POLITICAL NONSENSE AND WE ALL PAY !

Most of the recent news is so ludicrously banal, or just plain stupid, as to be not worthy of any significant comment.

Today, an assortment of senior Metropolitan Police Service officers have ben cleared of any wrong doing with regard to the 'phone hacking scandals, even though some have already been forced to resign from their positions due to the accusations.

The resignations were politically required and had nothing to do with any failings of the incumbents. I hope that the victims will extract every last halfpenny out of the self-serving politicos who were ultimately responsible for their self-sacrifice and arrival on the dole. The only trouble is that WE, THE PEOPLE, have to pay for all the compensation they'll eventually get because the only money that the government has is OURS.

RIOTERS MUST BE QUELLED AT ALL COST.

It seems that my initial comments about the current round of rioting and vanadalism were somewhat wide of the mark. As more and more sub-humans have ventured onto the streets of our cities, creating scenes not witnessed for decades, if ever, it's now clear that the police actually do need the more active support of government if they are to restore order.

With rioting and looting spreading to Bristol, Birmingham and Liverpool, there can be no doubt that more forceful measures are needed. The gangs of youths that have been rampaging around the streets, terrorising residents and shop-owners, looting and destroying properties and attacking the police, appear to be motivated by a desire to cause as much trouble as they can in the pursuit of what they probably see as 'a bit of fun'. Hiding behind a blanket of supposed 'disaffection' with the rest of our society, they are uneducated, jobless and rootless; these animals should be rounded up and incarcerated on some off-shore island, where they can do whatever they like, without affecting the rest of us. They have no place in civilized society.

There's been much talk this morning about what additional measures can be introduced in the battle to reclaim our streets and major cities from the rioters - water-canon, the army, rubber bullets. I say bring on all three and give the forces of law and order free rein to do whatever is necessary to rid us of this pestilential scourge in our midst.

NEITHER 'BULLS' NOR 'BEARS', BUT OSTRICHES AND CHICKENS.

The meltdown currently being experienced on world stock markets is causing much hand wringing and very little real action.

Governments hold meetings while the people watch their savings and pensions vanish down the drain. In Europe, the lunatics who invented the 'Euro' stick their heads in the sand, ostrich-like, and refuse even to contemplate the dismantling of their pet project, even though this is the only long-term solution to the difficulties they are now experiencing. Instead, the European Central Bank has committed itself to buying up vast amounts of worthless Italian and Spanish government bonds, the consequences of which action will eventually be visited on the people of Europe, but not before enough time has passed for those responsible to be long gone. In the UK, it looks increasingly likely that the Bank of England will issue yet more paper through it's scheme of 'quantitative easing', a programme that will inevitably lead to uncontrollable inflation in the future, making us all much poorer but, again, not before the current incumbents of office has departed and can no longer be held accountable. As for the USA, their borrowing is continuing to grow and their economy is clearly not in a healthy state; with a Presidential election due next year, the risk of political paralysis is real and markets will become increasingly jittery as a result. Added to all of the other factors, there seems little likelihood of there being much good news in financial circles for at least the next 18 months. The old stock market adage of 'sell in May and go away' should, perhaps, be amended to 'sell now and come back in 2013' and even that may be far too soon.

The problem is that no one is willing to take the action that is really needed for fear of the dire electoral consequences. We have all been living beyond our means for decades and now the chickens are finally coming home to roost; the final evil day of reckoning is upon us and all we can do is batten down the hatches and hope. In the meantime, the Chinese must be laughing their socks off. 

DID ANYONE READ THE RIOT ACT ?

The disgraceful events that began in Tottenham and subsequently spread to other parts of London over the weekend have led to the usual breast-beating, recriminations and panic amongst the political elite.

Labour MPs have been quick to use the events as a means to attack the police, obliquely of course, and the government. The Home Secretary has felt compelled to rush back from holiday in order to hold talks with senior police officers, and others are busy blaming anyone and everyone in whatever way suits their own special interests.

The truth is that the rioting and looting was carried out by yobs and criminals who will exploit any opportunity to behave in ways that the majority of our society finds repugnant; these people have no excuse for their actions and the nonsense spouted by their apologists is nauseating. Whatever the supposed stimulus, their behaviour was that of sub-human mobs and should be roundly condemned.

Why the Home Secretary should have to curtail her holiday is a mystery. London has an elected Mayor who is responsible for the Metropolitan Police; surely, if any political figure needs to be involved, it is he, though I fail to see why there needs to be political involvement at all. This was a law and order issue and the Metropolitan force should be left alone to deal with it; having suffered so much turmoil in recent weeks already, the last thing they need is more politicians with vested interests stomping around in their size 9s.