That's revenge? - by Richard... Monday, October 17, 2011

That's revenge? - by Richard... Monday, October 17, 2011

The operative was blocked in, so he called a colleague for assistance and for the police to attend, "as he felt increasingly distressed and threatened and had been unable to leave". After police "intervention", the family end up paying an increased fee of £660. And that's revenge? But whose revenge?

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Who is this "we"? - by Richard...

The Ernst & Young ITEM Club, which uses the Treasury’s forecasting models, warns today that the economic situation is "worse than we thought", says the Failygraph. But actually, it's you … wehave known this all along. Just you lot, in the bubble – the so-called "experts" – you are the ones having difficulty coming to grips with reality.

The clue lies in the comment, "George Osborne, the Chancellor, and Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, are becoming increasingly exasperated at the lacklustre response of European leaders to the ongoing single currency crisis".
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The reason why the response is "lacklustre" is because it is being treated as a political crisis – which to the "colleagues" it is – rather than an economic issue. The integrity of the EU and the eurozone comes first. They would see the global economy wrecked before they will give up on their integrationalist dream.

And that is why the euro is going to collapse. That is why it was always going to collapse. That it is "worse that we thought" is simply a reflection of the opaqueness of the bubble in which you live.

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Help when you need it (not) - by Richard...

Remember this from last year, and this? We have there the story of the incorrectly-fitted condensing boilers, which during the winter freeze cost thousands of their unfortunate owners hundreds of pounds to sort them out after their drains had frozen up.

If ever there was an issue that should have been sorted by government, it is this – the boilers became a statutory requirement in 2005 (for all new installations) and there is clear evidence that installers failed to fit them correctly.

But despite intervention by Tory MP Philip Dunne, absolutely nothing has been done. With more than eight million having been installed though,British Gas – which has sold almost a million of them – is now urging its customers to fit a new cold-resistant pipe. In a letter to 46,000 customers who suffered boiler breakdowns last year, the energy giant is saying it will fit the new pipe for £149.

So, despite it having been responsible for many of the faulty installations, it wants to charge its customers for remedying the problems it caused. And just so that you know whose side the government is on, the Department of Energy and Climate Change declined to comment on the issue. A spokesman said: "Customers should take this up with British Gas".

It is so nice to know they care.

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I am not going mad - by Richard... Sunday, October 16, 2011

… but, as I read with growing incredulity, the mounting eulogies, about the latter-day saint, Liam Fox, to say nothing about the staggering drivel being written on the subject, even I begin to wobble.

On that, I had a recent talk with one of my bestist friends, the Dellers, who did point out that I am agin an awful lot of things and people. So, with "everyone else" singing the praises of Fox, how is it that I (and Booker) can claim to be right in assessing him as a loser?

Then you have to do a double-take. Earlier this year, the general consensus was that the SDSR had been botched. As recently as August this year, even the mighty Telegraph was saying: "This newspaper has warned repeatedly that the SDSR was botched because it was driven not by strategic requirements but by cost-cutting" (piece illustrated above).

And now, after being driven out of office under the tawdriest of circumstances, he becomes the great hero? Why? What is going on here?

The clue might be in the fatuous Montgomerie. Fox has been the champion of the enfeebled Tory "right", who have taken him to their hearts. To admit that their hero has feet of clay - that he always was a low-grade loser - is to admit that their judgement is flawed. That will never do, so history has to be re-written.

But I am not wrong on this. As we pointed put earlier, the SDSR was a failure. And while the strategic direction from Cameron was indeed seriously lacking, much of the failure must be put down to Fox.

That the Tory "right" and its supporting media cannot see straight on this is thus a reflection of them, not me (or Booker). Furthermore, if anyone can't see that a secretary of state who indulges is such a tacky relationship with his associate isn't fundamentally a wrong un, they need to think very seriously about themselves.

All this seems to be part of the political malaise from which we are suffering, though. But if we take our political thinking from the sad crew who can't see straight or think straight, then we are a sad bunch as well. And yes, I'm agin a lot of things … but there are a lot of things to be agin