They are at it again.........

[David Johnson]

Couple of snippets about everyone's heroes, investment bankers.

First of all it has been discovered that by far the biggest funders of the Tory party since Cameron became PM are the finance boys in the City. And within the Finance sector which funds 50% of the Tory party income, hedge funds represent a substantial proportion

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011 ... ial-sector

Can this possibly have someithing to do with the following:

Boy George has said the government is definitely against the "Robin Hood" tax on share transactions which the EU is trying to introduce.

He is also against the attempts of the EU to control the derivatives business which was one of the factors in the global banking crisis. How many EU countries have stated their opposition? One, the UK.

Thirdly, the government's much vaunted Project Merlin was designed to get the banks lending to small businesses. Lord Oakshott, the Liberal Dem responsible for that area, resigned because he regarded it as toothless. THe banks havent been lending to businesses on the scale required so Osborne announced at the Tory conference that he has plans for the government i.e. the taxpayer to lend money to businesses and any losses incurred will be funded by you and me.

So after the appallingly poor job Labour did of regulating the finance industry and despite the global crash, the power and bad practices of the banking industry appears to be growing rather than reducing.

Cheers
D

[Dave Wells]

Boy George as Chancellor..............now there's a thought !

[Alex L]

Both of the Boys George appear to go quite heavy on the make up.

[David Johnson]

And quite heavy on the S&M.........allegedly.

[Robches]

The Tobin Tax is a completely stupid idea. If it is introduced in the EU, the trading activity will just move to Switzerland. The other EU states like it because most trading goes on in London, so they can fuck Britain and get more money for their Europrojects at the same time.

[David Johnson]

"The Tobin Tax is a completely stupid idea. If it is introduced in the EU, the trading activity will just move to Switzerland."

the EC recommends a transaction tax of 0.1% of the value of all trades in shares and bonds, plus a rate of 0.01% for derivative trades. This tax would apply on all transactions conducted from January 2014 between financial institutions where at least one party is based in the 27-country European bloc.

Would you relocate your entire organisation to Switzerland if a 0.1% tax was introduced which is what is mooted?

This is symptomatic of the won't say boo to an investment bank scenario, followed both by Labour and Tory governments which helped us get in the global financial mess that we are in.

Can't possibly do anything at all remotely unpleasant to an investment bank or they will bugger off. Much better to hammer the poor. They dont complain as much, nor do they pay so much in funding to Tory Central Office Eh?

CHeers
D

[Arginald Valleywater]

Rich bankers aiding Tories, don't tell me ?150k a year union bosses aren't backing Labour? Well I never......

[David Johnson]

If it came to a choice I would much rather have a political party supported by trade unions representing people who pay their taxes at source, live in the UK for tax purposes etc etc rather than an investment banking sector which has brought many countries to the point of bankruptcy, pay as little tax as humanly possible using complex tax avoidance technigques, carry on with six figure bonuses irrespective of risks and are virtually out of control.

Obviously there are some workers who pay their taxes in the UK and have no choice how much gets extracted from them at source but at the same time, love gettting shagged up the arse by a bunch of predatory, out off control investment bankers.

Takes all sorts I guess. Some people love spending their lives on their knees.

CHeers
D

[Robches]

David:

Once the EU gets a Tobin Tax established, do you seriously believe the rates would not rise? The fact is this is a way for them to get money and stuff Britain, a win win in their eyes. Remember, the EU is not and never has been a democratic institution. It was never meant to be. If you want democratic government, you have to leave the EU.

[David Johnson]

"do you seriously believe the rates would not rise?"

I can only comment on the current proposals, not what might or might not happen in the future. I am not a mind reader.

Secondly, your argument i.e. investment banks might relocate to Switzerland could be used for any move to control/tax the banking industry. THis is a recipe for doing nothing which is why we got in this mess in the first place.

Alternatively to wait until a worldwide measure(s) can be brought in is living in cloud cuckoo land. It will never happen.