U.K. – Page 136 – Infinite Unknown

Liberty groups unite to defend UK rights

March 1, 2009 by Infinite

“There has been a tide of government actions which have put expediency over justice time and time again. The British people wear their liberty like an old comfy suit, they are careless about it, but the mood is changing. Last year 80 per cent of people were in favour of ID cards, now 80 per cent are against. There’s a point of reflection that we are reaching, the communications database which is planned to collect every private text and phone call and petrol station receipt will create uproar.” – David Davis

Writers, pop stars, lawyers and politicians from across the party spectrum yesterday issued a call to arms. They joined the largest ever campaign across Britain to warn of the erosion of freedoms and the emergence of surveillance techniques

Police outside Parliament
A police cordon outside the Houses of Parliament in 2006. Liberty campaigners warn of a growing police state. Photograph: Adam Butler/AP

The government and the courts are collaborating in slicing away freedoms and pushing Britain to the brink of becoming a “database” police state, a series of sold-out conferences in eight British cities heard yesterday.

In a day of speeches and discussions, academics, politicians, lawyers, writers, journalists and pop stars joined civil liberty campaigners yesterday to issue a call to arms for Britons to defend their democratic rights.

More than 1,500 people, paying £35 a ticket, attended the Convention on Modern Liberty in Bloomsbury, central London, which was linked by video to parallel events in Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff and Cambridge. They heard from more than 80 speakers, including author Philip Pullman; musicians Brian Eno and Feargal Sharkey; journalists Fatima Bhutto, Andrew Gilligan, Nick Cohen and Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger; politicians Lord Bingham and Dominic Grieve; a former director of public prosecutions, Ken Macdonald; and human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy.

In her speech Kennedy said she felt that fear was being used as a weapon to break down civil liberties. “There is a general feeling that in creating a climate of fear people have been writing a blank cheque to government. People feel the fear of terrorism is being used to take away a lot of rights.”

UN attacks Britain over torture claims

March 1, 2009March 1, 2009 by Infinite

Investigator raises ‘very clear allegations’ that MI5 broke international law

Britain may have broken international law on torture, ministers have been warned by the United Nations. Professor Manfred Nowak, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, has alerted ministers to a range of concerns, including claims that MI5 officers were complicit in the maltreatment of suspects.

The Austrian law professor warned that Britain has breached the UN convention on torture, and he revealed that he was organising a fact-finding mission to Pakistan, whose security services allegedly tortured terror suspects before the captives were questioned by British intelligence.

It is the first time the UN’s senior torture investigator has directly criticised a British government. Human rights groups said it was highly significant. Clare Algar, executive director of legal charity Reprieve, said: “This is a further significant embarrassment for the British government and reinforces the fact that we really need an independent review into what has been going on.”

Related article: Ministers refuse to answer torture questions (Guardian)

Nowak appeared to criticise the foreign secretary, David Miliband, for blocking the release of US files allegedly confirming MI5 involvement in the torture of British resident Binyam Mohamed. Miliband said releasing the documents could do “real and significant damage” to British national security.

Ministers refuse to answer torture questions

February 28, 2009 by Infinite

• Miliband and Smith snub human rights committee
• MPs want head of MI5 to explain conduct of officers

David Miliband and Jacqui Smith have both refused to appear before Parliament’s human rights committee to answer questions about allegations of British collusion in the torture of British citizens and residents detained during counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan.

In a move that dismayed members of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), a joint letter from the foreign secretary and home secretary is also said to have failed to answer any of the eight questions that the committee asked about legal provisions offering MI5 officers immunity in the UK for crimes committed overseas. The JCHR is now asking Jonathan Evans, the director-general of MI5, to appear before it to be questioned about the agency’s policy and the conduct of his officers.

Government plans to keep DNA samples of innocent

February 27, 2009 by Infinite

DNA samples of innocent to be kept on file

Home secretary Jacqui Smith: has not indicated whether DNA samples already obtained would be destroyed. Photo: Cathal McNaughton/PA

The government is planning to get around a European court ruling that condemned Britain’s retention of the DNA profiles of more than 800,000 innocent people by keeping the original samples used to create the database, the Guardian has learned.

A damning ruling last December criticised the “blanket and indiscriminate nature” of the UK’s current DNA database – which includes DNA from those never charged with an offence – and said the government had overstepped acceptable limits of storing data for crime detection.

Don’t miss:
– Information Commissioner Richard Thomas warns of surveillance culture (Times):
Richard Thomas told The Times that “creeping surveillance” in the public and private sectors had gone “too far, too fast” and risked undermining democracy.

– Spy chief: We risk a police state (Telegraph):
Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

Last month the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said she would publish a white paper setting out “a more proportionate, fair and commonsense approach”, but she has not given any indication whether DNA samples already obtained would be destroyed. However, Home Office sources said the government, which was given three months to respond to the ruling, has “no plans” to destroy samples of DNA.

Gordon Brown helped fuel banking crisis – FSA head

February 26, 2009 by Infinite

Gordon Brown helped fuel Britain’s banking crisis by pressuring the City regulator not to intervene and stop reckless lending, Lord Turner, the head of the Financial Services Authority, said.

Chairman of the FSA Lord Turner Photo: JULIAN SIMMONDS

The authority’s chairman claimed the regulator was under political “pressure” not to be “heavy and intrusive” with banks such as HBOS and Northern Rock.

Instead, it was told to operate a “light touch” approach, which had now been proved to be “mistaken”, he told a Commons committee.

The failure of the regulator to intervene earlier has been blamed for the banking crisis, which has led to the near-collapse of several of the country’s biggest banks.

Lord Turner’s remarks, made to MPs, are deeply embarrassing for the Prime Minister, who oversaw the FSA while he was Chancellor.

RBS posts record £40bn pre-tax loss

February 26, 2009 by Infinite

The Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a £40bn loss before tax – the biggest in UK corporate history. Net losses, which come after tax and interest and other charges, came in at £24.1bn.

The pre-tax loss in 2008 compares with a £9.8bn pre-tax profit in 2007 and comes after £32.6bn writedown of assets, mostly related to its ill-fated decision to buy ABN Amro for €71bn (£63bn).

Some £16bn of the losses relate to ABN assets bought by Belgian bank Fortis that RBS consolidates in its accounts under the terms of the 2007 acquisition of the Dutch bank by the RBS, Fortis and Spain’s Santander. Stripping those out, RBS made a £24.1bn loss.

The previous record annual loss for a UK company was £14.9bn.

Savers withdraw record amount from banks

February 25, 2009 by Infinite

Savers withdraw record amount from banks … and the reason is bla, bla, bla …

People live off of their savings, they know that the banking system might fail and so they buy gold, foreign currencies and have some cash at hand in case of a bank-holiday.
Some are even leaving the country.

Jim Rogers: Now it’s time to emigrate, says investment guru (Independent)

The British Bankers’ Association said that customers withdrew £2.3bn in January, the biggest drop since records began.

The BBA said personal deposits fell by £2.3bn as spending drained cash and savers sought alternative ways of getting a return on their cash. The previous high for falling deposits was £1.5bn in 1997.

David Dooks, BBA statistics director, said: “It is the biggest monthly fall in a decade. A fall in deposits in January reflects a tendency to draw on cash to pay off credit cards after Christmas, or to move into alternative financial products paying a higher return.”

‘I was victim of medieval torture,’ says freed Guantanamo detainee

February 24, 2009 by Infinite

Return of British resident after seven years fuels demands for Government to clarify role of MI5 agents

Binyam Mohamed, 30, a British resident who has been held at Guantanamo Bay formore than four years, steps from a plane at RAF Northolt, west London

The seven-year ordeal of a British resident who claims he was brutally tortured before being sent to Guantanamo Bay was brought to an end last night during an emotional reunion with his family.

Binyam Mohamed’s sister, Zuhra Mohamed, said she was “overcome with joy” as she watched her brother shuffle down the steps of the RAF transport plane which had carried him from the notorious US detention camp in Cuba to Northolt airfield, west London.

‘Those I hoped would rescue me were allied with my abusers’ (Guardian):
Britain’s role in the secret abduction of terror suspects came under intense new scrutiny with the return to the UK of Binyam Mohamed yesterday after more than four years in Guantánamo Bay.

Senior MPs said they intended to pursue ministers and officials over what they knew of his ill-treatment and why Britain helped the CIA interrogate him.

In a statement released shortly after he arrived in a US Gulfstream jet at RAF Northolt in west London, Mohamed said: “For myself, the very worst moment came when I realised in Morocco that the people who were torturing me were receiving questions and materials from British intelligence.”

She said: “When I saw him he looked like he is OK, but he will plainly not be the man I remember all those years ago.” Almost as soon as Mr Mohamed had taken his first steps on British soil, the former computer and engineering student made it clear that he had unfinished business with both the US and UK governments. In a carefully worded statement he said he intended to hold to account those he blamed for his alleged rendition, torture and unlawful imprisonment: “I am not asking for vengeance; only that the truth should be made known so that nobody in the future should have to endure what I have endured.”

Jack Straw bans release of Iraq invasion minutes

February 24, 2009 by Infinite

Knowing the truth will cause too much damage to democracy?

Minutes of cabinet meetings in which ministers discussed their motivation for going to war with Iraq will not be made public, Justice Secretary Jack Straw has ruled.

Mr Straw told the Commons he had consulted with the rest of the Cabinet before issuing the veto Photo: BLOOMBERG NEWS

Mr Straw said he could not permit the release of records from 2003 discussions over the invasion of Iraq because it would cause too much “damage” to democracy.

He said he had signed a certificate under section 53 of the FOI Act, “the effect of which is that these Cabinet minutes will not now be disclosed”.

Allowing publication to go ahead would cause “serious damage to Cabinet government, an essential principle of British democracy”.

‘We need a pay rise’ bankers demand

February 24, 2009 by Infinite

Clampdown on bonuses sparks City calls for 10 per cent increase in salaries

Senior City bankers are demanding pay rises of up to 10 per cent this year to make up for the clampdown on the bonus culture, a senior City head-hunter has told The Independent.

Shaun Springer, chief executive of Napier Scott, which specialises in recruiting senior bankers for posts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said bankers were attempting to rebalance their financial packages in favour of higher salaries. And he predicted that, over the next few years, city salaries could more than double to compensate investment bankers.

“Base salaries are being increased by somewhere between 5 and 10 per cent, by rule of thumb, to compensate for an overall fall in the remunerative package,” said Mr Springer.

“This is being done in recognition of perhaps a long-term change, in which one can envisage basic salaries in the long term doubling or tripling or quadrupling compared to where they are today and bonuses falling by as much as 80 per cent.”

“People used to, say, earn between £100,000 and £150,000 and receive bonuses of 10 times multiples of their base salary,” he continued. “But a trend is now developing where someone has a basic pay of, say, £300,000 but with bonus multiple of only two or three times that.”

HSBC considers $20bn cash call from investors

February 23, 2009 by Infinite

Sources close to HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, have refused to rule out tapping its investors for new capital, amid speculation that it is considering a $20bn (£14bn) rights issue.

HSBC chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, is expected to meet with key institutional investors in the Square Mile this week to gauge support for any cash call ahead of the bank’s full year results next Monday. Meanwhile, later this week, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will confirm the biggest loss in British corporate history when it reports results on Thursday.

Last month HSBC said in a carefully worded statement that it had “not sought capital support from the UK Government and cannot envisage circumstances where such action would be necessary”. The bank stressed that its key capital ratio measurement remained robust, while it reaffirmed its commitment to lend as much as £15bn in mortgages this year.

Blunkett warns over ‘Big Brother’ Britain

February 23, 2009 by Infinite

David Blunkett, who introduced the idea of identity cards when Home Secretary, will issue a stark warning to the Government tomorrow that it is in danger of abusing its power by taking Britain towards a “Big Brother” state.

At the 21st annual law lecture in Essex University’s Colchester campus, Mr Blunkett will urge ministers to rethink policy and counter criticism from civil liberties campaigners that Labour is creating a “surveillance society.”

Related article: Spy chief: We risk a police state (Telegraph)

He will come out against the Government’s controversial plan to set up a database holding details of telephone calls and emails and its proposal to allow public bodies to share personal data with each other.

His surprise intervention will be welcomed by campaign groups, who regard him as a hardliner because of his strong backing for a national ID card scheme and tough anti-terror laws. The former home secretary will propose a U-turn on ID cards for British citizens, although he agrees with plans to make them compulsory for foreign nationals.

Brown and Blair among ‘enemies of freedom’

February 23, 2009February 22, 2009 by Infinite

A report on the loss of civil liberties was launched yesterday and will be sent to Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Jacqui Smith and others identified as “the 10 enemies of freedom”.

The Abolition of Freedom Act 2009 was produced by the University College London Students’ Human Rights programme. It shows how “the liberties that we assumed were somehow guaranteed by British culture have been compromised”.

– Blunkett warns over ‘Big Brother’ Britain (Independent):
David Blunkett, who introduced the idea of identity cards when Home Secretary, will issue a stark warning to the Government tomorrow that it is in danger of abusing its power by taking Britain towards a “Big Brother” state.

– Spy chief: We risk a police state (The Telegraph):
Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

The report comes ahead of the Convention on Modern Liberty, which takes place on Saturday at the Institute of Education, London.

Sunday 22 February 2009
David Smith

Source: The Observer

Max Keiser on why the UK is in big trouble (02/21/09)

February 21, 2009 by Infinite

Source: YouTube

Bailed-out banks to add £1.5 trillion to public debt

February 19, 2009 by Infinite

The U.K. is in ‘unbelievable’ bad shape:

– Britain’s AAA credit rating threatened by scale of bank bail-out
– Bank of England wants to print more money
– Britain faces £100bn cut in spending according to ‘Bankrupt Britain’ report
– Alistair Darling on BBC’s Newsnight:
“The problem was that last October the banking system was facing imminent collapse,” he said. “We had no alternative but to intervene quickly.We had a matter of days and then hours to stop the entire banking system collapsing. Since then many other countries have done the same thing. The alternative was to let HBOS go down and last October [at such a critical point] the damage would not have stopped there.”
– ‘This is the worst recession for over 100 years’:
‘Surpassing even the Great Depression of the 1930s’
Ed Balls, the PM’s closest ally, warns that downturn is ferocious and says impact will last 15 years
– Jim Rogers: ‘Sell any sterling you might have; It’s finished’
– Jim Rogers: Now it’s time to emigrate, says investment guru

Prepare yourself! Do not rely on your government and the Bank of England.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB, the two banks bailed out by the Government, are to add between £1 trillion and £1.5 trillion to the public debt, the equivalent of between 70 and 100 per cent of GDP, the Office for National Statistics indicated this morning.

Britain’s public sector net debt is already a record high, hitting 47.8 per cent of GDP in January, official figures show. This is the highest level of debt recorded since the ONS started recording data in 1993.

Failed HBOS chief will pocket £572k pension

February 18, 2009 by Infinite

Resigned: Sir James Crosby quit as deputy chairman of the FSA after claims that he sacked a whistleblower who warned the bank was expanding too fast.

The senior banker blamed for the crisis at HBOS came under fresh attack today as it emerged that he is in line for a ‘scandalous’ pension of more than half a million pounds a year.

Sir James Crosby, who was forced to quit as a City regulator last week, is due to get an annual income of £572,000 after building up a pension pot of £10.4m. The Liberal Democrats today urged Sir James to forgo the payout, given the crisis the bank now faces.

The proposed pay-out will cause further embarrassment to the newly created Lloyds Banking Group, which took over HBOS this year.

Taxpayers currently own 43% of Lloyds and HBOS and Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected by many to further nationalise the bank amid plunging share prices. The bumper pension, the details of which are buried in HBOS’s annual report published last week, heaps further pressure on to Sir James.

Bank of England wants to print more money

March 6, 2009February 18, 2009 by Infinite

Quantitative easing = Increasing the money supply (by creating money out of thin air) = Inflation = Stealing

Inflation is a hidden tax:

“By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.”
– John Maynard Keynes

“In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. … This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists’ tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard.”
– Alan Greenspan

“I care not what puppet is placed on the throne of England to rule the Empire, … The man that controls Britain’s money supply controls the British Empire. And I control the money supply.”
– Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild

“Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.”
– Mayer Amschel Rothschild

Watch the pound: Jim Rogers: ‘Sell any sterling you might have; It’s finished’

Bank of England seeks power to inject more money into economy to fight recession

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted unanimously to seek Goverment permission to increase the amount of money in the economy as interest rate cuts lose their power to fight recession.

The 9-0 vote by the MPC was revealed in the minutes of the meeting held on February 5. The Bank’s Governor Mervyn King will now write to Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, to ask for approval to introduce measures aimed at raising the supply of money in the economy – known as quantitative easing.

The Bank hopes that by increasing the quantity of money in the economy it can encourage banks to increase lending and consumers to start spending.

Britain’s AAA credit rating threatened by scale of bank bail-out

February 18, 2009 by Infinite

Britain could be stripped of its prized AAA credit rating as a result of the Government’s latest bank bail-out, potentially jeopardising any economic recovery, according to rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

S&P only last month confirmed its “stable outlook” for the country’s sovereign debt but may now be forced to review the top-notch rating.

The change has been prompted by the Government’s asset protection scheme – insurance for toxic debt – which will leave the taxpayer exposed to losses on billions of pounds of bad loans made by the banks.

A downgrade would be calamitous for the country, which is on course to borrow an extra £500bn over five years, taking the national debt above £1 trillion for the first time. Should the UK lose its AAA rating or even be put on “negative watch”, the country’s interest bill would soar – putting further strain on the economy.

S&P indicated it might have to revisit the rating in evidence before the Treasury Select Committee last month. Under questioning, Barry Hancock, head of European corporate ratings, said S&P had confirmed the UK’s status on the assumption that “up to approximately 20pc of GDP in the form of bank assets could be problematic in the future”.

With annual economic output running at £1,400bn, 20pc would equate to £280bn. However, it has since emerged that the Treasury is preparing to ring-fence about £400bn of “toxic” bank debt – or 29pc of GDP – to draw a line under the financial crisis. Royal Bank of Scotland is said to want to use the scheme for £200bn alone.

Related article: RBS Said to Boost Bonuses by Up to $850 Million (Bloomberg)

A ratings downgrade or a shift to “negative watch” could be devastating for the Government’s planned economic stimulus package. As recently as last November, Frank Gill, S&P’s director of European sovereign ratings, raised concerns about the Government’s spending plans, warning that net debt above 60pc of GDP could undermine the AAA rating. Economists have forecast debt to reach 70pc of GDP by 2011.

RBS struggles to find way to pay £8bn bill for toxic asset insurance scheme

February 18, 2009 by Infinite

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is struggling to find a way to pay for the Government’s insurance scheme because the scale of its toxic assets mean that it could face an a bill of up to £8bn.

Royal Bank of Scotland is struggling to find a way to pay £8bn bill for toxic asset insurance scheme

RBS is scrambling to form a plan that avoids either handing over more equity to the Government – which could bring it to the brink of full nationalisation – or destroying its capital ratio.

The bank, which is already 70pc state owned, is in intensive negotiations with the Treasury as the Government has stepped up its efforts to hammer out the details of the insurance plan, called the asset protection scheme.

An announcement had been planned for Thursday next week, to coincide with RBS’s results, but banking sources believe the Treasury will unveil details of the scheme more quickly in an attempt to put a floor under the stream of bad news from banks.

Related article: RBS Said to Boost Bonuses by Up to $850 Million (Bloomberg)

RBS separately announced yesterday that it would slash cash bonuses by 90pc following pressure from the Government. RBS said employees “associated with the major losses suffered in 2008” would receive no bonus. Staff considered “essential to the bank’s recovery” will receive an award for 2008, but it will be deferred.

RBS Said to Boost Bonuses by Up to $850 Million

February 18, 2009February 18, 2009 by Infinite

A pedestrian walks past the offices of the Royal Bank of Scotland in London, on Jan. 19, 2009. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) — Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc may give employees as much as 600 million pounds ($850 million) of bonds to supplement 2008 bonuses after the government-controlled lender said it cut the cash element of its incentive plan by more than 90 percent, a person familiar with the matter said.

The bank will give the bonds to employees as part of a deferred compensation plan, said the person, who wouldn’t be identified because the details haven’t been released. Edinburgh- based RBS will also give 165 million pounds to “lower paid” employees to replace a profit-share plan.

RBS said yesterday it would give workers 175 million pounds in cash payments, 90 percent less than 2.5 billion pounds paid for 2007. The lender last month reported a 28 billion-pound annual loss, the biggest by a British company. Governments across the world are putting pressure on financial services firms to limit pay after the industry racked up more than $1 trillion of losses in the credit crisis.

Spy chief: We risk a police state

February 17, 2009 by Infinite

The ulterior motive of all these policies, where you give away your freedom for non-existent security, is a police state.

Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

Dame Stella became the first woman director general of MI5 in 1992 Photo: MARTIN POPE

Dame Stella accused ministers of interfering with people’s privacy and playing straight into the hands of terrorists.

“Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people’s privacy,” Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

“It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state,” she said.

Dame Stella, 73, added: “The US has gone too far with Guantánamo and the tortures. MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect: there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification.” She said the British secret services were “no angels” but insisted they did not kill people.

Related aricle: Whitehall devised torture policy for terror detainees (Guardian)
MI5 interrogations in Pakistan agreed by lawyers and government
A policy governing the interrogation of terrorism suspects in Pakistan that led to British citizens and residents being tortured was devised by MI5 lawyers and figures in government, according to evidence heard in court.

Dame Stella became the first woman director general of MI5 in 1992 and was head of the security agency until 1996. Since stepping down she has been a fierce critic of some of the Government’s counter-terrorism and security measures, especially those affecting civil liberties.

In 2005, she said the Government’s plans for ID cards were “absolutely useless” and would not make the public any safer. Last year she criticised attempts to extend the period of detention without charge for terrorism suspects to 42 days as excessive, shortly before the plan was rejected by Parliament.

Her latest remarks were made as the Home Office prepares to publish plans for a significant expansion of state surveillance, with powers for the police and security services to monitor every email, as well as telephone and internet activity.

British and French vessels had enough material to carry out 1,248 Hiroshima bombings

February 17, 2009 by Infinite

So, Admiral, what have you got to say about the nuclear submarine crash?

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band at a news conference in London yesterday

Defence chiefs are facing an inquiry into the safety of the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent after British and French submarines, each laden with missiles powerful enough for 1,248 Hiroshima bombings, collided while submerged in the mid-Atlantic.

HMS Vanguard, the lead boat of Britain’s fleet of four V-class submarines armed with Trident nuclear missiles, limped back into its home port of Faslane in Scotland on Saturday showing significant damage. Witnesses said the hull was scarred with dents and scrapes.

Britain faces £100bn cut in spending according to ‘Bankrupt Britain’ report

February 15, 2009 by Infinite

BRITAIN faces years of painful adjustment as a result of the debt the government has taken on in the financial crisis, a report says.

Bankrupt Britain, written by City experts, says taxes will have to rise and the level of public spending will have to be cut by as much as £100 billion to put the government’s finances back into shape.

Its author, Malcolm Offord, a City fund manager with more than 20 years’ experience with Charterhouse, looked at the UK economy from the perspective of an investor considering putting money into a company.

Working with colleagues, he calculates that in the absence of government action, the national debt will balloon to more than 150% of gross domestic product over the next 10 years, compared with Labour’s “ceiling”, now breached, of 40%. The priority, he says, is to reverse the “profligate” spending that gave Britain an unacceptably big budget deficit at the start of the recession.

Reducing debt, the paper says, will require cutting the level of public spending by £60 billion by 2014 and £100 billion by 2020. Public spending is £623 billion this year, with a third going on social security.

Tax rises would also be needed, the paper says, focusing on an increase in the top rate of tax to 50%. But raising taxes too much would be self-defeating, hitting economic growth.

£30 billion loss at RBS prompts savage job cuts

February 15, 2009 by Infinite

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND boss Stephen Hester is to unveil a brutal cost-cutting exercise, alongside record losses of close to £30 billion, that are expected to lead to a further 10,000 to 20,000 job cuts.

Hester has told his most senior lieutenants to draw up a new business plan, measured against five key financial metrics.

The move will lead to hundreds of millions being stripped from the bank’s global cost base over the next three to five years.

The project is also expected to see the bank exit a number of countries in emerging markets, and sell off dozens of businesses now deemed to be non-core.

RBS is considering selling off parts of ABN Amro that it acquired in 2007 as part of a three-way consortium with Spain’s Santander and Belgian bank Fortis.

It has already begun talks with the Dutch government, which may acquire certain operations in the Netherlands and parts of the group’s international operations.

Peter Cummings, the man who broke HBOS with a £7bn loss

February 14, 2009 by Infinite

Last night on BBC’s Newsnight Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, defended both the Government’s role in pushing through the Lloyds takeover of HBOS last October without due diligence and the subsequent £17 billion taxpayer-funded bailout of the merged entity.

“The problem was that last October the banking system was facing imminent collapse,” he said. “We had no alternative but to intervene quickly.We had a matter of days and then hours to stop the entire banking system collapsing. Since then many other countries have done the same thing. The alternative was to let HBOS go down and last October [at such a critical point] the damage would not have stopped there.”

Peter Cummings, left, at a dinner with the Top Shop owner Sir Philip Green in 2007. Mr Cummings was the head of corporate lending at HBOS and the bank’s highest-paid director (Jeremy Young)

HBOS’s aggressive corporate banking division was revealed to have been at the heart of the £10 billion shock loss announced by Lloyds Banking Group yesterday.

Lloyds Banking Group issued a warning that HBOS, the ailing bank it has taken over, made a whopping £7 billion of corporate losses last year after making bad bets on business lending.

Lloyds admitted that HBOS’s corporate division, which was run by Peter Cummings – the highest-paid executive at the bank – has had to write off £7 billion of bad loans, far more than HBOS’s management ever admitted. Mr Cummings is understood to have left in early January with a payoff thought to be about £660,000 and £6 million of pension entitlements.

The announcement leaves taxpayers facing billions of pounds of extra losses on their rescue of Lloyds and HBOS, while politicians are now warning that it is inevitable that the Lloyds Banking Group will need more government money to keep it afloat.