Saturday 30th June
The press and commentators are suitably outraged; well they would be, wouldn’t they. But really, is anyone surprised? After the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the absolute mess the financial system got itself into a few years ago it is completely obvious that there has been a total collapse of all morality, and legality. Thatcher’s children piled into the City in their droves, while in America the disciples of Gordon Gecko took over the sweetshop. It was all wonderful as long as they all made money, and paid huge amounts in Corporation Tax, and everyone colluded to just ignore the fact that it was not only corrupt but also building up another enormous bubble, which had to burst one day – just not while I am blowing air into it, please. You only have to meet anyone who works in the City, or just overhear them in a bar or restaurant to realise that this is indeed a totally alien world they inhabit. Making money is all that matters.. And when you are dealing with the same people every day, of course you are going to get friendly and really who cares if we just bend the rules a little bit, or say what they want to hear. As long as it makes money, and the bonuses keep flowing, that is all that matters. Now, with suitable contrition and the scrunching sound of hands being wrung the top bankers all condemn the wrongdoing of a few individuals who temporarily let slip the high standards of banking. Well, just like the phone hacking scandal, we must ask who were these people, and whose orders were they following. In reality it was never just a few individuals, it was a whole culture, which surprise, surprise is still continuing. As long as making money is all that matters.