Daily Mail
"British banks have been told that they need to prepare for the break up of the single currency.The Financial Services Authority told the UK's banking giants late last week that they must 'accelerate their contingency planning for the the break-up of the euro'.'We cannot be, and are not, complacent on this front, said Andrew Bailey, deputy head of the FSA's Prudential Business Unit.The revelation comes after it was revealed multinational companies are drawing up contingency plans in preparation for the possible break-up of the eurozone.Senior executives at a number of leading global conglomerates have hinted that they can no longer assume that political leaders will be able to save the single currency, it has been reported."
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
King Says U.K. Economy ‘Increasingly Threatened’ by Euro-Area Debt Crisis
Bloomberg
"Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the U.K. is being “increasingly threatened” by the euro- area crisis, and authorities must be ready to act if it continues to escalate.
“What we have to do is to be ready and prepared with contingency plans and to make sure that as far as possible our banking system is as robust as possible to withstand whatever shocks that come from the eurozone,” King told lawmakers at a Parliament committee in London yesterday. There are “early signs” of a credit crunch emerging in euro area in the difficulties banks have in accessing funding, he said."
"Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the U.K. is being “increasingly threatened” by the euro- area crisis, and authorities must be ready to act if it continues to escalate.
“What we have to do is to be ready and prepared with contingency plans and to make sure that as far as possible our banking system is as robust as possible to withstand whatever shocks that come from the eurozone,” King told lawmakers at a Parliament committee in London yesterday. There are “early signs” of a credit crunch emerging in euro area in the difficulties banks have in accessing funding, he said."
Friday, 25 November 2011
All he needed was a camel hair coat, a cigar and blonde dollybird
Daily Mail
"Parliament's jauntiest geezer was up on his Mystic Megs just before lunch in the House of Lords. I refer, naturally, to Lord Sugar, television personality, property developer, shooter of cuffs. He is also a ‘socialist’ peer, though yesterday he sounded more like a Thatcherite (which I suspect is what he really is). ....Sid James’s long-lost twin is not restful to watch. He will not stand still and he hinges his torso backwards, from the waist, to accentuate certain points. When not rubbing his nipple he places his left hand inside his shiny-pinstriped trouser pocket to give things a bit of a jiggle."
"Parliament's jauntiest geezer was up on his Mystic Megs just before lunch in the House of Lords. I refer, naturally, to Lord Sugar, television personality, property developer, shooter of cuffs. He is also a ‘socialist’ peer, though yesterday he sounded more like a Thatcherite (which I suspect is what he really is). ....Sid James’s long-lost twin is not restful to watch. He will not stand still and he hinges his torso backwards, from the waist, to accentuate certain points. When not rubbing his nipple he places his left hand inside his shiny-pinstriped trouser pocket to give things a bit of a jiggle."
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Australia's very own John Bercow
New Speaker Peter Slipper under expenses scrutiny (Adelaide Now)
"THE Liberal turncoat who accepted Julia Gillard's support to become Parliament's Speaker is being investigated over his "extraordinary" spending on taxpayer-funded travel. .....The Queensland MP, who has been forced to pay back more than $20,000 in wrongly claimed entitlements, also embarked on a lavish six-week study tour in March. With his wife Inge, he spent an estimated $25,000-plus visiting European travel hotspots, including Spain, Germany and the UK, to examine "bilateral relationship" with Australia. Mr Slipper, whose behaviour was detailed in a confidential file held in the office of ex-prime minister John Howard, has regularly spent close to $200 of tax money on individual taxi fares. .....Mr Slipper's generous use of entitlements often during non-sitting periods of Parliament has provoked fury among local constituents, who signed a petition calling for a full audit. This was tabled in Parliament in September."
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FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd has declined to answer questions about new Speaker Peter Slipper. (Herald Sun)
"He also declined to refute Queensland LNP president Bruce McIver's assertion that Mr Rudd stitched up the Speaker deal when he visited Mr Slipper in his Sunshine Coast electorate last week."
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A house of ill repute (The Australian)
"Slipper's career has been punctuated by scandal, allegations of parliamentary allowance misuses and simple stupidity. From high-spending travel entitlements to party defections between the Nationals and the Liberals to finding himself locked in a disabled toilet calling for assistance because he thought the sliding door only had push and pull functionality, Slipper is hardly a model MP."
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Gillard may have slipped with Slipper (Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun)
"A very good and fair speaker in Harry Jenkins has been replaced by a man of very dubious reputation who has also betrayed his electorate’s wishes. It looks like a grubby deal with a grubby man to help a grubby government cling to power. It makes the independents propping up Gillard look a bit grubbiier, too, having to go along with this. "
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The man the Liberals wanted to sack, but Labor made Speaker
"THE Liberal turncoat who accepted Julia Gillard's support to become Parliament's Speaker is being investigated over his "extraordinary" spending on taxpayer-funded travel. .....The Queensland MP, who has been forced to pay back more than $20,000 in wrongly claimed entitlements, also embarked on a lavish six-week study tour in March. With his wife Inge, he spent an estimated $25,000-plus visiting European travel hotspots, including Spain, Germany and the UK, to examine "bilateral relationship" with Australia. Mr Slipper, whose behaviour was detailed in a confidential file held in the office of ex-prime minister John Howard, has regularly spent close to $200 of tax money on individual taxi fares. .....Mr Slipper's generous use of entitlements often during non-sitting periods of Parliament has provoked fury among local constituents, who signed a petition calling for a full audit. This was tabled in Parliament in September."
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FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd has declined to answer questions about new Speaker Peter Slipper. (Herald Sun)
"He also declined to refute Queensland LNP president Bruce McIver's assertion that Mr Rudd stitched up the Speaker deal when he visited Mr Slipper in his Sunshine Coast electorate last week."
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A house of ill repute (The Australian)
"Slipper's career has been punctuated by scandal, allegations of parliamentary allowance misuses and simple stupidity. From high-spending travel entitlements to party defections between the Nationals and the Liberals to finding himself locked in a disabled toilet calling for assistance because he thought the sliding door only had push and pull functionality, Slipper is hardly a model MP."
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Gillard may have slipped with Slipper (Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun)
"A very good and fair speaker in Harry Jenkins has been replaced by a man of very dubious reputation who has also betrayed his electorate’s wishes. It looks like a grubby deal with a grubby man to help a grubby government cling to power. It makes the independents propping up Gillard look a bit grubbiier, too, having to go along with this. "
------------------------------
The man the Liberals wanted to sack, but Labor made Speaker
We're paying £50m a day to the EU: Britain's contribution to Brussels rises to £18.5bn
Daily Mail
"Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the UK’s contributions to Brussels rose by 5.7 per cent last year to a record £18.5 billion – double the Home Office Budget. At the same time, the money Britain received back from the EU fell by almost a quarter to £8.1 billion, a fall of £2.6 billion in a year."
"Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the UK’s contributions to Brussels rose by 5.7 per cent last year to a record £18.5 billion – double the Home Office Budget. At the same time, the money Britain received back from the EU fell by almost a quarter to £8.1 billion, a fall of £2.6 billion in a year."
United States of Paralysis
Daily Mail
"More important still, however, is the vacuum across the Atlantic.
President Barack Obama, who took office almost three years ago amid such high hopes, now clings to the White House amid collapsed poll ratings and a real threat that the American people will evict him at next autumn’s election.
The United States, as that great historian Sir Michael Howard has said, remains ‘the only nation able, and sometimes willing, to get things done in the world’. Yet this mighty country today finds its political system almost paralysed, its leader overwhelmingly concerned with his own re-election next year, rather than with leading the West out of its slough of despond."
"More important still, however, is the vacuum across the Atlantic.
President Barack Obama, who took office almost three years ago amid such high hopes, now clings to the White House amid collapsed poll ratings and a real threat that the American people will evict him at next autumn’s election.
The United States, as that great historian Sir Michael Howard has said, remains ‘the only nation able, and sometimes willing, to get things done in the world’. Yet this mighty country today finds its political system almost paralysed, its leader overwhelmingly concerned with his own re-election next year, rather than with leading the West out of its slough of despond."
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Oh Sally, please: Fresh embarrassment for Speaker John Bercow as wife declares her favourite gadget is a sex toy
Daily Mail
"She's done it again.
If Commons Speaker John Bercow thought his wife Sally would cause him no further embarrassment after openly discussing their 'spicy' sex life on Big Brother he was mistaken for she has revealed her favourite gadget is a sex toy. Mrs Bercow, 41, made the revelation during an interview for a political magazine when asked what her favourite device was. She replied: ‘I was going to say my vibrator.’When the reporter for Total Politics asked if that comment was off the record, the mother of three answered: ‘Oh no, put that one in.’
"She's done it again.
If Commons Speaker John Bercow thought his wife Sally would cause him no further embarrassment after openly discussing their 'spicy' sex life on Big Brother he was mistaken for she has revealed her favourite gadget is a sex toy. Mrs Bercow, 41, made the revelation during an interview for a political magazine when asked what her favourite device was. She replied: ‘I was going to say my vibrator.’When the reporter for Total Politics asked if that comment was off the record, the mother of three answered: ‘Oh no, put that one in.’
Something has to give
Dr Richard North
"The headline and first paragraph says it all. But is there any politically mature person anywhere in Europe who would not pose the same question of their own country and government?"
"The evidence is overwhelming: binding fiscal decisions have been made and communicated to the EU before the Cabinet has met to discuss or approve them.
We have, then, three clear instances in which the system of government laid down by the Constitution – collective decision-making by the Government acting as a whole – has been set aside."
"The headline and first paragraph says it all. But is there any politically mature person anywhere in Europe who would not pose the same question of their own country and government?"
"The evidence is overwhelming: binding fiscal decisions have been made and communicated to the EU before the Cabinet has met to discuss or approve them.
We have, then, three clear instances in which the system of government laid down by the Constitution – collective decision-making by the Government acting as a whole – has been set aside."
Friday, 18 November 2011
German minister claims Britain WILL join the euro (and they've got secret plans to block our referendum)
Daily Mail
#Finance minister's astonishing claim comes despite deepening crisis that threatens the existence of the single currency
#PM flies to Berlin today to discuss repatriation of EU powers and 'Tobin tax'
#UK to pressure Merkel to allow euro bank to print more money
#Senior Tory calls for 'permanent, universal opt-out' from European laws
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Springtime for Merkel, starring in no particular order...
"This seems like a good time to revive Mel Brooks’ masterpiece, The Producers.
In the movie, theatrical impresario Max Bialystock and his accountant Leopold Bloom set out to stage a musical, Springtime For Hitler, which will be a sure-fire flop. That way, Max can defraud his investors and make a fortune.The euro, on the other hand, was designed to be a sure-fire success and has ended up defrauding an entire Continent."
#Finance minister's astonishing claim comes despite deepening crisis that threatens the existence of the single currency
#PM flies to Berlin today to discuss repatriation of EU powers and 'Tobin tax'
#UK to pressure Merkel to allow euro bank to print more money
#Senior Tory calls for 'permanent, universal opt-out' from European laws
---------------------------------
Springtime for Merkel, starring in no particular order...
"This seems like a good time to revive Mel Brooks’ masterpiece, The Producers.
In the movie, theatrical impresario Max Bialystock and his accountant Leopold Bloom set out to stage a musical, Springtime For Hitler, which will be a sure-fire flop. That way, Max can defraud his investors and make a fortune.The euro, on the other hand, was designed to be a sure-fire success and has ended up defrauding an entire Continent."
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Homeless moved on ahead of Obama visit
Sky News (Australia)
"Homeless people are being moved away from Darwin's city centre ahead of the visit by US President Barack Obama for security reasons. Larrakia Nation chief executive Ilana Eldridge says her organisation, which offers support to homeless people, has been given a gentle suggestion by the government to help people move away from places Mr Obama will visit. Ms Eldridge says they'll take them to a place where they'll be comfortable and safe. About two thousand people are thought to be homeless in the Darwin region each night, about 95 per cent of Aboriginal descent, with 20 to 30 staying along The Esplanade, where Mr Obama will travel today."
"Homeless people are being moved away from Darwin's city centre ahead of the visit by US President Barack Obama for security reasons. Larrakia Nation chief executive Ilana Eldridge says her organisation, which offers support to homeless people, has been given a gentle suggestion by the government to help people move away from places Mr Obama will visit. Ms Eldridge says they'll take them to a place where they'll be comfortable and safe. About two thousand people are thought to be homeless in the Darwin region each night, about 95 per cent of Aboriginal descent, with 20 to 30 staying along The Esplanade, where Mr Obama will travel today."
Abbott 1, Obama nil
Quadrant Online(Australia)
"Tony Abbott’s speech in Parliament today to welcome Barack Obama before his own speech to both Houses was a masterpiece – but one which will sadly go over the heads of most Australian people. It was a Prime Ministerial speech, mercifully devoid of the nonsensical sentiment with which Gillard’s was choked. (You’d have thought Julia had been there like Grace Sullivan, making scones while the Japanese bombed Darwin, before she decided instead to direct Obama to the John Curtin Library in Perth – which I notice is not on his itinerary.)
Abbott’s speech, on the other hand, was brilliant. He showed that he has a far better grasp on what America is, and what her role is in maintaining world peace and stability, than Gillard. He also showed that he has a greater love for America and her abundant ideological gifts to the world than Obama does; the influence of Mark Steyn was unmistakable. (Steyn should be charging Abbott royalties).
Abbott’s speech was a noble one; one which showed abundant respect for the values upon which America was founded – and by contrast, very little for the man sitting there who is supposed to be defending them.
Obama kept a poker face throughout, but when he rose to reply, his tone in thanking ‘Leader Abbott’ was unmistakable. "
"Tony Abbott’s speech in Parliament today to welcome Barack Obama before his own speech to both Houses was a masterpiece – but one which will sadly go over the heads of most Australian people. It was a Prime Ministerial speech, mercifully devoid of the nonsensical sentiment with which Gillard’s was choked. (You’d have thought Julia had been there like Grace Sullivan, making scones while the Japanese bombed Darwin, before she decided instead to direct Obama to the John Curtin Library in Perth – which I notice is not on his itinerary.)
Abbott’s speech, on the other hand, was brilliant. He showed that he has a far better grasp on what America is, and what her role is in maintaining world peace and stability, than Gillard. He also showed that he has a greater love for America and her abundant ideological gifts to the world than Obama does; the influence of Mark Steyn was unmistakable. (Steyn should be charging Abbott royalties).
Abbott’s speech was a noble one; one which showed abundant respect for the values upon which America was founded – and by contrast, very little for the man sitting there who is supposed to be defending them.
Obama kept a poker face throughout, but when he rose to reply, his tone in thanking ‘Leader Abbott’ was unmistakable. "
Number of secondary school children from ethnic minorities soars by 57% in ten years
Daily Mail">
"Study author describes 'irrevocable change' Trend seen right across England In Tower Hamlets, pupils from ethnic minorities make up more than 80%"
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Foreign workers take yet more UK jobs as number of Britons in work plunges and youth unemployment hits one million
"Study author describes 'irrevocable change' Trend seen right across England In Tower Hamlets, pupils from ethnic minorities make up more than 80%"
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Foreign workers take yet more UK jobs as number of Britons in work plunges and youth unemployment hits one million
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