Dennis Stevenson, the chair of HBoS intent on selling the bank cheaply for what appears to be the dodgy political ends of senior members of the Labour Party was the Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission at the time of the Cash for Peerages scandal - he never noticed anything wrong, of course - his judgement must be mince.
He's a lifelong friend of Peter Mandelson and organised the dinners that Blair used early in his premiership to get himself into the pockets of some wealthy people.
Strangely, he doesn't have an entry on the House of Lords Register of Interests in spite of remunerated directorships being a Financial Interest which is always relevant and should be registered (George Foulkes' entry has gone missing too).
He has an interest in ManoCap which is a fund manager set up to exploit "Opportunities for profitable investment ... in post conflict and emerging African economies" - as if they haven't suffered enough.
This isn't the first financial scandal Stevenson has been involved with, either, he was caught up in the Blue Arrow scandal - which brings an interesting link to Gordon Brown through Derek Wanless.
Anyone expecting Mandelson to back down over HBoS might be waiting a while. Hopefully the tribunal will do the job, though.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Friday, 5 December 2008
Och no, not our universities!
Much worried I was by the reporting in the journals of record of our modern age about the penury in which our universities find themselves these days (especially since it is my misfortune to know an academic or two and the anecdotal evidence doesn't match the reportage).
The Herald reported Gap in funding means Scottish universities 'lag behind'
The Scotsman had it that Universities in England beat Scots for funds
The BBC was asserting that Universities in Scotland ... are losing ground to those in England
All of this was based on a report produced by Universities UK on the impact of devolution on university funding, the news release for which stated:
Although higher education is growing in all four parts of the UK, England has started to move markedly ahead in key areas, including research funding, student numbers and international student income
Holy Jiggling Batman!
Except it’s not true. How can I be so sure? Well, I read the report (cunning devil). If you were just to read the text of the report you’d find yourself alarmed, worried, concerned, and three quarters whiffled by the devastation about to be wreaked upon Scotland’s Higher Education sector. You might even find yourself demanding immediate action and a wee jaunt in a helicopter. If you look at the figures in the report, however, you might see it differently. The latest figures in the report are from 2006 and I’m only going to use the figures in the report, not introduce anything new:
Population
Page 39,
Population of England – 50,763,000
Population of Scotland – 5,117,000
So Scotland’s population in 2006 was 10% of England’s, give or take a few fractions.
Student Numbers
Page 42
HE students in England – 1,936,420 (3.8% of England’s population)
HE students in Scotland – 215,830 (4.2% of Scotland’s population)
HE in FE students in England – 122,150 (0.24% of England’s population)
HE in FE students in Scotland – 49,885 (0.97% of Scotland’s population)
Postgrad students at university:
England 0.9% of population
Scotland 1% of population
Academic Staff
Pages 45 and 46:
England has seen a drop in the percentage of academic staff in clinical medicine (12% down to 10%) and in biosciences (7% down to 6%) since 1996, Scotland has maintained medicine (11%) and biosciences (10%).
Research Funding
Pages 46 and 47:
Scotland wins 12.5% (monetary value) of research grants and contracts from the research councils – above the 10.2% we would expect if resources were just shared equally, indicating that Scottish universities’ research is better than average (nowhere else punches above weight).
Scottish universities are also ahead in research grants from charities; bang on average in research money from business; and ahead in research money from EU sources.
Research Students
Page 48
Shocking news here that Scotland has lost 0.4% of market share in research studentships since 1996. England, though, has lost 1.5%, and Wales has lost 0.9% - it’s Northern Ireland that’s coming on strong, getting up to 2.4% from a negligible base. In fact, Scotland had dropped sharply in the middle and is coming back up, Wales and England had both increased before dropping away.
Teaching Income
Page 49
Teaching income (teaching grants, regulated fees and other fees) per full-time-equivalent student in England is £5,590 – in Scotland the figure is £6,044 – Scottish universities better funded to the tune of £454 per student. Scotland is also ahead of Wales and ahead of Northern Ireland.
International Students
Page 55
Scotland has an international student population just as healthy as England’s (15% to England’s 15.6%)
On page 7, though, the report states that
Page 37:
Also from page 37:
In essence, the actual figures in the report give a lie to the text in the report and cannot be said to support the contention in the news release that accompanied the report. Perhaps that’s why Universities Scotland distanced itself from the conclusions of the report, according to the Herald:
The Herald reported Gap in funding means Scottish universities 'lag behind'
The Scotsman had it that Universities in England beat Scots for funds
The BBC was asserting that Universities in Scotland ... are losing ground to those in England
All of this was based on a report produced by Universities UK on the impact of devolution on university funding, the news release for which stated:
Although higher education is growing in all four parts of the UK, England has started to move markedly ahead in key areas, including research funding, student numbers and international student income
Holy Jiggling Batman!
Except it’s not true. How can I be so sure? Well, I read the report (cunning devil). If you were just to read the text of the report you’d find yourself alarmed, worried, concerned, and three quarters whiffled by the devastation about to be wreaked upon Scotland’s Higher Education sector. You might even find yourself demanding immediate action and a wee jaunt in a helicopter. If you look at the figures in the report, however, you might see it differently. The latest figures in the report are from 2006 and I’m only going to use the figures in the report, not introduce anything new:
Population
Page 39,
Population of England – 50,763,000
Population of Scotland – 5,117,000
So Scotland’s population in 2006 was 10% of England’s, give or take a few fractions.
Student Numbers
Page 42
HE students in England – 1,936,420 (3.8% of England’s population)
HE students in Scotland – 215,830 (4.2% of Scotland’s population)
HE in FE students in England – 122,150 (0.24% of England’s population)
HE in FE students in Scotland – 49,885 (0.97% of Scotland’s population)
Postgrad students at university:
England 0.9% of population
Scotland 1% of population
Academic Staff
Pages 45 and 46:
England has seen a drop in the percentage of academic staff in clinical medicine (12% down to 10%) and in biosciences (7% down to 6%) since 1996, Scotland has maintained medicine (11%) and biosciences (10%).
Research Funding
Pages 46 and 47:
Scotland wins 12.5% (monetary value) of research grants and contracts from the research councils – above the 10.2% we would expect if resources were just shared equally, indicating that Scottish universities’ research is better than average (nowhere else punches above weight).
Scottish universities are also ahead in research grants from charities; bang on average in research money from business; and ahead in research money from EU sources.
Research Students
Page 48
Shocking news here that Scotland has lost 0.4% of market share in research studentships since 1996. England, though, has lost 1.5%, and Wales has lost 0.9% - it’s Northern Ireland that’s coming on strong, getting up to 2.4% from a negligible base. In fact, Scotland had dropped sharply in the middle and is coming back up, Wales and England had both increased before dropping away.
Teaching Income
Page 49
Teaching income (teaching grants, regulated fees and other fees) per full-time-equivalent student in England is £5,590 – in Scotland the figure is £6,044 – Scottish universities better funded to the tune of £454 per student. Scotland is also ahead of Wales and ahead of Northern Ireland.
International Students
Page 55
Scotland has an international student population just as healthy as England’s (15% to England’s 15.6%)
On page 7, though, the report states that
The overall increase in international students has particularly favoured
England, especially the south-east.
A wee discussion
So that, you would think kind of puts things in a wee bit of a different perspective. Let’s just ice the cake, though:
Page 10:
The impact of deferred variable fees in England will increase the resources available to institutions in England, compared with the other three countries, particularly Scotland. If Scotland and Wales maintain their policies on fees their spending on higher education will be disadvantaged.Tell you what, I’ll lay you odds that deferred variable fees in England will result in rapidly diminishing state support for Higher Education. The Government in London, whatever colour it may be at any particular time, will turn down the tap on the money flows, forcing universities to charge higher fees. There will come a critical juncture where some universities just can’t keep going and there will be a splitting of the ways – some universities (Russell Group, perhaps) will become entirely divorced from Government and will operate as businesses while others become the poor sisters, the state universities. Whether this is desirable or not is, I suppose, just a matter of opinion.
Page 37:
The constraints on the use of these powers are practical or political: the difficulties of doing something different to England, possible implications (departing from the gold standard of British university degrees), and external factors (such as the Bologna process). How long these constraints will continue is an open question, especially if the UK/English standard either loses its lustre, or becomes unaffordable for the devolved administrations.Who could possibly think that the English degree represents a higher quality than a Scottish degree or that there is a UK/English standard? Remarkable, really, to downplay a Scottish degree when talking about the Bologna process which will bring the European Higher Education Area ideal closer to the Scottish model than the English model.
Also from page 37:
A clear trend is already visible, with the higher education sector in England becoming larger and better funded than that in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Although higher education is growing in all four parts of the United Kingdom, England is starting to move markedly ahead in key areas, including research funding, student numbers and international student income.Patently untrue when the actual figures given in the report are given a glance. What marks would a student get if she handed in her work with such glaring inaccuracies?
In essence, the actual figures in the report give a lie to the text in the report and cannot be said to support the contention in the news release that accompanied the report. Perhaps that’s why Universities Scotland distanced itself from the conclusions of the report, according to the Herald:
"The policy of English universities has been to move closer to an American model and away from a European model. That has been England's choice and Scotland has chosen to remain in a more European tradition.
"We do not accept that this has made Scotland's university sector weaker. England has just chosen to be different. This is what devolution means."
Just to put the cherry on it - this was before we had the great good fortune to elect an SNP Government in Scotland...
Mind how you go!
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Itchy Cool!
New website launched by the purveyors of the excellent Scots language books Itchy Coo - have a look at the Burns winners.
Excellent stuff!
Excellent stuff!
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Another promise kept
Good to see that another SNP election promise is well on course to being met.
"1,000 extra police officers over four years" we said.
"1,000 extra police officers over four years" we said.
Calman - factually incorrect
After having given lawyers a dose of gratuitous (but obviously well-deserved) abuse, I have been chided by m'learned friend.
In the midst of such tomfoolery as legal types getting on tall cuddies, m'learned friend points out that the report of the Commission to Repaint Devolution contains factual inaccuracies. I've not had a chance to check his points yet, except this one:
The Labour Party was formally committed to home rule during the 1920s but growing ambivalence in the party led to the formation of a strongly devolutionist Independent Labour Party in 1932 and Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1934.
Well, you'll find that Labour had home rule in its policy platform in the 1880s (delivered nothing in government for over a century, right enough); Keir Hardie stood as an Independent Labour Candidate in March 1888; and the Independent Labour Party was formed in 1893.
None of that matters, of course, when you consider the incredible infamy of the idea that the SNP was formed from disillusion within Labour's ranks. There's only one place I've ever seen such tosh written - the Scottish Labour Party's website. Reliable and impartial research from Calman then.
Here's a more accurate view, filched (with no shame) from the website of Dingwall SNP (fine chaps and chapesses):
The Party's somewhat confusing origins can be traced back to several organisations advocating Home Rule in the 1920s and 30s. In 1928 The Scots National League (formed in 1921) and the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association (formed by John MacCormick in 1927) both combined with poet Lewis Spence's Scottish National Movement to form the National Party of Scotland.
The NPS can be seen as the most direct forerunner of the SNP as it shared the same left of centre, civic outlook as the modern party and the same commitment to independence. Many of its members were also involved in the literary and artistic renaissance that took place in Scotland in the 1920s. The first nationalist to stand for election was Lewis Spence, who contested Midlothian and Peeblesshire Northern in 1929. He won 4.5% of the vote and came fourth.
By 1934 the National Party had amalgamated with the smaller, more right wing Scottish Party to form the Scottish National Party.
Of course, it's not entirely accurate, I prefer to say we took over the Scottish Party and decided to change the name to the Scottish National Party - and a fine party it is, you should all join!
Don't trust the Commission to Repaint Devolution - their trousers are on fire. Mind how you go! (c) the train driver.
Beige, but with a hint of Brown ...
So Calman has reported - and very boring it was. The Commission to Repaint Devolution has recommended exactly what it was told to recommend by the Westminster machine - except for one line on page 120 "It has become clear throughout the first part of our investigation that devolution cannot be made to work properly. We have, therefore, changed the direction of our efforts in order to map out the best route to independence."
A bit strange that this is the only bit hand-written, but there you go.
This committee, the equivalent of a do-nothing machine but with less dynamism, strikes me as the close cousin of television as a babysitter. It doesn't matter what it says so long as the picture keeps changing.
It's like having an anarchist federation - a bureaucracy unsuited to its intent with a cacophony of unrelated but arrogant self-interests and a stunning misunderstanding of the meaning of the words in its title. Except the anarchists have better T-shirts.
I do like the fact that there's an anarchists' magazine called Organise though ...
A bit strange that this is the only bit hand-written, but there you go.
This committee, the equivalent of a do-nothing machine but with less dynamism, strikes me as the close cousin of television as a babysitter. It doesn't matter what it says so long as the picture keeps changing.
It's like having an anarchist federation - a bureaucracy unsuited to its intent with a cacophony of unrelated but arrogant self-interests and a stunning misunderstanding of the meaning of the words in its title. Except the anarchists have better T-shirts.
I do like the fact that there's an anarchists' magazine called Organise though ...
Monday, 1 December 2008
Poverty in the midst of plenty
The BBC is carrying a story about research done by Sheffield University boffins for the BBC.
It appears to show that Scotland has suffered badly in terms of poverty over the last 40 years with now 31.5% of Scottish households classified as 'breadline poor' - the worst figure measured (27.3% in 1970; 22% in 1980; 26.8% in 1990). Except the 31.5% figure which gives the BBC its headline of Third of Scots 'breadline poor' is from 2000 - eight years ago.
It's shameful that anyone should be in poverty in a nation as wealthy as Scotland - and that shame is thrown into sharp relief by the banks bail-out - but there are more recent figures (much more recent) and we should be using them to understand the depth of the problem and begin to get some understanding of what we might be able to do about it.
I know that Brown's imagery economic miracle and the measures he took to keep the boom going were damaging to Scotland's poor, and I know that some of the steps taken by the SNP Government in Edinburgh will go a small way towards helping Scotland's poor, but before we start excoriating Brown and praising the SNP we should get the up-to-date figures.
Then we can get on with it.
It appears to show that Scotland has suffered badly in terms of poverty over the last 40 years with now 31.5% of Scottish households classified as 'breadline poor' - the worst figure measured (27.3% in 1970; 22% in 1980; 26.8% in 1990). Except the 31.5% figure which gives the BBC its headline of Third of Scots 'breadline poor' is from 2000 - eight years ago.
It's shameful that anyone should be in poverty in a nation as wealthy as Scotland - and that shame is thrown into sharp relief by the banks bail-out - but there are more recent figures (much more recent) and we should be using them to understand the depth of the problem and begin to get some understanding of what we might be able to do about it.
I know that Brown's imagery economic miracle and the measures he took to keep the boom going were damaging to Scotland's poor, and I know that some of the steps taken by the SNP Government in Edinburgh will go a small way towards helping Scotland's poor, but before we start excoriating Brown and praising the SNP we should get the up-to-date figures.
Then we can get on with it.
A Las Barricadas!
Legal action continues apace in the battle to stop the (insert raging epithet here) takeover of HBoS. When I say apace, I mean apace, there'll be lawyers having to actually work for a living for a change.
I call for more! Alistair Darling should make it clear now what Government support HBoS would get if the vote was to plough a lone furrow. Hornby and co should also be making clear how the internal situation of the bank has changed since the Lloyds TSB ram-raid was announced.
This song wouldn't work with any other bank...
I call for more! Alistair Darling should make it clear now what Government support HBoS would get if the vote was to plough a lone furrow. Hornby and co should also be making clear how the internal situation of the bank has changed since the Lloyds TSB ram-raid was announced.
This song wouldn't work with any other bank...
Negras tormentas agitan los aires
nubes oscuras nos impiden ver
Aunque nos espere el dolor y la muerte
contra el enemigo nos llama el deber.
El bien más preciado
es la libertad
hay que defenderla
con fe y con valor.
Mortgages and Vultures
Fascinating programme on Radio 4 last night - about how the Mortgage Protocol is mince.
The woman who was about to be evicted from her home is an HBoS employee in arrears with an HBoS mortgage - the court (in Bristol) was powerless in spite of her proposing a repayment plan. Her solicitor reasoned that the only reason she got a deal eventually was that it was simply a response to pressure on the bank in the form of an email from Radio 4. The power of journalists ...
The web story has her home being saved 'days' before eviction. I think, though, that if you use the 'listen again' function you'll hear them say it was the evening before eviction.
Vulture funds
Something else that was touched on in the programme is that hedge funds and vulture funds have started buying up mortgages which carry a higher risk of default than average.
You may recall vulture funds from the Jubilee Debt Campaign highlighting their activities or from DfID's response to the Jubilee requests or from journalists pointing out that the activities of the vultures meant that international aid money was coming straight back to the developed world as profit on debt owed (interest paid, seldom any capital paid off) or from the odd politician expressing concern.
It's a lucrative business, one not easily dissociated from the UK.
There are some who put forward arguments in favour of the vulture funds, though, and it's worth reading what they say. Even when they don't say much. There are others who don't defend the funds but do point out that it's not necessarily easy to tell the good guys from the bad. There are always different stories to be told.
Vultures descending on property mortgage markets wouldn't be an original occurrence, and some banks have already tried to offload some debts at the beginning of this year's chaos (not that it did Lehman much good), and when we save HBoS from the takeover there will be a job to do in cleaning up the bank. US funds have already been eyeing up European assets.
It's often the same people doing the dirty deed and foreclosing who did the equally dirty deed in mis-selling. Selling banks will write off the debts at a substantial loss, the funds buying the debts (which may even be owned or partly owned by the selling banks allowing them to write it off the balance sheet but still keep repackaged debt as an asset whether it came originally from them or not) will demand full repayment.
For the people struggling to make the repayments it's very bad news. The vulture fund has little, if any, interest in looking at ways to keep you in your home and have you finish paying off your mortgage. It may actually be in their interest to repossess, sell for more than they bought the debt for (whether that's on the open market or at auction), and still have you owe them the rest of your mortgage. Banks get out from under the bad debt, the funds make money, it's a win-win-lose situation - and guess who the losers are?
There may be some good news. There was a chap who was interested in making sure that action was taken - strong action - to curb the activities of vulture funds. He's been vociferous, certainly, if not very effective. He was talking about vulture funds as they were attacking the poorer nations of the world, but surely Gordon Brown will want to stop the vultures wherever they attack?
The woman who was about to be evicted from her home is an HBoS employee in arrears with an HBoS mortgage - the court (in Bristol) was powerless in spite of her proposing a repayment plan. Her solicitor reasoned that the only reason she got a deal eventually was that it was simply a response to pressure on the bank in the form of an email from Radio 4. The power of journalists ...
The web story has her home being saved 'days' before eviction. I think, though, that if you use the 'listen again' function you'll hear them say it was the evening before eviction.
Vulture funds
Something else that was touched on in the programme is that hedge funds and vulture funds have started buying up mortgages which carry a higher risk of default than average.
You may recall vulture funds from the Jubilee Debt Campaign highlighting their activities or from DfID's response to the Jubilee requests or from journalists pointing out that the activities of the vultures meant that international aid money was coming straight back to the developed world as profit on debt owed (interest paid, seldom any capital paid off) or from the odd politician expressing concern.
It's a lucrative business, one not easily dissociated from the UK.
There are some who put forward arguments in favour of the vulture funds, though, and it's worth reading what they say. Even when they don't say much. There are others who don't defend the funds but do point out that it's not necessarily easy to tell the good guys from the bad. There are always different stories to be told.
Vultures descending on property mortgage markets wouldn't be an original occurrence, and some banks have already tried to offload some debts at the beginning of this year's chaos (not that it did Lehman much good), and when we save HBoS from the takeover there will be a job to do in cleaning up the bank. US funds have already been eyeing up European assets.
It's often the same people doing the dirty deed and foreclosing who did the equally dirty deed in mis-selling. Selling banks will write off the debts at a substantial loss, the funds buying the debts (which may even be owned or partly owned by the selling banks allowing them to write it off the balance sheet but still keep repackaged debt as an asset whether it came originally from them or not) will demand full repayment.
For the people struggling to make the repayments it's very bad news. The vulture fund has little, if any, interest in looking at ways to keep you in your home and have you finish paying off your mortgage. It may actually be in their interest to repossess, sell for more than they bought the debt for (whether that's on the open market or at auction), and still have you owe them the rest of your mortgage. Banks get out from under the bad debt, the funds make money, it's a win-win-lose situation - and guess who the losers are?
There may be some good news. There was a chap who was interested in making sure that action was taken - strong action - to curb the activities of vulture funds. He's been vociferous, certainly, if not very effective. He was talking about vulture funds as they were attacking the poorer nations of the world, but surely Gordon Brown will want to stop the vultures wherever they attack?
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