Did somebody say something about populism?

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We're sure they did.... Read more...

Ah yes, it was us.

Well, it was Iain Martin actually but he got the free plug so he can button his lip.

Boris' acid quill is really on form here....

She is meant to be Labour's deputy leader. She is a solicitor, and an alumna of Hammersmith's highly regarded, fee-paying St Paul's School for Girls, and she can sometimes be perfectly pleasant and rational. But here is a sample of Harman's ravings on the subject of Sir Fred and his pension: "He should not be counting on being £650,000 a year better off as a result of this, because it's not going to happen," she told the BBC. "It will not be accepted."

There. Savour the bleating leftie inanity of that sentiment: it will not be accepted. By whom will it not be accepted, Hattie, and how will it not be accepted? Since she agrees – in the same breath – that the details of Sir Fred's severance from the Royal Bank of Scotland may, in fact, be watertight, her highly trained legal mind must envisage some change in the law.

Does she really imagine that parliamentary draftsmen should be now at work on the Fred Goodwin Pension Reclamation Bill? In which case, exactly how much of Sir Fred's pension does she think should be recouped? All of it? Or just 95 per cent of it? And what about all the other cock-up artists who used to be in charge of the Royal Bank, and what about the people who made a hash of Northern Rock, and all the bankers who have been kicked out of institutions in which the state has been obliged to take a share?

Will their assets be expropriated under the same Act? How will their guilt be determined, or will Hattie just put on her leopardskin accessories and stomp and jingle through the City, waving her calabash rattle and sniffing out the culprits?
Sir Fred's settlement is nauseating; it is unbelievable. But it will be accepted, and it must be accepted, because it already has been accepted – by Harriet Harman's ministerial colleague.

Certain people who like to characterise Boris Johnson as buffoon (we bet Northern Monkey likes to show that one off to his friends) need to haul their necks in.

It should be perfectly clear to anyone with a brain that he is anything but.

Logic and magic and legerdemain

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Iain Martin in Yesterday's Telegraph blog....

I have a theory about what exactly Brown is up to with these diversionary tactics, which I'll post on later. But for now, remember the bread and circuses aspect to this 'hunt the banker' chase after Goodwin. He deserves the public anger but remember that it suits the government for attention to be diverted from as yet unspecified billions which will cripple the taxpayer towards, instead, the smaller but more easily understood £650,000 going to Fred the Shred.

Gordon Brown has form: he usually has a populist story leaked for a reason. And it's often designed to divert attention from an even bigger story.

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And five hours later in the same blog....

As the flames from this story grow higher, the leaking last night of the detail that Godwin gets £650,000 a year, now, for leaving, is starting to look like the most stupid leak for many a year. Its effect may have been to obscure the detail about the bail-out, but it has now spun out of control.

So, even by this government's lofty standards, a piece of populist misdirection that, had it been performed by Derren Brown, would have drawn gasps of admiration from a dumbfounded audience. Or rather it would be, were it not for the fact that for such prestidigitation to have the desired effect, it's generally a good idea if the victim doesn't see the illusionist's fumbling hands and the cards cascading to the floor.

Surely by now everyone's onto the Prime Minister's increasingly desperate and transparent efforts to save his floundering government and his own reputation.

Not quite everyone, it would appear.