On Monday 3rd November, the House of Lords had a debate on the current economic situation. This was the first debate on this topic in the House and, consequently, it was well attended. Astonishingly, there has not been a similar debate to date in the House of Commons. There have been plenty of statements and questions but not one single debate.
I was a little disappointed that many of my noble Lords engaged in standard political party bashing. Although I think that the Government are partly responsible for the crisis we now find ourselves in, I think that this debate with its serious content should have been more solution driven. Collectively, however, the Lords made some extremely valuable points. In particular, it was generally agreed that banks do not need more regulation – they need effective regulation. I believe that financial regulation needs to be global and not just national.
It is impossible to condense the debate’s content into a blog. I have therefore summarised my speech below so that the readers of the Blog can have a taster! I believe that the British public deserve to have and to hear a similar debate in the Commons.
• Someone once said, “Greed is good”. That was the dreadfully misguided mantra of Gordon Gekko. He was the mercenary financial trader, a character played by Michael Douglas, in the Oscar winning Hollywood film Wall Street, in 1988. The film ended with Gekko in ruins when his greed backfired, but Oliver Stone, the film’s producer, was dismayed to see that Gekko became a hero to some wannabe financiers, rather than a warning. Considering the credit and casino type banking culture which then dominated the next 20 years, the moral of the film was ignored.
• No one doubts that there is a global recession, but the Government did not save for a rainy day. That is a fact, and it is not only raining now – it is pouring. However, we are where we are. The Government had a dilemma when the failing banks approached them: to buy out, bail out or burn out. We have a rather uncomfortable Strictly Come Dancing situation, where the so called professional bankers are now expected to waltz in tune with the amateur, ordinary taxpayers who have bailed them out. The problem is that we do not know if the Government’s plan will work.
• In a national and global recession, we still need to provide the right economic conditions to create jobs and supply public services. The answer, in my view, is not the Government’s solution, simply to borrow and spend more. This is the time to harness the innovation and expertise of private and voluntary providers. I am pleased to hear that this is something that a Conservative Government intends to do. By that I mean social enterprise, which has been described as the Cinderella sector of the British economy. It needs a higher profile, when you consider that it comprises of at least 55,000 enterprises, with an annual turnover of more than £27 billion.
• Despite its growing importance, social enterprise is still under-researched compared with more traditional firms. Good examples of Social Enterprise are the Co-Operative Group, Nuffield Hospitals and Grameen Bank. I have no financial or other relationship with the Co-Op but it has over 6.5 million customers, and is the largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. My point is that any banks in the mainstream sector are suffering and asking for help while banks in the ethical sector, doing it the right way, are actually thriving.
• The Government must continue to encourage business to develop the skills of its workforce. This country needs small business. It needs business to create wealth.
• In conclusion, you do not have to be a prophet to make a profit. However, this recession is a time for fresh, creative thinking out of the box. We cannot have a financial system which allows a hedge fund boss to pay less income tax than his office cleaner. It is time for fresh thinking. Seek and Ye Shall fund.
Dear Lord Taylor,
‘I was a little disappointed that many of my noble Lords engaged in standard political party bashing.’ Lèse majesté on this blog, surely not?!
That you for providing a summary of your speech. I fear if there were a debate in the House of Commons there would be even more political party bashing!
Howridiculous.
Come, come now Lord Taylor…
One has to have an ‘anti-hero’ in a film to draw in the viewer’s interest..
What would ‘Dallas’ have been without JR ? If Gekko didn’t have any redeeming characteristics, and not something the ambitious Fox aspired to the film wouldn’t really have worked..
That he became something of an idol or folk hero is not dissimilar to the influence the heavy drinking, smoking, womanising, licensed to kill heroics of James Bond has. Or did, until he was emasculated by film producers.
But your reference to Strictly Come Dancing was appreciated. Who, one wonders, is the ‘John Sergeant’ organisation who appears to shape up under expert tuition much to the chagrin of the ‘experts’ in the House ?
p.s. Which ‘top banker’ said the following while running one of our major high street banks. [Answer later]
“You need to be long-term greedy..”
This is not the right area (can’t find the correct one) but just a little positive feedback on the dna/database thing: .
It’s expressed in somewhat coarse terms but it is essentially the sound of a lot of surprised people having their day made.
May I also add my appreciation.
I will put the thousands of readers of this blog out of their misery [!]
It was Eric Daniels. Although to be fair he was contrasting this approach with the more ‘short-term’ efforts elsewhere. And he is at least honest – anyone who pretends that ‘The Corporation’ can be anything other than a voracious animal driven by a hunger for profit is probably deluding themselves – which is why they need control.
Ohferpetesake.
It’s not advertising anything! Let me try again
hxxp://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/05/lord_dna_database/comments/
Or search for “Lords demand DNA database deletions” in the site “theregister”.
In any event, well done our Lords.
Thank you for all the responses – even if “me” was in the wrong place!
I agree with you Bedd, the film needs Gekko and Michael Douglas deserved his Oscar. However, fiction should not be confused with fact – especially, when real life traders and banks are dealing with people’s real money.
That is why I think, “How Ridiculous”, that the theatrical spectacle of the Houses should sometimes make way for the politics. When the subject is as serious as this, a considered answer needs to be found. But – yes, there would be quite a few more bruised heads in the Commons from the political party bashing than in the Lords.
I believe, Bedd, that ethical finance could have a prominent place in our financial future. I recently was asked to attend a “Five Talents” charity event – this charity promotes ethical finance. What surprised me most about the event was that hard nosed, profit driven business men and women – such as Dragon’s Den Deborah Meaden, who receives about 200 charity applications a week – actually believed in ethical finance. They thought that its successful track record proved that it is a viable option for future financial planning. Food for thought I think.