Liberal Burblings

First of all, let’s get the facts straight. Stephen Hester has not been awarded a cash bonus.

He has been awarded share options. These do not vest until March 2013 and March 2014 (50% for each date).

So, OK, presumably that is where the eyes of 90% of the population glaze over and they change channels. Here’s a definition of vesting:

When employees are given stock options or restricted stock, they often do not gain control over the stock or options for a period of time. This period is known as the vesting period and is usually 3 to 5 years. During the vesting period the employee cannot sell or transfer the stock or options.

So, (a) he can’t cash the shares in until 2013 and 2014. And (b) because they are shares, the value may go up or down during that period.

As a result of those conditions, Stephen Hester is, to an extent, locked into the fortunes of RBS. He has an interest in ensuring he does all he can to increase the value of RBS shares. So that’s an incentive for him to improve the performance of the bank.

I can readily accept that Hester has done a good job. He has, farnkly, stopped RBS going down the toilet.

The level of banking bonuses and salaries is obscene and morally reprehensible. But to start with a hairshirt approach (and yes I know he gets a £1million salary anyway but that is similar to others in a similar position) to just one bank leader is daft. It would result in a worse performance of RBS for the taxpayer. It would be cutting our nose to spite our face.

Reform, or reduction, of banking bonuses and salaries needs to be done across the world. It can’t be done in isolation in one bank.

Here’s the FT quoting the reaction of Boris Johnson:

RBS should be run “on public sector lines”, he added

Public sector lines? Absolute, unmitigated round sperical objects rolled in unlimited horse manure. If it is run on public sector lines it will end up being unsuccessful in the competitive world of banking. That would be a disaster for the taxpayer.

There’s a bit of passing cloud here, but generally it’s an excellent night for star-gazing.

Via GoSkyWatch I have identified:

The old faithfuls of Jupiter, Venus, the Moon (yes, even I can spot that), Capella and Belegeuse, plus Algol, Alpheratz and Procyon.

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, David Cameron and Ed Miliband first clashed on the subject of economic growth (or, indeed, contraction). That entanglement was, more or less, a score draw. But Ed Miliband was much stronger during a later exchange on the NHS reform bill, culminating with this belter:

I shall tell the Prime Minister what is happening in the NHS: waiting lists up, morale down. What does the majority-Conservative Select Committee on Health say about his reorganisation? It says that it will be a “disruption and distraction that hinders the ability of organisations to” release savings.

Let us be frank: this is a Bill that nobody wants. It is opposed by doctors, nurses and patients. Before the election the Prime Minister said, “No more top-down reorganisation.” Is it not time he kept at least one promise, put aside his pride and arrogance, and dropped this unnecessary and unwanted Bill?

In return, all Cameron could do was bleat on about Doncaster, almost to the point of obsession.

Pass the sick bag, Alice

It takes considerable aplomb to out-pontificate Sir Peter Tapsell, but Eleanor Laing (Con) managed it with a very loud quotation from Robert Burns, it being Burns Night (Day). OK, she’s Scottish. – Shame she has to represent Epping Forest.

But she set off David Cameron who also felt the need to quote Burns. Oh dear.

iPad watch

Caroline Spelman (Con), Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, spent the first few minutes of PMQs catching up on her email on her iPad. Bless her. She types very well on a touch-screen.

Liberal Democrat questions

Suitably, for Burns Night (Day), they came from two Scots:

Sir Robert Smith stated that the UK has developed a world-leading safety regime for offshore oil and gas which is threatened by EU regulaton. He asked if the PM would press for directives which can be interpreted flexibly, rather than regulation.

Malcolm Bruce asked about the British Airways takeover of BMI and what assurances there would be to retain landing slots at Heathrow Airport from regional airports such as Aberdeen.

I have just received this mail from Vince Cable, trailing a speech by Nick Clegg later today. It seems the LibDem leadership are making a campaign out of getting tax cuts for low/middle earners into the budget – something that would be normally done behind the scenes. It’s a newish tactic and one I welcome…

As families face more of a squeeze, today Liberal Democrats are arguing for greater tax cuts for hard working people. Between now and the Budget, Nick and Danny and I will be arguing for faster tax cuts, giving you a reward for hard work. And Nick will be setting out our case in a speech today.

Given the budget constraint we have to raise money for the tax cut elsewhere and have plans to raise an equivalent amount from the wealthiest taxpayers.

At the last election the Liberal Democrats promised to raise the personal allowance for ordinary taxpayers to £10,000. I am proud that the Coalition has committed to doing so over the course of this Parliament.

For millions of ordinary hard working people, that means paying £700 less in income tax each year. Low earners, mostly women will benefit from being lifted out of tax altogether.

But times are tough and quite simply, Liberal Democrats in Government want to help families who are currently being squeezed by moving more quickly.

Whether it’s targeting an extra £7bn from tax evaders and avoiders, taking an extra £2.5bn every year from the banks in a balance sheet tax, or the announcement I made on Monday to curb the excesses of executive pay, this Coalition is taking important steps to deliver a fairer economy.

And we have already made a big difference, click here to see how.

We are building a new economy, one that benefits the whole country, not just bankers in the City of London. Making the tax system fairer is crucial to that. This is a huge task that will make Britain a fairer and more liberal country for generations to come.

Helena Kennedy had a killer fact on Today this morning. Just eight – eight – count them – 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 – UK cases were adjudicated upon by the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights last year. Their main concern is helping to improve human rights by judging on cases from Russia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine – surely a cause we’d all support in this country…

Eight cases.

So what on earth is all the fuss about?

Father Christmas brought me a hat with earphones inside it. It’s ideal for running with. Today I used it for the first time and listened to Radio 2 as I did my normal three circuits of Stroud Green with our trusty hound, Charlie (who actually runs faster than me).

I came back and started to take my trainers off outside the back door. I had been listening to heart-rending stories of cancer misdiagnoses on The Jeremy Vine show. I decided to tweet @thejeremyvine with a quick comment. I then finished taking my trainers off, opened the back door and closed it and then heard Jeremy Vine reading out my tweet. It could only have been about 30 seconds after I sent it!

And these are my words of wisdom, since you ask:

paulwalteruk (@paulwalteruk)
24/01/2012 13:35
@thejeremyvine please remember all the GPs who get it right and send people for tests readily and save lives

Paddy Ashdown from last night’s Lords’ debate:

…how is it right, morally or otherwise to deny child benefit to somebody on £26,000 a year when they get it on £80,000?

The Guardian reports Robert Joyce, an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, saying:

…the combined effect of all of the coalition government’s reforms would be to increase child poverty by 300,000 children.

Ah! But it is all very popular!

So is bringing back hanging.

It is a disgrace to withdraw child benefit from the very families who need it most.

In case you missed this, it is likely to rank as one of the most dramatic ends to a front-running Presidential campaign in history.

Before this RTE debate on 24th October last year, Sean Gallagher, standing as an Independent candidate, was 15 points ahead of the field and a “shoe-in” to be the next Irish President. Three days later, he finished the actual election 11 points behind the winner, Michael D Higgins.

This video clip shows the complete debate episode which led to Gallagher’s political demise. The discussion centres on a visit to a businessman’s house on behalf of Fianna Fail. Fellow Presidential candidate Martin McGuinness accuses Sean Gallagher of accepting a cheque from the man.

After denials from Gallagher, there is a commercial break. Then, presenter Pat Kenny announces that a tweet has come from Sinn Fein saying that they will produce the man to say that Gallagher accepted the cheque from him.

Under pressure, Gallagher then says, at 7’38″ in this video, that he may have taken an envelope from the businessman. The word “envelope” has very strong connotations of corruption in Irish politics. At the very mention of the word by Gallagher, there are loud snorts of derision from the studio audience.

This may be the only time in history that a promising Presidential campaign was ended by just one word – “envelope”.

This is rivetting viewing:

It is always good fun when right-wing Tories get all het up about Nick Clegg, fulminating that David Cameron should jolly well do something about it.

Norman Tebbit provides today’s entertainment along these lines under the headline: Nick Clegg needs cutting down to size. If only the Prime Minister was brave enough to do the job.

He is specifically exercised about immigration and the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights. Employing all his skills as “the Chingford Skinhead” he culminates with this:

It seems that Mr Cameron is prevented from doing anything to bring the nonsense to an end – and the repeal of Labour’s Human Rights Act would be a good start – by threats from his Deputy Mr Clegg. That puffed-up fellow would be easily cut down to size if the Prime Minister simply said: “That is tough my friend. You can support me or precipitate an election on the issue and see your party wiped off the map.”

Given that last sentence, one wonders whether the terms of the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 have entirely sunk in Chez Tebbit…