Here’s Ed Miliband on 31st january 2012

“if you are paid a bonus it’s for exceptional circumstances”

Ok, let’s look at the Civil Service (100% controlled by the government, not just 82% as with RBS) under Labour’s rule.

In 2008/9, civil servants were paid £130m in bonii. The department which received greatest proportion of this largesse was the Ministry of Defence, which is a byword for incompetence and waste. So were the recipients one or two shining lights delivering outstanding and ‘exceptional’ excellence in an otherwise dark morass of sub-standard performance ? No, the largesse was distributed broadly;  just civil servants taking advantage of Gordon Brown’s money shower on the public sector and displaying the same feral greed labour accuse the bankers of.

This just underlines the two-faced and opportunistic approach by Miliband, who was part of the bonus benefits expansion during Labour years.

Well, several this month as a postscript to the UK’s effective withdrawal from the EU, which dates back in Grumpy’s view to the signing of the Lisbon Treaty and the lack of a referendum thereupon. Here’s just a sample across the political spectrum of politicians talking democracy and then abandoning it when they realise it won’t produce the answer they wanted.

“Today, I will give this cast-iron guarantee: If I become PM a Conservative government will hold a referendum on any EU treaty that emerges from these negotiations.” — David Cameron MP, The Sun, 26th September 2007

(Dave’s cast iron is obviously very malleable)

“There is no question of any constitutional treaty going through without the express consent of the British people . . . Regardless of how other members vote, we will have a referendum on the subject.” — Rt Hon. Tony Blair MP, Prime Minister, speech to the House of Commons, 21st June 2004

(See Angela Merkel’s comment on the Lisbon Treaty – “The substance of the constitution is preserved. That is a fact.” — Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, speech to the European Parliament, 27th June 2007)

“We will put it to the British people in a referendum.” — Gordon Brown, General Election Manifesto, 2005

“… ratification must be subject to a referendum of the British people.” — Liberal Democrat Party, General Election Manifesto, 2005

Alistair Campbell’s brass neck

Alistair Campbell recently appeared at the Leveson Inquiry into press behaviour, having been called to comment on the integrity of the industry. One can only assume this is rather like car manufacturers using ex car thieves to test security measures on vehicles, but it still grates.

Almost every aspect of his responses would merit an entry here, but just as a taster, this retired uber spin meister for Blair uttered the words which must sure qualify him for this months entry

” … The question is whether they allow their zeal for the campaign to infect their commitment to accuracy …”

Do Iraq dossiers come to mind here ?

It amazes Grumpy that Mr Campbell always communicates with such conviction (whereas his ex-boss was always transparently uttering the words without bothering to show any real belief), but the word ‘slimey’ always comes to Grumpy’s mind when watching him.

Oakeshott on Stephen Hester and Bonus payments

Lib Dem big mouth Matthew Oakeshott has been lambasting Stephen Hester for being ‘rewarded for failure’ and demanded that he forfeit his bonus awarded by the RBS Board. Under enormous pressure from all sides, Hester eventually did so.

In his tirade, Oakeshott largely focused on the failure of RBS to lend to small businesses. The implied state here  is that RBS could actually find enough small businesses with a suitable credit profile to lend to, but such considerations would hardly have been of concern to this ex-labour pinko.

Lest one should think that he has some empathy or experience  with the struggling small business sector, Grumpy should remind readers that this is really Baron Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, and that following his privileged upbringing by schooling at Charterhouse and reading PPE  at Oxford, he largely spent his whole career either as a bag carrier for politicians or in the investment banking world. Yes, read that latter part again – he’s a banker (check out www.olim.co.uk )

It may strike the owner of a small business as slightly odd that this scourge of the wicked casino operators and  defender of fairness for the small metal bashing shop and kebab takeaway  actually makes his living in the bowels of the very money grubbing hell he would have us believe the banking sector is.

Quite what his qualification to opine on the difficulties faced by small business seeking credit having never actually worked (as far as can be ascertained by his bio) for any organisation that actually created value for UK plc is a mystery, but hearing him lambasting Hester on Radio 4 on the 29th of January earns him this hypocrisy slot. The moral is, beware the rich and privileged carrying the flag for the lower orders.