Sir John Vickers has let the banks off lightly, and ducked radical reforms As banks’ shares led the London stock market yesterday, Sir John Vickers may have had a few misgivings that his prescription for reform of Britain’s banking sector had not been tough enough. He would be right. The much heralded analysis from the Independent Commission on Banking lets the banks off lightly. Its brief was to make banks safer as well as to come up with ways of injecting more competition into the market. Eminent figures from Vince Cable, the business secretary, to Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, suggested the commission look at breaking up the banks so that taxpayers could stand behind the retail branch networks while allowing the investment or “casino” operations to fail in a crisis. But Sir John and his fellow commissioners have backed away from a clear break between investment and retail banking, and instead argue that these activities can remain within the same institution if they are separated by a “firewall”. Crucially for the banks, the report allows them to transfer capital between both sides of the bank, meaning they can go on gambling with depositors’ money. Banks have got carried away in recent years by the profits on offer in risk-taking on international markets. This has little to do with providing a branch network. Retail banking should be a utility business much like running a power company or gas provider. It is an essential service for most people and should not be the root to riches. Too often banks have neglected their customers, selling ill-designed investment products and poorly performing savings policies to a captive base. Since depositors’ money is used to support their more lucrative investment banking activities, banks were desperate to protect this source of funding. The alternative would be expensive borrowing. This is why the banks will be privately cheered by the report even though they are moaning publicly about all the changes that they have endured in recent years. Sir John and his colleagues appear to have been convinced by threats from institutions such as Barclays and HSBC that they would shift out of London if draconian reforms were imposed on them. The separation advocated by the commission is a compromise that will make the system safer if it is done properly, but a clean break would be neater. The commission does not specify how a firewall could be set up and how this will operate in practice, although it does shoot down some of the higher estimates of the cost which were put at £12-15bn. Sir John will now consult the banks on how this separation can be achieved and no doubt, they will push for the most flexible way of doing it. Importantly, the report has nothing to say about the banking issue that preoccupies the public at present – bank bonuses. The commission says the City regulator – the Financial Services Authority – will deal with this. But pay policy is an inherent part of making banks safer. Many analyses of the crisis have pointed to the risks taken by bankers in pursuit of higher bonuses. It is high time there was an informed debate about the share of bank revenues devoted to remuneration, shareholders and tax. Unfortunately, the Vickers commission has ducked this issue. It has backed away from radical reform for consumers too. The commission clearly looked at dismantling Lloyds’ rescue merger with HBOS which was made at the height of the crisis and only after the government waived all existing competition considerations. This resulted in a further concentration of an already small number of banks and a reduction in customer choice. However, Sir John and colleagues instead suggest that Lloyds sell off more branches along with the 600 already specified by the EU. This would help to encourage rivals and add to the plurality of the banking system which, in theory, would mean we were better served.Customer service by banks is poor, and little has been done to improve it in recent years. Depressingly, last week’s Treasury select committee report found many of the same problems as a previous analysis had done a decade earlier. Anyone who has tried switching banks will know that it is not a straightforward process, even though mobile phone providers can manage it speedily. Some of the most effective suggestions of the commission may be the smaller ones, such as allowing portability of bank account numbers. There is no doubt that Britain’s bank system needs urgent reforms if we are to avert another crisis. Reform will also help restore the public’s faith in banks, which they need to rely on to save for their old age. Sir John’s prescription, however, does not go far enough. Banking Financial sector Financial crisis Economic policy Deborah Hargreaves guardian.co.uk
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Vicars advised to direct couples who include foreign nationals to apply for a common licence, which involves greater scrutiny The Church of England is to stop offering the traditional practice of reading the banns before weddings involving a foreign national from outside Europe as part of a drive against “sham marriages”. New guidance for clergy from the House of Bishops says that couples who include a foreign national and insist on their banns being published should be reported to the diocesan authorities immediately and their details passed on to the UK Border Agency (UKBA). Vicars are to be asked to suggest that couples who include foreign nationals should be directed to apply for a common licence, which involves greater scrutiny such as the production of passports and swearing of affidavits. There is a certain irony in the decision to ban the practice of publishing the banns for couples who include a foreign national as it was originally established to enable any local objections to be raised to an impending wedding to prevent marriages that are invalid. The Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, said the new guidance was needed because the “office of holy matrimony must not be misused by those who have no intention of contracting a genuine marriage but merely a sham marriage. The purpose of this guidance and direction from the bishops to the clergy and those responsible for the grant of common licences is, therefore, to prevent the contracting of sham marriages in the Church of England.” The immigration minister, Damian Green, who approved the new guidance, said recent enforcement action had resulting in 155 arrests for sham marriages across the country: “Would-be fraudsters should remember that a marriage in itself does not equal an automatic right to remain in the UK.” The guidance says that if the couple insist on having banns read rather than applying for a common licence they should be reported to diocesan legal officers. The clergy should require verifiable evidence of the couple’s right to marriage by banns, such as a driving licence and official correspondence in their original forms, and they should visit the couple at the address they have given. The guidance encourages vicars to contact the UKBA if they have any doubts about the marriages they are asked to conduct. They are encouraged to report any threats or other improper pressure to the police. It makes clear that while vicars have a legal duty to conduct the marriages of their parishoners, this does not extend to marry people “in pursuance of a criminal enterprise”. Marriage Christianity Religion Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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NASA astronaut calls for disclosure 2009 Falling Skies – Primer Trailer UFO /OVNI FBI Confirmed recovery of 3 UFOs and 9 Aliens FBI files reveal exploding UFO, aliens near Roswell — RT Secret FBI files have been released that detail how US officials witnessed a UFO explode over Utah and aliens landing near Roswell, New Mexico. A document recently declassified from 1949 explained how three men on separate patrols miles … Richard Gunther: Aliens There are many books about aliens and UFOs, some sensible and well researched, others sensational and mostly fiction. I own several of these books and have read a great deal from other books. From what I have managed to gather on the … Jon Favreau On 'Cowboys & Aliens ' Casting And Why Clint Eastwood … Pretty much the minute that “Cowboys & Aliens ” was announced, people have been intrigued — and that was before fan-favorites Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig and Jon Favreau were announced as the film’s stars and director. … The Kelly Family's In Love With Aliens [VIDEO] : COED Magazine The internet’s favorite kooky family of androgynous, long-haired folk singers – The Kelly Family – is back and singing in the key of love… with aliens (the space kind, not illegal). With the media’s negative portrayal of aliens in pop … Yoga in the Dragon's Den: Why aren't aliens in the YJ Talent Search? However, despite her best efforts, Wong has not mentioned one group of living beings that can benefit from (and in fact, are already benefiting from) yoga: Aliens ! No, I don’t mean aliens as in “humans who are not citizens of the United … CLHunting1 says: RT @BrianINC : In America 4 million people on welfare, 9 on unemployment, 37 million on food stamps Could someone remind me why we need Illegal aliens ?
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Trailer: Madden NFL Football Quentin Jammer & Lamarr Houston at Northern Tool & Equipment, April 2nd Nintendo 3DS – Madden NFL Football Trailer How badly will the Detroit Lions NFL football team embarrass … How badly will the Detroit Lions NFL football team embarrass Detroit fans today? For those who are unaware, the Lions have not won one game yet and are not expected to change that string today either. I sincerely wish the Detroit Lions … Nfl Football Betting Odds at Wagerweb Sportsbook and 2007 Nfl … Nfl Football Betting Odds at Wagerweb Sportsbook and 2007 Nfl Regular Season. Which team will go undefeated for the 2007 NFL regular season? San Jose, Costa Rica , October, 2007. WagerWeb.com is at the quarter-pole of the NFL season, … Football: Adrian Peterson Hand Signed Autographed Minnesota … Adrian Peterson Hand Signed Autographed Minnesota Vikings Full Size NFL Football List Price: $129.95 Authentic Adrian Peterson Hand Signed Vikings Football! List Price: $129.95 Your Price: $129.95- THIS IS AN OFFICIAL FULL SIZE NFL … How Do Casinos Make NFL Football Betting More Intense and Exciting … How Do Casinos Make NFL Football Betting More Intense and Exciting? NFL football betting is not as simple as picking the winning team and winning back what you. Dallas Cowboys vs Buffalo Bills 1992 Super Bowl XXVII NFL Football … SUPER BOWL DALLAS COWBOYS AMERICAN TEAMS MAURICIOCOWBOYS XXVII Video Rating: 4 / 5. jack_miller1 says: Update: Kansas City Chiefs NFL Football Sports Team Golf Balls 3 Piece Gift Set http://bit.ly/eBPuTd
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Constituency colleagues decide against featuring once-popular deputy prime minister on publicity material It is just under a year since Nick Clegg was the pride of the Liberal Democrats and hailed as Britain’s most popular leader since Winston Churchill during a brief period of election hysteria. Now the deputy prime minister’s Lib Dem colleagues in his Sheffield Hallam constituency appear to be turning their backs on him and have left him out of their leaflets for the local elections on 5 May. A year ago Clegg’s mugshot popped up on every page of the Hallamshire Herald, whose front page ran the banner headline: “We’re backing Nick!” On page two, under two pictures of Clegg, the Lib Dems printed pictures of the party’s five councillors in Hallam. Wind forward 12 months and there are no pictures of Clegg. The editors of an edition of the Lib Dem Focus freesheet have decided not to remind voters that Hallam has elected Britain’s deputy prime minister as it runs the following headline on its front page: “Work starts on Stannington Park.” The leaflet was published on the centre left blog Political Scrapbook . A spokesman for Clegg said: “This is just one leaflet from a huge number put out by Liberal Democrats across Sheffield, including another that went out at the same time with Nick’s image on the front and the back. It’s a local election. Some of our leaflets feature Nick and national issues, while others focus more on local issues and the fantastic work our local councillors are doing.” “Nick is proud to be a Sheffield MP and Sheffield Lib Dems are proud that Nick is in government delivering on our manifesto. This was clear just last month when we became the first political party to hold a conference in the city.” There was further embarrassment for Clegg when Tavish Scott, the Lib Dem leader in Scotland, joked about the deputy prime minister’s admission in the New Statesman last week that he sometimes cries to music . Scott, whose party faces a tough fight in the elections to the Scottish parliament on 5 May, told Clyde 2 radio: “Nick Clegg doesn’t make me cry – grimace occasionally, but not cry.” Clegg’s office laughed off Scott’s remarks. “Tavish Scott is allowed to make a joke,” one source said. “Nick gets on very well with Tavish and will going up to Scotland for the elections.” But Lib Dems in Glasgow appear to think Clegg is not much of an asset in Scotland. The Daily Record reported that a four-page pamphlet for the Glasgow region features two pictures of the former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy but none of Clegg. A Lib Dem spokesman told the Daily Record: “Nick Clegg will be part of our Scottish election campaign, but so will Charles Kennedy. He is a tremendously popular politician.” Nick Clegg Elections 2011 Local elections Local government Local politics Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
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• BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor shows biggest fall in total sales since survey began in 1995 • RICS figures show house prices outside London are continuing to fall Britain’s retailers are enduring the toughest trading conditions for at least a decade and a half, as consumer spending wilts in the face of higher inflation and the first drop in personal spending power since the slump of the early 1980s. Today’s monthly healthcheck from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) of activity in brick and mortar stores and on the internet found an across-the-board weakness in consumer spending that left takings down on a year earlier. City analysts are braced for fresh evidence of upward pressure on the cost of living with the release of the latest Office for National Statistics data today. Financial markets are expecting the annual inflation rate as measured by the consumer prices index to nudge closer to 5%, adding to the Bank of England’s dilemma over whether to raise interest rates at a time when the economy is weak. Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC, said: “The next interest rate decision is a difficult balancing act for the Bank but, for now, supporting our weak economy must be the priority. Inflation is coming mainly from temporary and external price shocks – VAT, world commodity prices and the weak pound – not wage or consumer-driven increases. Increasing interest rates would do more harm than good.” The BRC data comes in the wake of profit warnings from high street names ranging from Dixons to Mothercare, Carpetright, Halfords, HMV and the Argos owner Home Retail Group. The former Asda boss Andy Bond has warned that retailers are facing a two-year high street recession as consumer confidence and household incomes come under increasing pressure. The BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor showed that the total value of retail sales last month was 1.9% lower than in March 2010, but down 3.5% when the data was adjusted for an increase in floor space over the past 12 months. “This is the worst drop in total sales since we first collected these figures in 1995,” Robertson said. “Non-food retailers were particularly hard hit. This is strong evidence of the pressure customers and traders are under. This year’s later Easter is a factor but this fall goes way beyond anything explained by that alone. “Uncomfortably high inflation and low wage growth have produced the first year-on-year fall in disposable incomes for 30 years. Mounting fuel and utility costs, falling house prices, higher VAT and the prospect of more tax rises and job losses left people unwilling to spend unless they really had to. These pressures aren’t going away and the arrival of higher national insurance is likely to compound them in the immediate future.” A sector-by-sector breakdown of trading conditions found that spending on clothing was down on a year earlier, food sales were flat, stores selling electrical goods had a “challenging” month, book sales were down and many computer games stores were disappointed by sales of the new Nintendo DSi 3D. The BRC said that online sales were also affected, with the growth rate in internet retailing halving to 7.5% between March 2010 and March 2011. Helen Dickinson, head of retail at the accountancy firm KPMG, said: “We have seen an emergence of new, lower spending patterns since the middle of January, which are currently continuing to trend downwards. Many retailers will not be able to sustain this ongoing weakness in demand beyond the short term and are hoping for some good news around the extended bank holiday period and a feelgood factor driven by the royal wedding. “However, as disposable income continues to fall, without reducing saving or increasing borrowing – which would oppose current trends – this will not be possible.” A separate report today from Britain’s estate agents suggested little prospect of the traditional spring surge in the housing market. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said that activity was flat, demand for new property had fallen and prices were continuing to edge downwards. Nationally, the number of firms reporting falling prices exceeded those registering price increases by a margin of 23 percentage points, slightly lower than the balance of +26% in February. According to the RICS, the general fall in house prices over the past three months was in the range of 0-2%. London was the only part of the country to report a rise in prices, and also bucked the trend in terms of activity. Ian Perry, RICS housing spokesman, said: “The rather negative outlook for property prices across the UK seems to better reflect the general economy than the microclimate of London. The low level of buyer interest in many parts of the UK continues to impact on the market, resulting in some downward pressure on prices. With the prospect of forthcoming interest rate rises and continued shortage of mortgage funding, it seems that overall recovery for the national housing market is still some way off.” Consumer spending Inflation Economic growth (GDP) Economics Bank of England Interest rates Retail industry House prices Property National insurance Tax Dixons Retail Mothercare Carpetright Halfords HMV Home Retail Asda Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
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The nuclear and industrial safety agency confirms the crisis level has been raised from five to seven on the international nuclear and radiological event scale Japan has raised the severity level of its nuclear crisis to a maximum seven, putting the emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant on a par with Chernobyl. Officials from the nuclear and industrial safety agency [Nisa] confirmed that the crisis level had been raised from five to seven on the international nuclear and radiological event [INES] scale. But they said the new rating reflects the initial impact of the nuclear crisis, adding that radiation levels have since dropped dramatically. The scale, devised by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], ranks nuclear and radiological accidents and incidents by severity from one to seven. Level seven incidents involve a major release of radiation with widespread health and environmental effects, according to the IAEA. In recent days Japanese officials had suggested there was no need to raise the severity level from five, which applied to the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. A spokesman for Nisa said the decision to raise the level to the status of major accident did not mean that the Japanese plant posed the same threat to public health or involved similarly big releases of radiation as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. “Chernobyl exploded while the reactors were still active, which is completely different from the situation at Fukushima,” Hidehiko Nishiyama said. He added that the decision had been taken a month after the accident because experts needed time to analyse data. Japan’s nuclear safety commission estimated that the Fukushima plant’s reactors had released up to 10,000 terabequerels of radioactive iodine-131 into the air for several hours after they were damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The emission of radioactive substances from Fukushima Daiichi was about 10% of that detected at Chernobyl, Nishiyama said. The nuclear safety commission said emissions have since dropped to below one terabecquerel per hour, adding that it was examining the total amount of radioactive materials released. Some experts criticised the move as excessive. “I think raising it to the level of Chernobyl is excessive,” said Murray Jennex, associate professor at San Diego State University. “It’s nowhere near that level. Chernobyl was terrible – it blew and they had no containment, and they were stuck. “The [Japanese] containment has been holding, the only thing that hasn’t is the fuel pool that caught fire. I don’t see those as the same event. If they want to do that, that’s fine. I think they’re being overly pessimistic.” Tuesday’s decision came after the government said it would widen the evacuation zone near the plant to include five communities lying outside the current 20-kilometre no-go area. About 70,000 people living within a 20-kilometre radius of the plant have already been evacuated, while 130,000 living between 20-30 km have been told to leave voluntarily or stay indoors. The latest evacuation, which could take at least a week to complete, was prompted by the lack of progress in fixing cooling systems at the damaged plant and concerns about the long-term effects on public health. “These new evacuation plans are meant to ensure safety against risks of living [in affected communities] for half a year or one year,” the government’s chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, said. Japan’s northeast and eastern regions have been hit by two big aftershocks in the past 24 hours. Shortly after 8am on Tuesday, an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.3 that struck off the coast of Chiba prefecture was followed by reports of a fire breaking out at the No 4 reactor at Fukushima Daichi. The blaze was quickly extinguished, officials said. The tremor was one of more than 400 aftershocks above magnitude 5 to have hit the area since March 11. In one of the few signs of progress, the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco], said it had stopped pumping low-level radioactive water from the reactor buildings into the sea. The controversial measure, which drew criticism from neighbouring China and South Korea, was designed to free up storage space for highly contaminated water. But engineers say they are no closer to restoring the plant’s cooling system; until they do, they will be unable to cool overheating fuel rods and stabilise the facility’s six reactors. On Monday, Tepco’s president, Masataka Shimizu, made his first visit to Fukushima prefecture since the crisis began. “I would like to deeply apologise again for causing physical and psychological hardship,” he said. The prefecture’s governor, however, refused to meet him. Japan disaster Japan Nuclear power Nuclear waste Natural disasters and extreme weather Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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From 7.07am BST on Tuesday, the film First Orbit will track Yuri Gagarin’s space flight as it happened 50 years ago. This page will display communications between Gagarin and ground control as the mission unfolds First Orbit, a film by Christopher Riley, marks the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight by the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. It uses footage of the Earth shot from the International Space Station to match Gagarin’s flight path, and original mission audio. • Read film maker Chris Riley’s introduction to the film , which was shot from the International Space Station. The British Council helped to fund First Orbit, and they are tweeting the flight live as it happened, starting from 3.30am on Tuesday morning. View a complete log of mission updates. Yuri Gagarin International Space Station Space guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Barack the Born-Again Deficit-Cutter Gets Predictable AP Kid-Glove Treatment
April 11, 2011 No CommentI sure hope that the Associated Press's Jim Kuhnhenn has been working out, especially in his upper body.
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Click here to view this media I’m not a big fan of any Democrat going on Fox News because on a good number of their shows, they’ll just find themselves being either outnumbered or talked over, but this interview with Rep. Peter DeFazio and Neil Cavuto was an exception to that rule. I think he did a pretty good job of beating back at Cavuto’s Republican talking points about how we can’t do anything on the revenue side to take care of our deficit and that it’s important to take care of our crumbling infrastructure in America. DeFazio: Well if you draw the line and say there can be no additional revenues, and in fact we’re going to reduce revenues, you’re digging the hole deeper, and that’s what Paul Ryan’s budget does. Reduce revenues by four trillion dollars. Cavuto: How are you digging the hole, seriously sir, how are you digging the hole deeper? If you’re in a 1.5 trillion dollar hole this year and a 14 trillion dollar debt hole, collectively, you can’t possibly dig it deeper. DeFazio: Neil, I voted against extending all the tax cuts in December. If we had not extended all of the Bush tax cuts, I mean, just all of them, including those that go to middle class folks and others, that would have meant the deficit would have been $440 billion dollars smaller this year. Now, so we wouldn’t have a record deficit. Cavoto: So let’s take best case scenario. We would still be looking at a 1.1 trillion dollar deficit. We would still be looking at a $13.5 trillion dollar debt. And we would still be looking at a ten year time horizon of $43 trillion dollars in debt, so isn’t the issue, it’s not a tax problem congressman, it’s a spending problem? DeFazio: It’s both. Well, Neil, you can’t solve it on spending. If we eliminated the entire government today, we would still have a deficit this year. That means the Department of Defense and everything else that you think of as government is gone tomorrow. We open the prisons. We open the borders, you know, everything. You’d still have a deficit. So you can’t just say you’re going to cut your way there. You’ve got to deal with the revenue side too. Cavuto: No you wouldn’t. That’s not… DeFazio: It is true. $800 billion for the military and $600 billion for discretionary spending, which is the little budget we’re fighting over right now. That’s $1.4 trillion less in the deficit. Cavuto: You’re talking about providing more money, more taxes for what I think you’ll acknowledge sir is a faulty product. Why don’t we address the faulty product that’s spending beneath it, right? DeFazio: Well, there are certain things I don’t think are faulty products. Investing in the next generation’s education so we can achieve more. How about me? I’m on the transportation committee. We’re headed towards a transportation bill that will invest 40% less than the bill we passed six years ago. Cavuto: Alright. DeFazio: We had two conditions when the Republicans controlled everything that said our infrastructure is falling apart and becoming third world, we’ve got to invest in our infrastructure. Cavuto: Good ideas. We’ll look more into that. I’m not holding my breath for any follow up on that during Cavuto’s weekly show on Fox.
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