This is interesting. It says here in the Guardian business section that the UK’s top flower-arranger Gordon Brown “said he was willing to use anti-terrorism legislation to freeze the assets of other Icelandic companies operating in Britain in an effort to recoup the lost money”. Oh yeah, that’s what British politicians were voting for when they voted for anti-terrorism legislation. To seize the assets of operating “terrorists” like the Icelandic government! That was the intention of the legislation, I’m sure it was. Well, what else can anti-terrorism legislation be used for? Probably for just about anything, depending on what the UK’s most important piano tuner Gordon Brown wants. There. is. no. constitution.
Yep. I wrote this to commemorate the occasion.
Good stuff!
By the way, while bathroom tile inspector Brown rushes to defend Britain’s local councils against those dastardly Icelandic banks, in the surge of patriotic dementia I don’t think there’s been enough examination of the foolhardiness of these councils. After all:
‘…one local authority, Brighton and Hove City Council, said it suspended transactions with one Icelandic bank – Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander – about a year ago amid concerns about the country’s banks expanding too rapidly.”Our watchword is caution. We’re very aware of our responsibilities in managing taxpayers’ money, and are very careful both about who we invest with and how much we invest,” finance councillor Jan Young said. “We have no deposits with Icelandic banks.” ‘
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/council-chiefs-meet-over-icelandic-crisis-955702.html
Good God, now Britain’s number one garden gnome fluffer Gordon Brown wants to be President of Europe!
Brown “flies to Paris for a meeting of eurozone ministers today. He will brief leaders from EU countries within the eurozone, from which Britain is usually excluded, on how his government’s three-pronged strategy to buy stakes in banks, inject cash and kick-start lending could be copied across Europe in an unprecedented part-nationalisation of large parts of the global banking system… Asked why, if his plan was working, the markets had crashed so spectacularly last week, the Prime Minister insisted that the British package was ‘the right one’, but added: ‘Obviously it is going to work best if other countries are in a position to follow.'”
Yeah, right.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/12/gordonbrown-economy
PS there is absolutely NO panic here in Norway:
“Norway’s bank deposit insurance fund covers deposits up to a total of NOK 2 million (about USD 300,000) per person per bank”
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2706234.ece