Mandelson attacks top banker

[Osem]

Apparently the unelected Dark Lord running the country for Gordon reckons the Barclay's boss is the unacceptable face of banking.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8601512.stm

... and there was I thinking that Mandy was comfortable with the filthy rich and that we'd got to where we are with the state of the banking sector AFTER 13 years of supposed New Labour prudence and effective regulatory control....

Pot calling the kettle black I reckon but then what's new from this bunch of inept, self serving, hypocrites.

[papa smurf]

well if Mandleslime said the sky was blue i would go and look for myself ,i detest this man ,and now i need a shower i feel soiled just talking about him.

[injuneer]

When I read this I thought perhaps he'd given him a left hook. No such luck.

Now, unless I'm very much mistake, and I very well may be.... It's my understanding that Barclay's took no money, as in zero, from the government, and are thus not beholding to the tax payers of Great Britain for their continued operation.... If this is the case, then we don't have any recourse to complain.

Like all the Liebour ****, comming up to the elections, Mandy is just trying to look like a friend of the plebs. All in the hopes of getting to be Gordo's pupetmaster for a couple more years....

[Ignitionnet]

BBC political correspondent Tim Reid said Lord Mandelson was trying to appeal to the voters.
"He is trying to get the National Insurance story off the front pages by launching a broadside against bankers," he said.

Simples.

[Osem]

Yes, unlike RBS and HBOS, Barclays took nothing from the taxpayer so it's odd that Diamond is the target of this attack when Brown et al were so keen on doling out gongs to the likes of Fred the Shred not that long ago...

I wonder what Mandy's thoughts on that dubious policy are but I don't expect it'd suit him to reveal all...

Whiter than white,.... purer than pure..., honesty & openness in politics,... an end to sleaze..... Yeah right!

So a man who led his organisation through the recent troubles without needing billions from the government is the unacceptable face of banking ha ha ha ha and peter mandelslime is the acceptable face of politics is he only in browns britain. So blatently an attack to get one story off the front pages that it is laughable and you can bet at some point in the near future dear old peter will be on the phone to this very gentleman making up for this. So sick of this lot i really am and whoever wins the election if they can just be more honest in their dealings with us and everyone else then this lot that will be a damn good start.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by RizzyKing

So a man who led his organisation through the recent troubles without needing billions from the government is the unacceptable face of banking ha ha ha ha and peter mandelslime is the acceptable face of politics is he only in browns britain. So blatently an attack to get one story off the front pages that it is laughable and you can bet at some point in the near future dear old peter will be on the phone to this very gentleman making up for this. So sick of this lot i really am and whoever wins the election if they can just be more honest in their dealings with us and everyone else then this lot that will be a damn good start.

Whilst they took nothing off the GB Government they certainly are in hock to the tune of several billions to Middle Eastern investors.

"Instead of turning to the government for aid, Barclays has raised billions from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, who together now own almost a third of the bank".

Give it a few years and an increase in base rate loan returns and I'm sure some on here will be alleging it's another part of Britain falling foul of Sharia law / the Islamofascists or whatever.

[Dai]

Well now, given the choice between selling a share of the business to Arab investors or being micro-managed by the Labour party I'd say they made the right call.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Earl of Bronze

Now, unless I'm very much mistake, and I very well may be.... It's my understanding that Barclay's took no money, as in zero, from the government, and are thus not beholding to the tax payers of Great Britain for their continued operation.... If this is the case, then we don't have any recourse to complain.

You are mistaken, they took full advantage of the special liquidity scheme (under which the Bank of England took the burden of ordinary household mortgages off banks' books in return for cash). Also, the credit guarantee plan under which hire purchase and consumer debt, such as car loans, were taken off the banks' ledgers in return for money. The most direct way that banks such as Barclays benefited was through being able to borrow straight from the Bank of England at knockdown interest rates.

In addition, the Bank of England (with the Chancellor's permission) has printed £200billion of new money through the policy of 'quantitative easing' - the process under which the Bank of England buys gilt-edged stock from financial institutions and gives them newly-minted money in exchange. The final piece of help to banks, including Barclays, was the Bank of England's decision to keep interest rates low, at 0.5 per cent, despite a background of rising inflation - which, according to figures yesterday, has gone up to 3.5 per cent.

and without the £1000 billion of tax payers cash flooding the banking market who is to say Barclays would have survived

Barclays, as chief executive John Varley readily acknowledges, has benefited from a series of schemes devised by Chancellor Alistair Darling, the Bank of England and central banks across the world to keep the financial system afloat

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/co...taxpayers.html

[Ignitionnet]

Just as a quick note the vast majority of QE money went straight to the government, it was used to purchase bonds and finance Labour's spending. In actual fact very little of it went to the banks.

The interest rate being low is not low to help banks but to encourage investment.

Interestingly that same article mentions Mandy's target as foregoing a bonus this year.

I'm not saying it's not obscene, the banks have been helped massively, both directly and indirectly, but certainly Mandy is picking on the wrong target here. Maybe he's upset that they managed to not give the Government a stake as they'd have quite liked being able to control Barclays.

[Chrysalis]

What I find amusing is members of parliament wanting the banks to pay taxpayers back by 'lending' them money.

So they want people to get in debt to get the economy rolling again.