Gordon Brown the liar

dealsearcher

Pobby wrote: »

That seems to be the case. Frightening. So was Stalin and Hitler.

Ah! But Stalin has now turned into Mr. Bean. :rotfl:

Actually we make fun of it - but it is no joke. This is real life. :wall::doh:

nickmason

There's an old joke about power corrupting and absolute power corrups absolutely.

It's not just financial corruption, though - power tends to corrupt people's thought processes. Paranoia and/or messiah-complexes kick in.

This is then refracted and amplified through the media lens.

So the unavoidable conclusion is you need to be mad to even start on such a path - or maybe just selfless.

kennyboy66_2

Kohoutek wrote: »

The point is it's difficult for an honest man to be in bed with trade unions and the private equity industry at the same time, given their interests are antithetical.

Private equity makes money by buying companies, making then more 'efficient' by firing people and making pay cuts, then taking the company public again at a profit.

Unite directly fund the Labour Party and some of their personnel are special advisors to Brown. Labour is supposed to be the party that represents the working classes, not a particularly unpleasant and greedy section of the financial industry.

The EU draft directive is aimed more at Hedge Funds rather than Private Equity.

As 80% of the European hedge fund business is based in London, would you prefer a PM who just caved into politically motivated protectionist French policitians.

The promotion of UK industry & freedom to trade used to be a core Conservative party strength. Sadly with Osbourne at the econmoic helm they don't know their !!!! from their elbow.

Me feels you are barking up the wrong tree on this one.

Kohoutek

kennyboy66 wrote: »

The EU draft directive is aimed more at Hedge Funds rather than Private Equity.

As 80% of the European hedge fund business is based in London, would you prefer a PM who just caved into politically motivated protectionist French policitians.

The promotion of UK industry & freedom to trade used to be a core Conservative party strength. Sadly with Osbourne at the econmoic helm they don't know their !!!! from their elbow.

Me feels you are barking up the wrong tree on this one.

Why? You can't see the clear conflict of interest between having a intimate relationship with a trade union, and accepting huge amounts of money from it, and protecting the interests of a 'industry' that makes money by asset stripping and 'downsizing' (i.e. job losses) companies? You're another one of the dogmatic Labour apologists I see...

It's not just about hedge funds clearly, the private equity 'industry' is scared:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f93b47f0-2fd2-11df-9153-00144feabdc0.html

We need a government that develops proper industries that create long term jobs and help the UK's balance of trade. Private equity actually destroys jobs and helps concentrates wealth in the hands of a few. Thanks to our tax system, they pay an even lower rate of tax than the basic rate (18% CGT), and I know that many of them go to great lengths not even to pay that.

viscione

Well,

I would much rather have brown in power than David Cameron, the country will definitely go down a deep hole if he is in power.

dealsearcher

viscione wrote: »

Well,

I would much rather have brown in power than David Cameron, the country will definitely go down a deep hole if he is in power.

Definitely go down a hole? So you prefer the devil you know eh?

I think the voters in this country need to have the guts to give them a try. Gordon Brown was desperate to become prime minister, he is now desperate to stay as prime minister. That is not a healthy situation for the country. We have to have someone as prime minister who wants the best for the country, not the best for himself.

Optimist

viscione wrote: »

Well,

I would much rather have brown in power than David Cameron, the country will definitely go down a deep hole if he is in power.

You think we are on a high currently ?

No more boom and bust :rotfl:

sss555s

The trouble with Brown is he isn't as good a liar as Blair.

tartanterra

The problem with Brown is the same problem that most of our political class suffer from; i.e. they have forgotten what their primary role is.

All politicians are elected primarily to represent their constituents, and this should be where the majority of their efforts are concentrated.
As Prime Minister, Brown has the extra responsibility of looking after the whole of Britain. He should be listening to his MP's, who in turn should be listening to their constituents.
Instead of this, he seems to spend the majority of his time on the world stage, promoting his pet global projects.

There seems to be very few good local MP's these days. (There is, of course, exceptions; Frank Field spring to mind). My local MP - Jim Knight - was an outstanding local MP when he was first elected and this resulting in him getting re-elected last time despite having a tiny majority to defend. Since re-election he has done what many MP's seem to do and become the "invisible man", spending all his time outside the constituency trying to climb the greasy pole of power.

It's high time that our MP's, Ministers and above all, the Prime Minister, remembered what they are actually in Parliament for.
The voters of this country have been failed and are being treated in a shabby and off hand manner by our political representatives (of all parties). Personally, I have lost faith in a system that stinks of self indulgence.

ninky_2

Kohoutek wrote: »

The point is it's difficult for an honest man to be in bed with trade unions and the private equity industry at the same time, given their interests are antithetical.

Private equity makes money by buying companies, making then more 'efficient' by firing people and making pay cuts, then taking the company public again at a profit.

Unite directly fund the Labour Party and some of their personnel are special advisors to Brown. Labour is supposed to be the party that represents the working classes, not a particularly unpleasant and greedy section of the financial industry.

but surely that is the skill of a good politician. balance the interests of all sides rather than totally ignore the interests of one over another.