Omah
05-07-2012, 06:39 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18716828
The chancellor has climbed down from a suggestion that Ed Balls was personally involved in the Libor scandal, while Labour agree to co-operate with a parliamentary inquiry into the affair.
George Osborne suggested yesterday that his Labour counterpart had "questions to answer" over the scandal.
But the BBC's Nick Robinson understands that Mr Osborne's aides now accept that Mr Balls was not personally involved.
Meanwhile, Labour said it would continue to push for a public inquiry.
MPs decided that the government's preferred option of creating a joint committee of MPs and peers was the best way to investigate the scandal, after a heated Commons debate in which Mr Balls repeatedly demanded an apology from the chancellor.
In an interview with the Spectator yesterday, Mr Osborne said ministers in Gordon Brown's government had "questions to answer" over allegations from Barclays that "senior Whitehall figures" had put pressure on them to post artificially low Libor rates during the credit crunch.
During the Commons debate, Mr Osborne urged his shadow counterpart to "explain what Labour's involvement was, who were the ministers, who had the conversation, who were the senior figures".
But Mr Balls called on the chancellor to withdraw the "false, personal accusations", describing them as "cheap, partisan and desperate".
After the debate, the chancellor's aides told BBC political editor Nick Robinson that Mr Osborne now accepted that Mr Balls had taken part in no such conversations.
Yet another example of a high-ranking Tory making rash, unsubstantiable statements which have to be with withdrawn - the Tory Governments habit of shifting blame for the current situation onto the previous government while seemingly unable to see any policy beyond enriching party supporters at the expense of the lower orders is becoming obsessive.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4298658/Minister-blames-Brits-for-bank-blunders.html
A MILLIONAIRE Cabinet minister has claimed ordinary Brits must “accept responsibility” for the financial crisis.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond* said hard-working families were to blame for taking on too much debt in the boom years.
He insisted the banks “had to lend to someone”, which helped push the country into its current economic woes. His remarks are an own goal at a time when the Government is fighting criticism that it is out of touch with ordinary people.
Speaking during a visit to Germany, Mr Hammond said: “People say to me, ‘it was the banks’. I say ‘hang on, the banks had to lend to someone’. People feel in a sense that someone else is responsible for the decisions they made.”
* He joined the medical equipment manufacturers Speywood Laboratories Ltd in 1977 (age 22), becoming a director of Speywood Medical Limited in 1981 (age 25). He left in 1983. From 1984, he was a director in Castlemead Ltd, and from 1993–95 he was a partner in CMA Consultants, and from 1994, a director in Castlemead Homes. He has had many business interests including house building and property, manufacturing, healthcare and oil and gas. He has undertaken various consulting assignments in Latin America for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and was a consultant to the government of Malawi from 1995 (age 40) until his election to Parliament.
Obviously, a man of many talents (or many friends ..... :suspect:)
The chancellor has climbed down from a suggestion that Ed Balls was personally involved in the Libor scandal, while Labour agree to co-operate with a parliamentary inquiry into the affair.
George Osborne suggested yesterday that his Labour counterpart had "questions to answer" over the scandal.
But the BBC's Nick Robinson understands that Mr Osborne's aides now accept that Mr Balls was not personally involved.
Meanwhile, Labour said it would continue to push for a public inquiry.
MPs decided that the government's preferred option of creating a joint committee of MPs and peers was the best way to investigate the scandal, after a heated Commons debate in which Mr Balls repeatedly demanded an apology from the chancellor.
In an interview with the Spectator yesterday, Mr Osborne said ministers in Gordon Brown's government had "questions to answer" over allegations from Barclays that "senior Whitehall figures" had put pressure on them to post artificially low Libor rates during the credit crunch.
During the Commons debate, Mr Osborne urged his shadow counterpart to "explain what Labour's involvement was, who were the ministers, who had the conversation, who were the senior figures".
But Mr Balls called on the chancellor to withdraw the "false, personal accusations", describing them as "cheap, partisan and desperate".
After the debate, the chancellor's aides told BBC political editor Nick Robinson that Mr Osborne now accepted that Mr Balls had taken part in no such conversations.
Yet another example of a high-ranking Tory making rash, unsubstantiable statements which have to be with withdrawn - the Tory Governments habit of shifting blame for the current situation onto the previous government while seemingly unable to see any policy beyond enriching party supporters at the expense of the lower orders is becoming obsessive.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4298658/Minister-blames-Brits-for-bank-blunders.html
A MILLIONAIRE Cabinet minister has claimed ordinary Brits must “accept responsibility” for the financial crisis.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond* said hard-working families were to blame for taking on too much debt in the boom years.
He insisted the banks “had to lend to someone”, which helped push the country into its current economic woes. His remarks are an own goal at a time when the Government is fighting criticism that it is out of touch with ordinary people.
Speaking during a visit to Germany, Mr Hammond said: “People say to me, ‘it was the banks’. I say ‘hang on, the banks had to lend to someone’. People feel in a sense that someone else is responsible for the decisions they made.”
* He joined the medical equipment manufacturers Speywood Laboratories Ltd in 1977 (age 22), becoming a director of Speywood Medical Limited in 1981 (age 25). He left in 1983. From 1984, he was a director in Castlemead Ltd, and from 1993–95 he was a partner in CMA Consultants, and from 1994, a director in Castlemead Homes. He has had many business interests including house building and property, manufacturing, healthcare and oil and gas. He has undertaken various consulting assignments in Latin America for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and was a consultant to the government of Malawi from 1995 (age 40) until his election to Parliament.
Obviously, a man of many talents (or many friends ..... :suspect:)