Telegraph
"In 2004, with Greece a member of the euro, the conjuring trick was becoming transparent. A new, centre-right government was elected, with Peter Doukas appointed Budget Minister. “I asked the senior staff of the ministry to give me details of the budget that had been passed the previous December,” says Doukas. “I said don’t worry about persecution or anything, just tell me the true story.” The difference between the published deficit and the real one was huge. “[It] was about 7 per cent of GDP. The budget said the deficit was 1.5 per cent. The real shortfall was 8.3 per cent.” Under the Maastricht treaty, member states must keep their budget deficits below 3 per cent of GDP.
So what did he do? “I said we should start chopping down the budget. But the answer I got at the time was: 'We have the Olympic Games in a few months and we cannot upset the whole population and have strikes and everything just before the Olympic Games.’” To meet the deficit, Greece borrowed and borrowed. Banks queued up to lend. The markets did not believe there was a risk of default because Greece’s currency was locked into that of Germany."
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Saturday, 28 January 2012
How I woke up to the untruths of Barack Obama
Christopher Booker of The Sunday Telegraph
"I recalled a piece I wrote in this column on January 29, 2009, just after Obama took office. It was headlined: “This is the sub-prime house that Barack Obama built”. As a rising young Chicago politician in 1995, no one campaigned more actively than Mr Obama for an amendment to the US Community Reinvestment Act, legally requiring banks to lend huge sums to millions of poor, mainly black Americans, guaranteed by the two giant mortgage associations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
It was this Act, above all, which let the US housing bubble blow up, far beyond the point where it was obvious that hundreds of thousands of homeowners would be likely to default. Yet, in 2005, no one more actively opposed moves to halt these reckless guarantees than Senator Obama, who received more donations from Fannie Mae than any other US politician (although Senator Hillary Clinton ran him close)."
"I recalled a piece I wrote in this column on January 29, 2009, just after Obama took office. It was headlined: “This is the sub-prime house that Barack Obama built”. As a rising young Chicago politician in 1995, no one campaigned more actively than Mr Obama for an amendment to the US Community Reinvestment Act, legally requiring banks to lend huge sums to millions of poor, mainly black Americans, guaranteed by the two giant mortgage associations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
It was this Act, above all, which let the US housing bubble blow up, far beyond the point where it was obvious that hundreds of thousands of homeowners would be likely to default. Yet, in 2005, no one more actively opposed moves to halt these reckless guarantees than Senator Obama, who received more donations from Fannie Mae than any other US politician (although Senator Hillary Clinton ran him close)."
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Why the US Web Piracy Bills walked the Plank – Kirsten Sjovoll
The International Forum for Responsible Media
"The Internet is one of civilisation’s most innovative creations and while it cannot be used as a vehicle for criminal activity protected by an immunity of “freedom”, it should not be used as a vehicle for state censorship and heavy handed restrictions on the information it holds. Quite how the balance is going to be struck is a question even Wikipedia doesn’t yet hold the answer to."
"The Internet is one of civilisation’s most innovative creations and while it cannot be used as a vehicle for criminal activity protected by an immunity of “freedom”, it should not be used as a vehicle for state censorship and heavy handed restrictions on the information it holds. Quite how the balance is going to be struck is a question even Wikipedia doesn’t yet hold the answer to."
Monday, 23 January 2012
Pay as little tax as Tony Blair
Yahoo News
"Tony Blair pays just £315,000 tax on an income of £12 million. Robert Powell explains how he does it and looks at ways you can reduce your tax bill by following the former PM’s levy-restricting methods..."
"Tony Blair pays just £315,000 tax on an income of £12 million. Robert Powell explains how he does it and looks at ways you can reduce your tax bill by following the former PM’s levy-restricting methods..."
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Thousands of EU students fail to repay loans
Telegraph
"Official figures show that 45 per cent of students from European Union countries who were liable to start repaying loans had disappeared or were in arrears as of last April. The findings will raise concerns that many of the students, who qualify for subsidised Government loans to cover the cost of tuition fees, could effectively gain a degree for free. By contrast, only two per cent of UK students who were eligible to start repayments had disappeared or were in arrears. Many more had been permitted to defer their repayments because their salaries were below a set threshold. Many of the EU students had returned to their home countries and either failed to inform the Student Loan Company (SLC) of their whereabouts or let their repayments drop. The total outstanding debt liable to be repaid by EU borrowers at the end of 2009/10 was £47.4 million, according to the Department for Business (BIS), which published the figures."
"Official figures show that 45 per cent of students from European Union countries who were liable to start repaying loans had disappeared or were in arrears as of last April. The findings will raise concerns that many of the students, who qualify for subsidised Government loans to cover the cost of tuition fees, could effectively gain a degree for free. By contrast, only two per cent of UK students who were eligible to start repayments had disappeared or were in arrears. Many more had been permitted to defer their repayments because their salaries were below a set threshold. Many of the EU students had returned to their home countries and either failed to inform the Student Loan Company (SLC) of their whereabouts or let their repayments drop. The total outstanding debt liable to be repaid by EU borrowers at the end of 2009/10 was £47.4 million, according to the Department for Business (BIS), which published the figures."
Why should broke Britain bankroll immigrant spongers?
Telegraph
"A couple of days ago I posted on the heartwarming story of Firuta Vasile, 27 – the Roma woman with four children who came to Britain five years ago, claims not to have been able to find work except as a Big Issue seller, and currently snaffles in excess of £25,000 in benefits, courtesy of the British taxpayer. And who has just snaffled another £2,500 in housing benefit having argued – through an interpreter, also funded by you, the British taxpayer, and with the support of a Welfare Benefits Adviser called Andy King – that this is no more than her fair entitlement.
Nice.
What shocked me almost more than the story itself was the reaction from some of our menagerie of trolls."
"A couple of days ago I posted on the heartwarming story of Firuta Vasile, 27 – the Roma woman with four children who came to Britain five years ago, claims not to have been able to find work except as a Big Issue seller, and currently snaffles in excess of £25,000 in benefits, courtesy of the British taxpayer. And who has just snaffled another £2,500 in housing benefit having argued – through an interpreter, also funded by you, the British taxpayer, and with the support of a Welfare Benefits Adviser called Andy King – that this is no more than her fair entitlement.
Nice.
What shocked me almost more than the story itself was the reaction from some of our menagerie of trolls."
370,000 migrants on the dole
Telegraph
"The figures are likely to reopen the debate over the generosity of the welfare system amid growing concerns that the country has become a destination for “benefit tourists”.
"The figures are likely to reopen the debate over the generosity of the welfare system amid growing concerns that the country has become a destination for “benefit tourists”.
Stop this abuse of British hospitality
Daily Mail
"This week provided a series of deeply troubling pieces of evidence of Britain’s inability to control who lives here. In Walthamstow, east London, eight Moldovans occupied the family home of Janice Mason – but the police refused to help because squatting is a civil, not criminal, matter. The horrific case of Victor Akulic, who was convicted in Lithuania of raping a child, before travelling to the UK under EU free movement rules and sexually attacking a new victim, prompted Appeal Court judge Lady Justice Hallett to ask: ‘Do we let in just anyone?’ Meanwhile, in a case involving a man who was allowed to make 16 asylum appeals, an exasperated Lord Justice Ward scalded a system in which asylum seekers go ‘up and down on the merry-go-round leaving one wondering when the music will ever stop.’ Most disturbingly, Abu Qatada – regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists – was spared deportation to Jordan in case his human rights may be breached, and will soon be back on the streets, claiming benefits."
"This week provided a series of deeply troubling pieces of evidence of Britain’s inability to control who lives here. In Walthamstow, east London, eight Moldovans occupied the family home of Janice Mason – but the police refused to help because squatting is a civil, not criminal, matter. The horrific case of Victor Akulic, who was convicted in Lithuania of raping a child, before travelling to the UK under EU free movement rules and sexually attacking a new victim, prompted Appeal Court judge Lady Justice Hallett to ask: ‘Do we let in just anyone?’ Meanwhile, in a case involving a man who was allowed to make 16 asylum appeals, an exasperated Lord Justice Ward scalded a system in which asylum seekers go ‘up and down on the merry-go-round leaving one wondering when the music will ever stop.’ Most disturbingly, Abu Qatada – regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists – was spared deportation to Jordan in case his human rights may be breached, and will soon be back on the streets, claiming benefits."
Thursday, 19 January 2012
The horrifying graph that shows why Britain's debt addiction now equals FIVE TIMES national GDP and why we face a decade of austerity
Daily Mail
"Britain has the highest level of debt among the major economies bar Japan, research has found. Over the past three years it has risen to more than 500 per cent of national output. The alarming rise since the height of the financial crisis has been fuelled by debt in the financial sector as people seek to borrow their way out of the economic slump, according to consultancy McKinsey. Even at current trends it will take until 2020 for the UK to return to pre-2003 debt levels."
"Britain has the highest level of debt among the major economies bar Japan, research has found. Over the past three years it has risen to more than 500 per cent of national output. The alarming rise since the height of the financial crisis has been fuelled by debt in the financial sector as people seek to borrow their way out of the economic slump, according to consultancy McKinsey. Even at current trends it will take until 2020 for the UK to return to pre-2003 debt levels."
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Tony Blair's fortune to treble to £45million next year
Mirror
"The former PM and wife Cherie are building up a property empire and Mr Blair now plans to maximise his earnings over the next two years. .....His earnings this year alone could hit £15million, on top of the estimated £15million he has raked in since standing aside as PM in 2007. A further £15million next year through Mr Blair’s jobs, speeches and expanding property empire would take his estimated family fortune to £45million. ......“Many of Tony and Cherie’s friends now are extremely wealthy and they both enjoy moving in those sort of social circles. But that takes serious cash.” Mr Blair’s millions are paid into a complex network of companies involving up to 12 different bodies – making his exact riches hard to calculate."
"The former PM and wife Cherie are building up a property empire and Mr Blair now plans to maximise his earnings over the next two years. .....His earnings this year alone could hit £15million, on top of the estimated £15million he has raked in since standing aside as PM in 2007. A further £15million next year through Mr Blair’s jobs, speeches and expanding property empire would take his estimated family fortune to £45million. ......“Many of Tony and Cherie’s friends now are extremely wealthy and they both enjoy moving in those sort of social circles. But that takes serious cash.” Mr Blair’s millions are paid into a complex network of companies involving up to 12 different bodies – making his exact riches hard to calculate."
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Inside the intriguing world of Tony Blair Incorporated
Telegraph
"It is easy to walk past the anonymous, Georgian townhouse in central London without giving it a second glance. But the five-storey building on Grosvenor Square, close to the American embassy, is home to a multi-million pound industry with tentacles that reach across the globe. ......In all, about 100 people are based there, although insiders say it is often much quieter because so many of his staff, among them several former Downing Street aides, are travelling at any one time. The offices, once the home of John Adams, the second US president who established the first American mission in London, are rented at a cost of £550,000 a year on a 10-year lease. They cover almost 6,000 sq ft.
Mr Blair is rarely present, turning up perhaps once a month. An analysis by The Sunday Telegraph of his travels, garnered from published sources, shows that in 12 months Mr Blair made 61 trips abroad totalling almost 224,000 miles – the equivalent of travelling to the moon.
A rough calculation suggests Mr Blair, who launched the charity Breaking the Climate Deadlock to combat global warming, has racked up 58 tons of CO₂ emissions in a year through jet travel alone. That’s about 30 times that of the average British adult.
Mr Blair may have travelled far more than that but these are the trips we know about. He is reckoned to spend as little as two months a year in the UK.
The trips, from April 1 2010 to March 31 last year, included frequent visits to Jerusalem, where he is a Middle East peace envoy; and to Africa, where his charities do much of their work. The US and China were also popular destinations. The trips occasionally appear to mingle business, philanthropy and pleasure."
"It is easy to walk past the anonymous, Georgian townhouse in central London without giving it a second glance. But the five-storey building on Grosvenor Square, close to the American embassy, is home to a multi-million pound industry with tentacles that reach across the globe. ......In all, about 100 people are based there, although insiders say it is often much quieter because so many of his staff, among them several former Downing Street aides, are travelling at any one time. The offices, once the home of John Adams, the second US president who established the first American mission in London, are rented at a cost of £550,000 a year on a 10-year lease. They cover almost 6,000 sq ft.
Mr Blair is rarely present, turning up perhaps once a month. An analysis by The Sunday Telegraph of his travels, garnered from published sources, shows that in 12 months Mr Blair made 61 trips abroad totalling almost 224,000 miles – the equivalent of travelling to the moon.
A rough calculation suggests Mr Blair, who launched the charity Breaking the Climate Deadlock to combat global warming, has racked up 58 tons of CO₂ emissions in a year through jet travel alone. That’s about 30 times that of the average British adult.
Mr Blair may have travelled far more than that but these are the trips we know about. He is reckoned to spend as little as two months a year in the UK.
The trips, from April 1 2010 to March 31 last year, included frequent visits to Jerusalem, where he is a Middle East peace envoy; and to Africa, where his charities do much of their work. The US and China were also popular destinations. The trips occasionally appear to mingle business, philanthropy and pleasure."
Greece gets closer to brink of bankruptcy
Telegraph
"Fears are mounting that Greece could be the first European country to default on its debt in 60 years, as the country gears up to salvage collapsed talks over bond repayments on Wednesday."
"Fears are mounting that Greece could be the first European country to default on its debt in 60 years, as the country gears up to salvage collapsed talks over bond repayments on Wednesday."
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