The Spectator's Notes

Wednesday, 18th February 2009

Charles Moore's reflections on the week

You cannot blame Lord Turner, the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, for defending the bonuses paid to his employees. He is new to the job and must work with his team. But when he said this week, ‘If you are saying we should now cut the bonuses, you are saying we should cut their pay by 15 per cent’, he was inviting the reaction he did not intend. Yes, that is, now you mention it, what we are saying. The FSA failed to do the most important job assigned to it. Therefore, broadly speaking, its staff should not only not get bonuses, but should get less money than before. It is a point so simple that it seems to elude the intellectual giants who preside over our financial system.

As with most government pre-announcements, it is impossible to tell whether the latest — aired on Panorama — is true. The documentary reported that the government is worried that its programme for tackling violent extremism in practice favours extremist types, and wants to change it. We will not find out what, if any, remedial measures the government is taking until some time next month. So the Conservatives were right to sound a note of caution in their reaction. They were wrong, though, to play it both ways. Their main spokesman, Baroness Neville-Jones, sensibly emphasised the need to tackle the extremist ideology which lies behind violent extremism. But her understrapper, Baroness Varsi, said: ‘It has taken centuries to guarantee religious freedom in our country and we must not let the government destroy it.’ How would it destroy religious freedom to withdraw government funding from Islamist extremists? Lady Varsi seems to be almost the echo of the Labour Muslim peer, Lord Ahmed, whose love of religious freedom is strictly one-sided.

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Christopher Chantrill

February 19th, 2009 6:11pm Report this comment

"Was a woman?"

It seems that the rumours of Lady Thatcher's death have been greatly exaggerated among the luvvies.

darsan

February 20th, 2009 11:18am Report this comment

some hope is there for britain when bishops back christians in the country. secularism . freedom of religion, etc are ranged on the side of murderous fantics.

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