Tags: Anyone But Gordon, Ferrets-in-a-Sack, Harman, labour leadership
+++ IPSOS/Mori : 20% Point Lead +++
Tories +4% to 48%
Labour -2 to 28%
Lib Dems 17%.
UPDATE : From the small print of the poll:
The deal is not yet sealed for Dave and Clegg still can't make an impact...Harman Wants Brown to Sail Off into Sunset on "Lifeboat"
In it she claimed that Gordon was being lined up for an international job as a super-regulator by Angela Merkel. Jackie said the story "comes from quite close to the inner core." Like the Deputy-Leader's office? From another member of the sisterhood? Ben Brogan is pointing the finger at Harriet Harman, claiming that "Brown was the victim of a botched spin operation by the party's deputy leader amid signs that his authority is weakening." Who better to be a caretaker leader if Gordon goes off into the sunset on a lifeboat or for ill-health reasons than the current deputy leader? She could hold the party together as it takes the inevitable punishment at the polls, performing the same role that Michael Howard did for the Tories. Labour could do worse...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
ANOTHER Whistleblower Tale: it's the FSA, Lloyds TSB and Brown - Again !
Here’s an interesting conjunction of people and events, redolent of other recent banking revelations.
In 2000, Scottish Widows de-mutualised, being bought from the policy-holders by Lloyds TSB. In common with other assurance companies (most famously Equitable Life), SW had exposure to theGuaranteed Annuity Rate problem.
The exact purchase-price was to be calculated after transfer to Lloyds TSB according to a formula, and at a point in time was estimated in the prospectus to be £5.4 billion, subject to a cap of £6.1 bn. Part of this was to be held in a new 'Additional Account'. As explained on page 23 of the Demutualization and Transfer Policyholder Circular:
“ the additional Account [is] intended to protect the With Profits Fund against the consequences of a future fall in interest rates, including increases in the costs on meeting policy guarantees … the balance of the Additional account will be paid out over time as a terminal bonus on Transferred With Profits Policies, to the extent not needed to meet contingencies ….”
Would ordinary SW policy-holders have understood from this small print that (a) it all hinged on the outcome of the then-pending Equitable Life court case (not mentioned); and (b) as much as £1.5 billion (as it actually transpired in 2002) would end up being used in this way and therefore not paid out to them by way of a terminal bonus ? (amounting to nearly 30% of what theymight have been expecting)
I could argue it both ways. However, whistle-blower Graham Milne of Lloyds TSB came to the view that the Circular illegally misled policy-holders. He was duly suspended and, one year later, fired – sound familiar ?
Just before he was fired, the FSA responded to his claims, dismissing them - doubtless to the satisfaction of Lloyds TSB. The FSA Managing Director responsible was Carol Sergeant, a personal appointee of Gordon Brown’s –sound familiar ?
Just as Milne was being fired, guess what happened to Sergeant ? One month after she dismissed Milne’s complaint, she was hired as Chief Risk Director at … Lloyds TSB ! Six months later, for good measure, she wasawarded the CBE: and then made a Trustee of the charity Public Concern at Work (motto: Making Whistle-Blowing Work). After all, she’d been responsible for launching the FSA’s whistle-blower policy !!
I am not making this up.
As Nick Robinson blogged recently: beware the City merry-go-round …
ND
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
The Prime Mentalist's personal ratings plummet: Two thirds (64%) are dissatisfied with Gordon Brown.
Jackie Ashley set the cat amongst the pigeons yesterday with this story:
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