If the sad truth is that Cameron simply doesn’t care about Britain taking a lead in developing a more multilateral economic approach then so be it. But by doing so he’s shutting the UK out of the game – with the US, the G20 and the EU.
It’s hardly a surprise, but the coalition has decided that it has done as much as it intends to tackle excessive bankers’ bonuses, even at a time when small businesses continue to suffer as banks refuse to lend. Most banks will not pay out their bonuses for 2010 until February 2011 but the Treasury minister Lord Sassoon’s declaration in the House of Lords this week indicates the government is satisfied that its ‘work’ on City bonuses is complete.
A group of six of our most prominent high street banks have got the begging bowl out again and headed for the Treasury, reports Ben Fox.
Vince Cable received praise from certain quarters today for his speech attacking capitalism – yet his record tells a different story to his rhetoric.
The refusal of the Coalition to endorse a European Union directive to combat the trade in sex slaves and child trafficking shows the weakness of the Liberal Democrat arm of the Government.
They just don’t seem to learn. Barely a week after appointing famed billionaire tax avoider Sir Philip Green to advise the Government on cost-cutting, the Tories have been at it again, trying to appoint multi-millionaire tax exile David Rowland as Tory Party Treasurer.
One could be forgiven for checking that yesterday wasn’t April 1st after waking up to the news that private equity tycoon and asset-stripper extraordinaire Philip Green has been appointed by David Cameron to head a Whitehall spending review.
Following the embarrassingly empty green paper published this week, titled “Financing a private sector recovery” without offering any ideas on how to finance it, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has launched a blistering attack on Britain’s major banks.
David Cameron’s stance on Europe and the European Union seems to have turned on its head in recent weeks; earlier this week, he used his meeting with the Turkish prime minister to state Turkey’s case for EU membership – a crucially important issue for both Turkey and the future of the EU.
Labour may have temporarily lost legislative power in Westminster, but Labour MEPs still have that power and used it to great effect last week, securing strict limits on upfront cash bonuses to ensure that bonuses are linked to long-term success rather than mere risk-taking.
