POLITICS CORNER

[Thomo]

If the door to the country hadn't been left open for so long, security would have been less of a problem!

[Tizer]

I thought Justin Webb's handling of the G4S boss on the Today programme (Saturday morning) was exemplary, he gave the man a roasting and it was deserved. Another greedy company, badly run, biting off more than it can chew.

[Stanley]

Problem is Tiz they are still getting contracts....

[Whyperion]

Anyone know of an alternative security company of suitable size ?

[PanBiker]

Anyone know of an alternative security company of suitable size ?

I think the point here is that G4S are not behaving like a security company in any shape or form! If they were, they would have had the 10,000 security personnel trained and in place as they were contracted to do and paid accordingly for. Clearly they have failed in this respect and will be taken to task. What beats me is the fact that in the time that has been available to them they cannot recruit and train 10,000 with nearly 3 Million on the dole. They have had plenty of time to sort the wheat from the chaff and there is absolutely no excuse for not delivering on time.

I don't take Tripp's point either in that no one has been hurt yet so it doesn't matter. Security should be paramount at the game's we do not want the equivalent of what happened at the Munich games. I think most people will agree that we are in a lot more volatile situation nowadays than ever existed back in 1972.

Athletes are arriving by the plane load now and must be protected. The whole shebang kicks off in 11 days and the safety of the competitors and the general public should be paramount. It's a disgrace that the contracted company could not step up to the mark and that the Army and Police have had to step in to ensure that safety.

[Tripps]

"I don't take Tripp's point either in that no one has been hurt yet so it doesn't matter." I think I must plead not guilty here Ian, it's from Mr Tardis on another thread.

[Tizer]

What beats me is the fact that in the time that has been available to them they cannot recruit and train 10,000 with nearly 3 Million on the dole. They have had plenty of time to sort the wheat from the chaff and there is absolutely no excuse for not delivering on time.

From what I heard the minister saying on this evening's news it seems G4S have `recruited' 10,000 people - the problem is that their management is chaotic and they haven't communicated any further with many of them, can't find others, don't respond to calls and emails from their new staff etc. So I guess it depends on how you define `recruited'. You get the names & addresses (perhaps only email addresses) of 10,000 people onto a database and then tell the government minister "Yes, we've recruited 10,000".

[Wendyf]

We will probably find they are all waiting for CRB checks or Home Office clearance.

[PanBiker]

"I don't take Tripp's point either in that no one has been hurt yet so it doesn't matter." I think I must plead not guilty here Ian, it's from Mr Tardis on another thread.

Yes hold my hand up Dave, just noticed it myself in the other thread, sorry.

[Whyperion]

G4S apparently got most of the original batch of applicants cleared and ready about a year ago , I think they did not want to recruit onto payroll until last week anyway and now a good few have found other work , contact details changed etc. Looks like really LOGOC did not specify the contract properly and should really have split the contracts by site between two or three companies.

[Stanley]

The Cameron/Clegg road show seems to be pedalling suspiciously hard to assure us that the Coalition is strong and on track.... Hmmmm.... The awkward squad are on holiday and no doubt some discussion and plotting is going on. Meanwhile, comment on the Euro and the markets has vanished from the news to be replaced by the Olympics. Is this the priority?
Inflation figure drops dramatically but the general consensus is that the fall in basic commodity prices is a symptom of falling demand world-wide and sales forced on the High Street by the bad weather. Intersting that we have not had any comment on this from the Westminster Bubble.

[Stanley]

A Parliamentary committee is asking the Coalition to look again at their policy of stopping targets for road safety and pushing the responsibility onto cash-strapped councils after news that for the first time in years the road injury rates have risen, particularly in the young and pedestrians. They say that despite arguments that the weather last year cut down on traffic and injuries there is enough evidence to have a re-think.

[Stanley]

I'm watching the farmers fight to get an economic farm-gate price for milk which will allow them to make a small profit. The basic problem is that the high end of the market, the retailers, in other words the supermarkets, are cutting back on the price they pay for milk so that they can sell it cheaper to customers. This has been going on for years and has led to many small farmers going out of milk and even business altogether. Appeals for reason have failed and there is only one solution that will work and that is for the government to enforce a bottom farm gate price that covers the cost of production, then leave the market to sort out the prices further up the chain. This will mean that customers will have to pay a realistic price for their milk reflecting its real value. The way the 'market' is working is a disgrace and is damaging not only a basic industry but the bedrock of conservation of our countryside. If nothing is done we will all suffer.

[Big Kev]

Just an experiment to produce a "Big Kev" front page

[Whyperion]

Thought the Common Market and CAP was supposed to sort out the wild variations in price ( and supply ) of basic farm products that inevitably occur as a result natural changes in production conditions.

[Stanley]

Dream on! Milk production is a long term investment with a lead time of at least four years and as such should be protected from sudden swings in artificial 'market prices'. The old MMB had a lot of faults but was very efficient at managing distribution and gave the farmers a guaranteed price based on demand for liquid and manufacturing milk. It gave us a stable market, an efficient industry and hence a viable home industry. On top of that it supported the people who are the best conservers of our countryside, the small family farms who are one of the backbones of society. We need a political decision and up to press the agriculture minister has done nothing to stop the imminent disaster. It's a disgrace based on short-sighted policy and pandering to the shibboleth that 'the market knows best'.

[Tardis]

I would have issues with your comments about the MMB. It was OK for what it did, but it never provided a good deal for the end consumer.

The greater point is why, when our dairy industry is already at the cutting edge of technology and efficiency should it actually have to be subject to retailers who demand that milk be sold to them at less than cost price?

They can force through force majeure measures when it suits there own profits, but not to protect their actual primary producers

On top of which the milk in the UK is the cheapest in the UK, and yet we still import a vast amount of milk product from the rest of the EU

Something has gone seriously wrong

But then we have people who believe that Anaerobic digestors fed with silage can produce the elctricity we need, forgetting all about the requirement to become somewhat self sufficient in food in case of volatile food prices.

[Whyperion]

The import of milk products was part of the deal of joining the EEC , so much had to be bought (20% of retail volume ? ) in from other european countries ( mostly cheese , yoghurt ). The MMB were not allowed to sell the full amount of bought in UK produced milk in the UK , hence the large market in whey powder and butter oil that was exported out of intervention funds into Africa and so on.

Given that there are proposals for a number of super dairy farms , enabling a much larger herd at lower cost ( less staff per head ) , does mean that efficiencies can result in lower prices for liquid milk can still be profitable, but at a greatly changed countryside landscape.

Smaller producers are going to have to continue to develop their local value added milk product ranges and drop out of supply to the large processors.

Of course if France could produce and sell more milk into the UK I think some of the processors would source from there. Clearly any kind of balance of payments issues are of no interest or concern to the UK government, I wonder why they bother to report those figures monthly.

[Stanley]

The latest proposals by government rely on the supermarkets granting price increases which can be altered again at a month's notice and are more PR and pandering to the top feeders in the chain than meaningful reform. Further, they do not address the problems of farmers not supplying the liquid milk chain via the supermarkets. Manufacturing milk must be protected also. The advantage of the MMB was that they managed distribution efficiently, put a bottom in the market and shared the basic price between all producers as the farm gate price was calculated using both liquid and manufacturing prices.Producer retailers were not hampered by this system as they could opt out. The main culprit was the NFU who were supine and allowed the changes to go through without protest. (They spent a fortune building a new HQ at the same time.....)
Yield on Spanish bonds is now over 7% and is not supportable despite the promise of €100 million loan from Europe. The train wreck continues.

[Stanley]

Growth figures due on Wednesday are expected to show a third quarter of recession. Good thing that we have the Olympics to swamp the news......

[Bruff]

This milk business does cast a light on an oddity in this country that rears its head every now and again. Here we have a groups of workers representatives and the workers themselves deciding as they see fit to blockade any work premises that takes their fancy without any apparant due notice. Similar actions happen on occasions with hauliers who in their time have, on a whim and as they see fit, blockaded distributions centres and/or run rolling road blocks down some of our major roads.

Contrast this with the Trade Unions who subject to the most draconian labour laws in Western Europe must jump through hoop after hoop, all the time scrutinised by banks of lawyers, before they can even signal their intent to engage in industrial action at some date. For their sins they will be pilloried by Ministers, sections of the press and broader media and if they step even slightly outr of line, will find their funds sequestered.

What an odd and partial country we live in.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Richard, I suppose the problem is that it's such a simple process to park a vehicle obstructively and whist laws governing obstruction could be enforced there is still the physical matter of removing the vehicles if they are there in large numbers. This makes it an affective strategy and so gets used. My only observation about this recent episo9de is that it seems to have been partially effective. The government has sat up and taken notice and is supervising 'negotiations' though how effective they will be remains to be seen. Perhaps they should be designated as a picket?
EU finance ministers have yet another emergency meeting as Spanish bond rates exceed 7.5%. Spain says it doesn't need a bail out but on previous form they could be whistling in the wind. The problem the EU ministers have is that Spain is the fourth largest economy in Europe and it is almost certainly too big to be financed. There is a widespread feeling growing that these failing states cannot be fully bailed out so alternative strategies are being considered. A two speed Euro looks to be getting nearer and there are murmurings that the present policies aren't working and the crunch point becomes closer. Moody's downgrading of German credit is based on worst case if Italy joins the queue. Germany can't shoulder €xtrillion of debt without being weakened. The train wreck may be closer than we think. The key could come from pressure inside Germany, the electors are getting twitchy.

[Stanley]

Spain sinks further into the mire. Watch for the latest GDP figures today. Remember Ossie railing against Ed Balls when he warned over a year ago that the economy was flat-lining? The puzzle that is exercising many observers is the fact that despite the continuing recession the employment figures are moving against the tide. This means that either the data is wrong or the available work is being spread even more thinly. This comes back to my old beef about the fact that we know next to nothing about which jobs give a living wage. At the very least it means that productivity is falling. The same argument could apply to the profitability of high street retailing because the figures for gross trading (and the cost of living index) are affected by early sales and price-cutting.
Operation Weeting produces the first crop of prosecutions. Rebekka is also on bail for destroying the computer records and isn't Coulson waiting to be tried for perjury in Scotland? There are two other investigations under way, one concentrating on illegal payments and the other on computer hacking. The big loser in all this is 10 Downing Street. I remember some members taking me to task when I predicted that Coulson would become a big problem for Cameron. How he must regret not putting him through a full vetting process. These and other convictions will drag on for years and each time the public will be reminded of the linkages with Cameron in particular. At the very least his judgement and administrative skills are deeply suspect. Remember the people that said that the Levenson Enquiry was a waste of time?
There are moves afoot to clear up the position re LIBOR rate rigging. It is to be made a criminal offence. Problem is how long will it take for the full enormity of the rigging to be proved, if ever? Any legislation will not be retrospective. The Lords of the Universe get away with it again.

[Stanley]

The GDP figures were worse than expected, -0.7%. Usual riders about an extra bank holiday and wet weather but even if readjusted later nobody expects a positive figure so we have three successive quarters of recession. Fall Out started immediately with LibDem Lord Oakshott saying that Ossie is an part-time amateur chancellor with no business experience and should be replaced by Vince Cable. (Not a lot of inter party cooperation there then!) What is increasingly obvious is that those who have consistently criticised the austerity programme as being too far and too fast and in consequence reducing disposable income to the point where domestic consumption is damaged are beginning to look as though they had it right in the first place. Ossie should not only re-read Economics 101 (if he ever did it) but read some history as well. He has ignored the lesson of the inter war years and produced an even worse result than we had then. In case you have forgotten this mistake gave us almost twenty years of depression. There is no evidence that this isn't what we face now with the added complication that Europe is on the cliff-edge and the global economy is staggering. At the moment we have a favourable bond interest rate and could borrow at low rates to finance manufacturing and construction, the key economic areas but the rate reflects past performance and on these figures the rate could easily start to rise. Is our AAA rating safe?
The LIBOR scandal worsens. It transpires that the US warned the BBA in 2008 that there was a problem and the BBA did an internal investigation since described as totally inadequate. No wonder they are keeping their heads below the parapet at the moment. Classic case of them applying the old boys act and burying their heads in the sand.
Next item on the agenda is the reported £8.75 million payout to Barclays chief operating officer. Expect comment about this.
The bottom line is that not only do we face a train wreck in Europe but the Coalition could have one of their own. Forget all the bad legislation and U-turns, concentrate on their economic performance. Any body think they are doing well and can be trusted to get us out of this?

[Tardis]

Beginning to wonder if they can be trusted, but both Stephanie and Pesto have both said that the other option is untested and market sentiment would appear to be set completely against it.

When there are such huge debts, and this is still building, I wonder if anyone in debt has any other choice other than bankruptcy