Hypocritcal Gobshites

It is not just politicians who are prone to double standards and hypocrisy, but also those who feed off politics; ie the media.

The Mirror is foaming at the mouth over the income of Boris Johnson (he, Ken Leninspart and the Liberal candidate have published their tax returns as part of the contest to be London Mayor).

The Mirror shouts:
"

How did London mayor Boris Johnson find the time to earn £900,000 on the side?

The staggering sum, which he has described as “chicken feed”, comes on top of his lavish £143,911 taxpayer-funded salary"

This faux "outrage" is really rather "odd" given the pay that the Trinity Mirror's (owner of The Daily Mirror) CEO Sly Bailey actually receives:

"The pay package handed out to Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) boss Sly Bailey has had shareholders up in arms of late, and it's easy to see why.

With executive pay becoming increasingly disconnected from the money they actually earn for their employers (that is, their shareholders), disaffection is spreading amongst the ranks of everyday investors, and their voices are becoming increasingly harder to ignore in the country's boardrooms.

In this case, big investors are airing their displeasure too, after chief executive Ms Bailey was paid a total of £1.3m in cash, shares and pension contributions in 2011, despite Trinity Mirror having only last month reported a 40% fall in pre-tax profits, capping a dismal few years of falling profits, suspended dividends, and worrying levels of debt.

Collapsing value

The share price has collapsed too, falling from a 2009 peak of 192p to just 37p today, meaning that Ms Bailey has presided over a slashing of the company's capitalization. When she took over the top job in 2003, Trinity Mirror was valued at £1.1bn -- today it is worth just £97m.

The company's pension fund is suffering too, as the company has had to pursue a deal with its trustees to pare back its contributions in order to pay its dues to some of its creditors.

To answer some of the criticisms, the board of directors has decided to halve the value of any future cash bonuses paid to Ms Bailey, reducing it from a maximum of 110% of her basic salary to 55%.

Investors not calmed

But the move looks unlikely to stem the unrest, as they appear unwilling to budge on the overall levels of the boss's pay package, with share-based incentives boosted to compensate for any potential cash loss.

The board's actions appear to be at least partly aimed at avoiding a shareholder revolt at its upcoming AGM in May -- last year 11% voted against the CEO's pay deal, and a higher level of protest is expected this year.

But will it succeed in heading off the madding crowds? Major investors in Trinity Mirror include Schroders, Aviva, Standard Life, Royal London and Legal & General -- we'll find out next month whether they have the courage to press for shareholders' rights."

Maybe The Mirror hasn't been told what their CEO receives, or maybe The Mirror is simply being hypocritical?

Big Society Capital Theft

Question: When is theft not theft?

Answer: When the government is the thief!

David Cameron, desperate to prove that the "Big Society" isn't merely a spin master's coke addled dream, has today launched the Big Society Capital.

This is a bank that will lend money to charities and community groups. It is funded with £400M stolen by the government from dormant bank accounts, and by £200M funded by other banks.

This makes "good" Cameron's promise in 2010 that he would launch such a bank. However, as I noted at the time:

"- The cash being used to fund the "Big Society" is not the "elite's", the raid on dormant accounts is in fact a form of taxation.

- The Big Society Bank will of course be controlled by the politicians, or their chosen appointees.

I wonder if the government will be able to keep their sticky little fingers off the millions that will be hoovered up by the Big Society Bank? "

Just remember folks when the government steals your money it isn't theft, it's redistribution for The Big Society!

Home Office Ignores Fraud Probes

Exaro reports that the Home Office has made A4e (the jobs agency being at the centre of a major fraud probe) the preferred bidder to take over the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) helpline to advise people of their rights in discrimination cases.

This despite the fact that ministers have ordered an audit of ‘all’ Whitehall contracts with A4e, to run alongside two current police inquiries regarding allegations of attempted fraud involving the company. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which provides most of A4e’s UK income, is also conducting an investigation.

A4e has been ‘preferred’ over the Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as Sitel, which ran the disability helpline for the EHRC before it was taken in-house, and Vertex, an international business processing company. The decision puts A4e in pole position to take over the service, despite the current controversy.

I wonder if anyone has told the Home Office that there are some fraud probes going on?

Georgie Porgie's Porkie Pies

George Osborne's recent budget has caused the Tories a wee bit of a backlash amongst the pasty eating classes. However, pasties aside, another controversial area of his budget was the media dubbed "granny tax".

Osborne has attempted to defend his position by noting that it is not a "tax" per se and that, in cash terms, pensioners are no worse off.

All well and good, maybe, if one only reads and focuses on his current defence/explanation. However, go back but one year and you will see that wee Georgie promised to increase Age Related Allowance by the RPI.

Compare and contrast the relevant sections of the 2011 Budget with the 2012 Budget:

"BUDGET 2011 page 35

1.128  As announced in the June Budget 2010, the Government has reviewed how the CPI can be used for the indexation of taxes and duties while protecting revenues. Consistent with this, the default indexation assumption for direct taxes will be the CPI from April 2012. To ensure employers and older people do not lose out, for the duration of this Parliament the annual increases in the employer NICs threshold, and the age related allowance and other thresholds for older people, will be over-indexed compared to the CPI, and will increase by the equivalent of the RPI. The Government will review the use of the CPI for indirect taxes once its fiscal consolidation plans have been implemented and the duty increases it inherited from the previous Government have come to an end.

BUDGET 2012 page 34

Age-related Allowances...

1.200  To support the goal of a single personal allowance for taxpayers regardless of age, and to spread the tax relief fairly across working age people and pensioners, from 6 April 2013 existing ARAs will be frozen at their 2012–13 levels (£10,500 for those born between 6 April 1938 and 5 April 1948, and £10,660 for those born before 6 April 1938) until they align with the personal allowance. From April 2013, ARAs will no longer be available, except to those born on or before 5 April 1948. The higher ARA will only be available to those born before 6 April 1938. These changes will simplify the system and reduce the number of pensioners in Self Assessment."

Could it be that wee Georgie was telling porkies last year?

Surely not!

Taking Power From The People - #telldaveeverything

On June 25 2009 David Cameron made a speech to Imperial College London, entitled Giving Power Back To The People, in here are a few choice quotes:

“If we want to stop the state controlling us, we must confront this surveillance state....

Every month over a thousand surveillance operations are carried out, not just by law enforcement agencies but by other public bodies like councils and quangos.   And the tentacles of the state can even rifle through your bins for juicy information. ...

The balance of power in our country has shifted away from the individual - just trying to live their life and towards the state and its agencies - constantly probing, prying and picking on people."

Move forward to 2012, and we see the same David Cameron advocating state snooping on the details of every phone call made, every email sent and every web page visited by British citizens.

Sadly this is but the thin end of the wedge, in 2013 Project Stellar Wind will go live in the USA:

"Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks. The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013.

Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.”....

Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.”

Terrorism is used as Nanny's catch all excuse to cover all of her rapidly expanding surveillance requirements. In truth, our lives are not being blighted on a daily basis by terrorism but by "low level" crime (yobbery, thuggery, robbery, scummy behaviour etc). These are the issues that need to be addressed.

In this volte face, we see politicians revealing their true nature; dishonest, power hungry snoopers.

Good luck everyone, we are entering an era where will be watched, monitored and manipulated by the state as never before! 

Labour's Wet Dream

Shadow Cabinet member Jon Trickett, apparently an ally of Ed Miliband, has been caught gushing forth (in a video made last July) about the economic crisis that the UK is enduring.

He is positively revelling in the rising unemployment and inflation, describing it as "an orgasmic wet dream" for the left.

Oddly enough the video has now been removed from YouTube!

Cheap Pasties

Want to know where you can buy a subsidised pasty?

Dine in the Houses of Parliament.

An extra large minced beef and onion pasty, served with beans, was on the menu last Friday for £2.95.

Unfortunately, unless you are an MP or guest of an MP, you will have to pay around £4.99 for yours!