"We didn't know" from the Government is not credible

It's typical that I should be out at the theatre when the Damien Green story broke and then, by the time I got home, it was a bit late to be posting. However, having been listening to Today this morning on the way into London I was astounded to hear that the the Government is saying it was not made aware of the arrest and knew nothing about it.

Strangely the Police thought to call the Speaker, the Serjeant At Arms, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, but though not to call the Home Secretary at the very last and the most the Prime Minister? What a complete crock of bullshit that is.

After all, it would have been the Home Office that would have instructed an investigation to start in the first place I would've thought given it was dealing with leaks of embarrassing information. Add to this the use of counter-terrorism officers on a day when the security level in London must have been pretty high because of Mumbai and it all just stinks.

I really can't add much more comment because more than enough will have already said the same thing. It does however seem that wherever this was directed from in government it was meant as a signal to those who seek to embarrass and hold the Government to account. Don't do it. To that I suggest every single MP, including those on the Government side, stick two fingers up.

The Brown Recession Is Over In.....

New widget on the right un the first set of link with thanks to the Crown Blog. Time to countdown the days to when Brown and Darling say the recession will be over. Click the options link to get the code.

The PFI Bombshell?

The whole point of PFI, if you believe the hype, is to deliver public service by shifting the risk to the private sector and then have the Government simply rent back the delivered project for a specified length of time at a premium rate to reward the private consortium for taking the risk.

So, why is it that no one has yet mentioned in the press that three of the key financial backers in the private consortiums are HBOS, Abbey National and RBS? That's significant because they are all institutions that are now partly in 'public ownership' thanks to an injection fo £50 billion in recapitalisation.

That means that the Government is not only propping them up, but it is also paying them premium rent for projects it got them to build and rewarding them for taking a risk that it is itself now liable for. In fact, the Government is now paying the banks to take a risk which they are no longer taking because all the risk is back in the hands of the Government as a significant, powerful and influential shareholder.

We're not talking about small picking either, they are over 600 signed PFI agreements that the Government has made, and quite a few of them are backed by the banks that the Government has pushed itself to bankruptcy to hold up. Now put this in context with new accounting rules that will be introduced in April 2009 to make PFI be "on balance sheet". At this point, assuming the Government do it, the books will be laid open and potentially the economy will crash even further.

If at this point the scale of the debt is revealed formally, then there is every potential that the Government could default on its payments to the banks for PFI (both the ones it has part ownership of and the ones that it doesn't); if one of those banks was then to collapse, what would happen to the schools, hospitals, defence installations, transport projects and all other manner of PFIs that have been agreed?

Seems to me that we might not just have a "tax bombshell" coming but rather a "PFI bombshell" that could cripple the country in a way not seen for a generation.

UPDATE: The bringing of the PFI debt on to the balance sheet in April would be a very good reason to hold a snap election before the roof falls in. No?

Anyone seen my security pass?

I know that data security has been a hot potato with Government in the last year or so, but another asepct of security that needs to be remembered is that of physical access by security pass right? Of ocurse, security passes, even in the private sector, get lost, or might be stolen when they're in a wallet etc.

Interestingly, most of the departments that have responded to questions on this matter have not really lost that many, the Cabinet Office for example has only had to issue one replacement pass over the past few years. Meanwhile some other departments have reported ranges from 10 to about a 100.

That is with one exception, the Ministry of Defence. Since January this year they have recorded the loss or theft of 5,313 security passes. That's about 15 security passes a day lost or stolen in the department that really ought to be the most anally secure.

Scary huh?

Hotel spending follow-up

A quick follow on for a post I did a few weeks ago about how much the Home Office spent on hotel accommodation in a year. The Department of Transport has released figures and they're running a close second behind the Home Office. They managed to spend £4,735,014 on hotel accommodation in 2007-08.

Now, whilst some might think, given the eye-watering figures on borrowing in the last few days, that £4.7m might not be alot, when you add up the figures for this sort of spending across the board you start to appreciate how much money gets squandered every year in areas where savings good easily be made.

Council Tax cut of 3% for third year running

Another year goes by and Hammersmith and Fulham Council show how it should be done by cutting Council Tax by 3% for the third year in a row and putting £145 back into the pockets of their residents.

Now, you'd expect the Labour Party locally to scream about cuts in services, which they will do with leaflets at Hammersmith Station and Barons Court (I work in the borough so I know), but H&F are still investing in schools, putting more police on the streets etc and lowering debt.

This is the sort of thing that really helps people out, and to be honest, perhaps it will come down to local councils taking action when the Chancellor won't.

**** VAT TO RISE TO 18.5% IN 2011 ****

The Tax Bombshell is EXPOSED - it only took a day!

Guido's documentary scoop.

The ante was just upped!Labour's VAT Bomb

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Government tax vat

Note: The 45% income tax hike will raise £1.5bn, this tax will raise £5bn.

The Osborne Slap Down Video

Via Tory Bear

Polly thinks 3 million unemployed is a price worth paying?

In 1991, when unemployment hit 3 million, Norman Lamont said, in what was widely considered a gaffe,

Rising unemployment and the recession have been the price that we have had to pay to get inflation down. That price is well worth paying. * Hansard, HC 6Ser vol 191 col 413 (16 May 1991)

Those last five words have been something which Labour has bashed over the heads of many a Tory to illustrate how uncaring they were/are. In fact, just this past Saturday Polly Toynbee wrote that Cameron had done a U-turn and taken the Tories back to the view that "unemployment is a price worth paying". It's a good soundbite right?

However, times change fast in the mind of Polly. We know this because she praised Gordon as a saviour, then slagged him off a no-hoper, then praised him as a savior again in the space of months. The speed of her U-turns has reached new heights now because today she writes,

Even if unemployment reaches 3 million, that still leaves 90% in secure jobs. Most people will suffer not at all in this recession: on the contrary they will do well as prices fall and the real value of their earnings rises.

Got that? All of sudden unemployment at 3 million is a price worth paying because those in jobs will have lots of cheap things to buy? Recession is good. Long live recession says Polly, and 3 million unemployed? That's a price worth paying says the stuck-up aristocrat who is in touch with the common people!?
Hat Tip: CoffeeHouse and Guido for link to today's Polly column quote.

Ministers to be given powers putting them above the law - the buried bad news?

Would anyone be surprised if whilst we had our head fixated on the Chancellor's mini-budget the Government would slip out some other announcements in the hope that no one would notice. I believe the phrase we have come to know this as is "burying bad news". Given the circumstances of the pre-Budget report, there was lots of bad news under which to bury some more right?

It seems that the unbeliavble news that was buried yestedray can be found here. It is a statement by Jack Straw on data protection and information security. Initially it all sounds very tough. There are lots of things about the importance of securing the data they hold on us, as well as stuff about hefty fines to be imposed when there are breaches. However, it's this bit on the end that is worrying and frankly quite disturbing.

In addition, to reinforce the framework within which we can safely share data and deliver benefits for the public, we propose to:

place a statutory duty on the ICO to publish a data sharing code of practice in order to provide practical guidance on how to share personal data in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act and to promote good practice in the sharing of personal data; and

confer a power upon the Secretary of State to permit or require the sharing of personal information between particular specified persons, where a robust case for doing so exists.

Did you spot that? They're planning to introduce rules for how and when information can be shared (this is being done through one of those "consultations" with the public). Then, and this is the kicker, they plan to introduce an arbitrary power given to the Secertary of State which allows him or her to simply override the code of practice and the Data Protection Act by diktat.

Here's the thing though, anyone defending this proposal will say "there must be a "robust case for doing so" so there is a safeguard". However, and let's get this straight for a moment. They want to share sensitive data. In order to do that they must present a robust case. So... who is that robust case presented to and will it be public? Unlikely because guess what, in presenting a "robust case" there is going to be protected data involved.

What this ministerial statement effectively means is that the Secretary of State will be able to override the Data Protection Act, order the sharing of data with whoever he or she chooses, upon which the grounds for it will be restricted from public scrutiny because of... errr... the Data Protection Act.

Welcome to the secret state where ministers make themselves above the law.

Note: This little power thrown on at the end is given no mention in reporting in The Times or the Guardian. Why? Nor is any mention made that Straw said the powers were to "simplify the data protection framework and remove any unnecessary obstacles to data sharing". So much for strengthening data protection in Government!