Britannia Radio

A round-up of what the media and the politicians have been talking  
about.  Of course the government set the agenda by concentrating on  
Goodwin's pension with the aid of the BBC's Robert Peston who  
obligingly propagated the leak fed to him.   The vastly more  
important issue of toxic debt and public liability has been  
downgraded and to their shame the editors didn't spot the government  
in one of its usual occupations of burying the bad news.

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POLITICS HOME    27.2 09
TODAY\S BROADCAST COMMENTS
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Sir Michael Fallon: The Govt failed to exercise basic due diligence  
over Goodwin's pension
Today Programme, BBC Radio 4  at 07:15

Sir Michael Fallon, Conservative MP

Sir Michael spoke of the revelation that the government had been  
aware in Autumn of last year Sir Fred Goodwin would be receiving a  
pension of this nature.
“One of the things you do when you take over a company is check over  
the Chief Executive – after all you’re getting rid of him – this is  
basic due diligence that they’ve failed to do.
“This just illustrates how careless they have been with money."
“The government has virtually made this gift to Sir Fred Goodwin and  
is now in the pathetic position of having to ask for some of it  
back," he said.
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George Osborne: More regulation power must be given to BoE
Sky News at 07:40

George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor

The Shadow Chancellor called for more power to be given to the Bank  
of England in order to have greater financial regulation.
“I would like to now see much more power given to the Bank of England  
so that overall debt levels do not get too high.
“When it comes to regulating the financial markets, then I think that  
the current system is not working – it has failed.  That in the end  
just points the finger at one man, who was Chancellor at the time –  
Gordon Brown. These are all the bills at the age of irresponsibility.
He added: “There needs to be much tighter regulating. I want to see  
that banks are required to put aside money during the good times, so  
that they have a buffer – we need a complete overhaul, but we’re not  
seeing that as Gordon Brown is being very defensive of the system  
that he set up.”
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John Prescott: Financial responsibility lies with the banks
Today Programme, BBC Radio 4 at 08:10

John Prescott, Former Deputy Labour Leader

Mr Prescott said that banker’s greed had resulted in the current  
financial situation.
“The responsibility lies with the banks,” he said.
“The government did set up a regulatory body and the Bank of England  
found that it was unsatisfactory. I suppose we have to accept some of  
the blame, but we did set up a regulatory framework.
“It’s called greed, greed, greed and that’s where the responsibility  
lies.”
Mr Prescott also spoke of Sir Fred Goodwin's pension row. He called  
for the government to strip him of his pension rights.
"If he refuses to give it back, the government should take it off him  
and let him sue us through the courts."
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Cable: Government are still "tinkering around the edges" with the banks
Sky News at 11:25

Vince Cable, Lib Dem Treasury Spokesman

Mr Cable said the government is still "tinkering around the edges"  
with the banks and said that common sense suggests the government  
should have given Sir Fred Goodwin the maximum pension available  
through a bankrupt protection scheme.

"If he chooses to resist that then he could sue and the government  
could then meet him in court.

"The underlying problem here is that the government is still  
tinkering around the edges with these banks. It doesn't effectively  
control the banks. The government should have directors on the boards  
of these banks.

"It has this very at arms length, hidden hole in the corner  
arrangement, and that is why so many bad things are slipping through."

Discussing the Lloyds merger he said, "Of course the bank did agree  
to it, and view of the chairman who negotiated this, it is what  
Lloyds bank wanted to do.

"One thing must be absolutely clear, that if government capital goes  
in it must ensure government effective control.

"In effect nationalisation is the sensible way forward and I don't  
understand why the government is ducking out of that."

11.35 BBC News

Shortly after Mr Cable said that the focus on Sir Fred Goodwin's  
pension has been a "smokescreen" to conceal the much bigger issue of  
the asset protection scheme.

"What the government could do is to say to Sir Goodwin if your  
company had gone bankrupt like and other company you would have been  
given a compassionate sum from the bankrupt protection scheme.

"I don't think anybody has any sympathy for this guy at all, it's not  
that he was well paid, it's that this was someone who led a bank into  
utter disaster. He should be apologetic and contrite, not hedging and  
trying to get more from the tax payer. He obviously has no shame.

"What I am worried is that this issue is distracting attention from  
the sums of money that are being used in the latest stage of the  
bailout.

"I don't want to lose track of the main point here that hundreds of  
billions are now being pledged to this bank RBS, this gives them an  
opportunity to dump their very worst assets on the tax payer.

"The government did not assume effective control, didn't put  
directors in, trying to operate at arms length and all these problems  
are now coming out."
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Brown: Sir Fred's decision to keep his pension is "quite wrong"
Radio Oxford at 11:27

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister

Mr Brown described former RBS chief Sir Fred Goodwin's decision not  
to forego a £16.6 million pension pot as "quite wrong", calling it a  
matter for legal action.

"Given it has the biggest losses of any company in corporate history,  
it's quite wrong," he said.

"I was brought up to believe that integrity and responsibility were  
the important things - you cannot suspend that behaviour for the  
banks.  I think it's a matter for legal [action]," he added.

Mr Brown refuted the suggestion the Government is "clutching at  
straws" pursuing legal action, when the Government allegedly accepted  
the contract made by the former RBS board stipulating Sir Fred's  
pension arrangements.

He said there was only so much they could have done if the contracts  
signed had a legal basis to them, but only now had they discovered a  
"discretionary element" to them.  I think you'll find that there is  
some discretionary elements in the contract. We believe a very  
substantial part of that pension should be returned," he said.

He added: "Before we came into power there was a self-regulatory  
system - we brought in a regulatory system, but we couldn't know  
everything that was going on."

11:17 Sky News

Later, Mr Brown insisted that the government would act to protect the  
public interest over the payment of Sir Fred Goodwin's pension.

"When the the government has a share in this company and has now  
discovered that discretionary payments may have been made its up to  
us to protect the public interest," he said.

He added that the government was still seeking legal advice on  
clawing back Sir Fred's pension but added: "We're still asking Sir  
Fred to waive the pension that he has been given".

"This is unjustifiable, unacceptable, and we are going to clean up  
the banks so that this does not happen again," he said.

Mr Brown also played down the government's role in the merger between  
Lloyds and HBOS, following the losses announced by Lloyds today.

"It was a merger that they decided," he said, saying the government  
simply "made possible" changes to allow merger.  "But of course it  
was their decision," he said
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Osborne: Pension fiasco puts Myners "in a very difficult place"
BBC News at 12:24

George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor

Mr Osborne said that the failure to block Sir Fred Goodwin's pension  
raised serious questions about the position of Treasury minister Lord  
Myners.
"They had the opportunity in the autumn to stop this totally obscene  
pension being paid out by the taxpayer," he said.
"That does leave Lord Myners in a very difficult position personally,  
and his role in the government in a very difficult place".
He added: "Where was the due diligence? Why wasn't he looking after  
taxpayers' money?"
He said while he shared public anger at Sir Fred's behaviour, the  
anger "should also be directed a Gordon Brown and Lord Myners for  
allowing this pension to be paid out for failure".