin of history,
Is where they deserve to be,
These Labour whores.
I won’t lose faith and I’ll keep voting,
Not for the Clunking Fist but for a steady hand,
For theirs is a land of war ‘twixt classes,
And mine is a trust in my fellow man.
Theirs is a land of debt and worry,
Mine is the liberties we knew once before,
Theirs are the lies and paranoia,
We’re sick and tired of you,
You Labour whores.
Call up George Osborne,
Bring David Cameron,
Repeal the laws that tell us how to behave,
And I’ll give my consent
To a Tory Government
That does not deny a man the fruits of his wage,
No more to tax-and spend, never vote Red again
Vote out these throwbacks from the days gone by,
Their ministrations
Have gutted this Nation,
Vote out this lot,
This bunch of Labour whores.
*Though I very much doubt Billy Bragg likes New Labour any more than he likes the Tories.
For the first time I can confidently say I think I love Billy Bragg.
What Boris really meant:
Boris quote on the tax on bank bonuses: “The Government is doing nothing more than fast-tracking the departure of this talent pool, many of whom I went to public-school with, out of Britain”.
I was unfortunate enough to accidentally go to a university with a lot of public-school silver-spooners. I keep track of some of them. Many ended up with ridiculously overpaid jobs in the City. Boris Johnson will know a lot of them too.
I’ll take Britain, and me personally, getting a bit poorer if it also gets a bit fairer.
My head’s swimming. I never thought I’d wake up to find myself agreeing with Mr. Bragg. Looked out of my caravan window and there are no flying pigs either. The only thing airborne at the moment is “The Flying Linguini Brothers practising for to-night’s show!
22 January
Christmas Bonuses for all? Part Two.
In a previous blog I speculated about Government management of the banks in the City through attempting to control bonuses.
The success, albeit small, of this attempt is now clearer. A pattern has emerged of major banks taking a variety of actions to comply, in part, with Government controls. Two of the biggest banks, J.P.Morgan and Goldman Sachs have reduced the percentage of their revenue given over to their bonus pool. For J.P.Morgan the reduction was from 40% in 2008 to 11% in 2009. Similar figures for Goldman were from 48% to 35%. These reductions seem to imply that more money has been retained by the bank. This retention may be to create a greater base of capital to ensure future stability; or it may be for quite other reasons. Only time will tell.
The Treasury may well have expected banks would increse the size of their bonus pools to compensate for the “loss” of the 50% tax imposed before Christmas. The opposite seems to have happened. Further, Morgan Stanley has put more of its bonuses in shares than cash. The shares are deferred for up to 3 years, and there is a possibility of clawback depending on performance. Goldman has reduced the size of the bonus pool by giving $500.000 to charity. Morgan Stanley has also agreed to share the 50% tax amongst all it’s employees world wide; and not let it just fall on it’s 7,000 employees in London. Credit Suisse in London has agreed that it’s top executives will take a 30% cut in their bonuses, to create a larger pot for it’s other employees.
Despite all this J.P.Morgan’s profits has doubled in 2009 from 2008. Goldman’s profits, from a low base in 2008, has grown five times! This has prompted more aggressive calls for a “levy” on banks in America. This has implications for future bonuses next Christmas. Many of today’s bonuses may well be much higher than 2008, because profits are much higher. And why is that? Firstly, there are fewer banks than last year. Secondly, there is the very contentious “recovery” in the world’s financial markets; more takeovers.
The banks have changed their practices on bonuses; but other practices need to change in the coming year!
All this talk about bankers’ bonuses is a ruse to divert attention from Brown and Darling’s £180 billion disaster. The bonuses are trivial compared with the £500 million that these two incompetents lose down the back of national sofa every day. The bankers put money into the economy; Gordon sucks it out again.
Unless Governments can control their spending habit, no level of taxation will ever be high enough, economic growth will be stunted, nobody but the rich will be able to live well and the economy will remain acutely vulnerable to external shocks. An £80 billion deficit in a good year goes beyond incompetence into idiocy. We need the public finances to be run at least as well as those of a drunken sailor on his first shore leave.
We hear them talk whisper and curse,
about how conservative rule would be worse,
the blinded minds who look behind,
and only see the troubled times,
we wind up coming out looking bad,
no one remembers good times weve had,
but look now do you see the change,
the public now see how labour have stained,
the policies they promised to always maintain,
left our poor england in recession and pain,
sent our young men in thousands and tens,
to go forth to die in foreign warfare,
were you proud of them then,
what a great pair of dubbya and blair,
did this alliance benefit or repair,
or even care to just clear the air,
so we would stop chocking on current affairs?
you must be joking its easy to see,
in power there really needs to be,
a quite conservative right minded party,
with mps that argue policy and live for the benches,
there to fence with politics not just work for expenses!
the public were impressed with how labour presented,
themselves in the run up to being elected,
now as we all see these mp’s are resented,
for straying away from what they represented,
but today i must say this can be ammended,
by bringing in a party now splendid,
we can take down labours gallows now lets all work together,
shed light on this frightful political weather,
lets bring back the pleasure sing of new hope,
lets make our life better fast,
AND CAST THE CONSERVATIVE VOTE!
JDF
http://www.andybarefoot.com/politics/cameron.php
http://mydavidcameron.com/cat1.html
http://mydavidcameron.com/ (I like the third one down on the left)
( sleepy eyes ) Why are yous condemning the bankers? At least they work for their money.
What about the British politicians and their dodgy expense claims which, when found out, most of them got off scot-free.
My case: I paid reduced council tax. When the new council tax bill comes, I had to re-apply for a reduction again. They back-checked my bank account for up to 5 years, found out any un-informed extra incomes, increased my previous council tax bill and added that increase to my new council tax bill. Meaning I will have to pay and and they will not lose any owed money.
Some OAPs only owed their local councils a few pennies ( it’s true stories in the press ) yet their local councils hired thuggish bailiffs to go knocking on their doors with jail threats. The councils’ simple excuse: ” One household owes a few pennies, not much. But think how many households are there in our city and multiply that up and it’s a lot of owed money which we can’t afford to lose! “. Rubbish.
If this government want to sort out any law breakings, they must sort out themselves first to set an example. Like parents set a good example for their children to learn from.
Until Labour and the useless police sort out these greedy politicians who make different laws for the public and different laws for themselves, I will not condemn any law breakers. Live and let live, I say.
Boris Johnson quoting himself in today’s online Guardian:
What an ugly final sentence above.
How badly Boris Johnson writes.
Bankers, think Billy Braggs action is extreme.
Money goes to money
Thinking about this slightly deeper, yes the bonuses are too large but at the end of the day…
Just as a lawyer studies years to obtain the level of income he does so have the bankers, they have worked hard like it or not , to get to the position where large payments become available.
The only thing i can say in support of them is that they are working! They do contribute along with everyone else in that world to our country.
The more their wealth increases the more they pay back, i doubt they will be claiming for free bus passes etc.
So maybe just maybe it is beneficial to the government to support them in such a manner
(although the sums they are receiving are over the top!)
Still as i say these people their parents grandparents and children no doubt will be paying back into the system which in turn benefits us in one way or another.
Now due to recent experiences i have come to find a rather larger drain on our country’s expenses…
My mother and father worked till they could not, my grandfathers served in the r.a.f and grandmothers in the w.a.f…. i myself was only able to work for 6months after leaving school due to bad health, but i worked i even got a temp n/i no. while waiting for mine at the age of 16 so i could start work asap!
I claim income support and recently have tried to claim for incapacity and was told i am entitled to the benefit but not entitled to any money from this due to not having paid enough tax contributions!
Now i have angina and cannot even carry my shopping home which costs me more etc etc i recieve 156 fortnightly.
NOW PLEASE TELL ME why The DRUG ADDICTS that live above me (only unable to work through use of herion! Who have not worked a day in their lives receive over 300gbp!!!! per week, perfectly capable to work should they stop this habit,but for now the government are happily paying these benefit thieves enough money to both live comfortably and afford to buy their drugs everyday, i can think of countless people who are doing the same!
And as i will not lie about my state of health on forms or slowly kill myself with intoxicants i am entitled to nothing!
If we were to crack down on this and send every capable person and every drug addict back into work
(or just into work having no idea what it is anyway!)
then i honestly think that this country would not worry nor even turn their heads, at the sums these bankers receive!
I would rather know that money is going to them than literally paying for illegal drugs, alcohol etc . Then just to add insult to injury we provide rehabilitation clinics on the NHS that are used for a week or two at sums in the thousands per person per stay. Then as soon as these people leave all that goes down the drain as they go out in search of their next fix!
I would happily lose out on any benefits to people who are less mobile / in worse health than myself any day! But when i am denied what i am entitled to (which my family have paid all their life for) to fund the lavish lives of drug dealers, i get ever so slightly annoyed.
We are lucky to have such a system in place but as it is constantly abused we are not able to see its true potential!
Without these thieves i can picture lower vat and a much higher quality health service!
Then again (sigh) even if this were the case with no drains on resources…..
I wonder how many additional homes , cars , staff and helicopter rides would the labour party claim for??
Please excuse me while i lose all hope and jump off the (paid for but still tolled) Qe2 bridge!
J.D.F