Which is more important now: political reform or the economy?

[FrakkinTheReturningOfficer]

Political reform is going to be bad for the economy, in the short term at least.

Sorting out the economy probably means putting political reform on hold.

Which would you choose?

good pic of cherie here

www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00038/LordsDavidAshdown_38212t.jpg

im looking forward to a positive coalition in the name of national unity

constructs secret gulag/rendition centre

Claig - "Our finest minds still go into the City, due to the astronomical salaries, whilst our other industries are neglected."

So agree with that. Working out why total renumeration is so high and regulating it properly (and not by some half-baked plans to cap bonus caps) would be a step forward.

" concentration on finance is too great in this country. "

Yes but since we made/make so much from Finance and it is a very scalabe industry we shouldn't kill it off but try to develop other industries in parallel.

Ploticians have been too scared to explain that the UK ebnefits greatly from the Financial sector and that it would be madness to give it away.

And before anyomne says that the banks lost us money, just look at the fact that the UK govt is already making a profits from bank bail out concentration on finance is too great in this country. [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/26/profit-taxpayers-bailed-out-bank-shares here...And there is more to come

Just for claig...

The peoples' flag is deepest red
It's shrouded oft our martyred dead
And ere their limbs grow stiff and cold
Their life-blood's dyed it's every fold

So raise the scarlet standard high
Beneath its shades we'll live or die
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer
We'll keep the red flag flying here.

From here every 1p rise in RBS shares gives taxpayer 1BN or so !!!

edam
I also like Kinnock and co. singing Bandera Rossa, "Avanti o Popolo ..."
they are good tunes

You wouldn't be saying that if you had actually heard me singing, claig, I sound like a cat being strangled.

I can't remember the words to the Internationale, anyone got a crib sheet?

Lenin - Yes, but why do banks pay them (and why so high?)

TDiddy - yes, Brown played a blinder there (and hasn't received much credit for it. Still don't see what's wrong with outright nationalisation though.) I read somewhere today that the reason he's not standing down as LP leader is that his international reputation is a great deal higher than his national reputation, and his absence at a time of political uncertaintly really would start a speculative raid on sterling. (Which kinda brings us back to the market-dictating-policy thing.)

PW - the Paul Mason chart I links shows a wobble when Gordon Brown makes an offer to Clegg!

Our finest minds still go into the City, due to the astronomical salaries, whilst our other industries are neglected."

i think this begs questions about how (particularly sciences) are taught in schools, and viewed by the uk public. i would also argue that the UK is full of talent in many other areas outside banking, and in a way, you view banking as where the ;best' go, bcauseit is where the hghestsalaries are (if a brilliant woman becomes a midwife, that's great, but no-one is ever going to recognise her as the 'best and brightest' are they?)

Actually the one guy i know in proper trade banking enjoys it because he likes doing sums. it's all about numbers, and manipulating them...and that's his idea of fun.

i also work in commercial banking, and our branch makes a pre-tax profit of £52 mill a year - of which the taxman gets a sizeable chunk, not to mention the fact it keeps about 300 people in jobs at the moment. a reasonable proportion of our clients are overseas, so it also brings in foreign cash.

finance is no more or less stable than any other business sector....so what is wrong with th UK exporting Financial services? I tell you one thing: we're good at it.

But it might be the LibLab thing the Market didn't like - maybe a strong labour win would have been ok.

edam, you probably know the Italian partisan song "Bella Ciao". I heard a beautiful version in Spanish on a documentary about the Spanish Civil War. If you haven't heard it, it is well worth finding

policywonk - Murdoch's newspapers werent going to give Brown any credit just before the election and maybe Brown was staying clear of appearing to be on the side of the bankers.

Advantage of 75pc natinalisation as opposed to 100pc is that 25pc is in actively traded liquid market so the Govt can value their 75pc stake. Otherwise, a buyer might try to screw taxpare and pick it up at a loss to taxpaers.

Next Govt will do well to keep their stakes in Lloyds and RBS for a couple of years. It will be a bumper profit. After all the govt controls the entire market structure: solvency riles, competition, etc. Even base rates can be influenced by Govt. So the only sceneario is bumper profit for taxpayer. We might miss GB and Alistair Darling when the Sovereign crisis crystallise! Let's see.

Thanks Claig, will have a hunt around for that.

The whole 'bailing out the banks was good value for the taxpayer' thing kind of ignores the fact that we were held to ransom. It's like a mugger leaving you with multiple injuries but years later paying back the money he nicked and pretending that's all right then.

When Rover failed, all the workers lost their jobs - no matter how talented or bright they were. Same deal with the Corus plant. And with every other industry - except the City. Didn't even pause for breath before they started using that old slogan about 'because we are so special' again, did it?

edam - i think that is weak. The Govt (tax payer) bought at the bottom of the market and will make a killing. The Govt srewed the shareholders in favour of the taxpayer. Rare and brilliant. Maybe GB's legacy will be stronegr than his premiership. Even his exit is now looking better than we might have thought.

A day after the general election the Tories are looking spent and without momentum. The likes of Mandelson will play one more stroke before they exit : PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION!!

Poor Dave Cameron he deserved a run as PM but I have to observe dispassionately that he runs a serious risk of ending up in the scrap heap.

you see, i went out and I missed this.

this is my favourite mn thread of the week.

as you were.

'Poor Dave Cameron he deserved a run as PM but I have to observe dispassionately that he runs a serious risk of ending up in the scrap heap.'

We live in hope . . .

So where did you go then Sophable. Was wundering about your silence

quiz.

we came third.

and was robbed.

bit like the libdems.

you shudda have a coalition with the group that came first