Banks are reporting and bonuses are back. If they ever went. What is clear is that the government and the media have done a brilliant job of misinforming people for their own political aims. All bankers are not bad and all bonuses should not be banned! However we still have failure being rewarded and overpayment for non-jobs. It will take a bold government and regulator to come out with a solution but the current plans don’t seem to be working either in regaining the public’s trust or in keeping banks and bankers in this country.
Mark Thompson the BBC DG thinks they are not the same as a local council. Indeed not. Which is why the funding model and their remit are so out of date? Either the BBC is a public service and should be more careful with your taxpayer’s money or it’s a private enterprise and can play with the big boys. What it should not be is a publicly funded beast that behaves as if it is a “special” case. As for the DG himself? Overpaid. Underperforming. He’s forgotten what the BBC is there to do and has set out his plan of work to defend the indefensible. Personally I think he should be redefining the role of public service broadcasting on a digital age.
Alistair Darling has finally admitted that the cuts made by government will be the most severe for 20 years. After months of bleating about opposition cuts and spending to get us out of recession finally the penny has dropped. Whilst I agree that cuts need to be made it does concern me that Gordon Brown for so long went on about not cutting… the more it looks like he’s been buying an election rather than looking out for the economy.
The weather continues to be bad and the Conservatives have blamed the government. Whilst there are plenty of things one can have a go at… I don’t think this is one of them. Lord Adonis has said councils should use 25% less grit and salt. I don’t think anyone could have predicted this cold spell. Perhaps we should bask in the knowledge that we are useless at dealing with any freak kind of weather in the UK.
I am back tomorrow for Business & Property from 5pm