Tom Hayes And Libor
It is interesting that the more left wing press (a relative term), have focused on the aftermath of the conviction of the former Citigroup trader Tom Hayes for manipulating Libor was overturned this week. It has been 13 years of hell for Hayes, with a David and Goliath battle in the courts, with the SFO, the US government, prison, the ongoing contempt the public have for those involved in the City, and a personal life pain. In fact, the whole story has until this week appeared so hopeless, one would only look at the latest news on it when in a fit state. There are and were so many things wrong with the Hayes case: the show trial aspect, the kangeroo court vibe, deliberately harsh sentencing to discourage other. The one sided process where the prosecution has all the resources and credibility in the world, whereas an ordinary person has to cobble together their defence and rely on serendipity, or in this case, the passage of time, to even stand a chance of winning.
So what do we have after the Hayes affair? No real progress at all. A Victorian legal system, which a defendant has to play an extended game of Russian Roulette. In the end, it was the technicality of Hayes not receiving a fair trial, rather than the intricacies of fixing Libor, or manipulating it. As anyone with any knowledge of the financial markets knows, there is a fine line between making a market and fixing it. All of this could happen again tomorrow, if it is not already happening.
Not Going Abroad 4 Times A Year
Apparently one of the more eye catching stories of the week was the claim that from next month going abroad more than four times a year would flag you to HMRC, as part of a new “enhanced customs monitoring.” This was reported on social media sources, with the idea that it would relate to people’s declared income, employment status and tax residency. Of course, given that if anyone is going to deliver a full fat Nanny State, one would expect this kind of move by a Labour government. But according to fullfact.org, the whole thing is something of an April Fool, albeit one that is a few months late. And if one steps back a little, monitoring how many times people go abroad in order to check up on them would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it? Almost as ridiculous as doing age checks on adult content. Of course, the Online Safety Act which has just kicked in is supposed to be there to protect children. Presumably, some of the 16 and 17 year old children who are been newly given the vote, but cannot be trusted in terms of their online activities. What has not been stated, over and above the moral wellbeing of children, and frankly adults, is that until they are 18, in theory, it is the responsibility of parents to ensure the safety of their children, not necessarily the State.
Ozzy Osbourne International Airport
While anyone with even a modicum of medical awareness would consider that Ozzy Osbourne was a medical miracle, and perhaps many more miracles rolled into one, his demise was something of a shock to many. This was perhaps due to his farewell performance in Birmingham being so recent, and the thinking that he could have had more time in the land of the living. What has been evident with all the tributes and coverage in recent days is that few of us could ever combine the heady mixture Osbourne had of being both a saint and a sinner. Although the sinner part was very much (bat head eating aside) in the vein of Spinal Tap, reports that the concert raised £140m for charity mean that with that final event alone he very much redeemed himself. While calls from Birmingham Airport to be renamed Ozzy Osbourne International may not get off the ground for some time, if there ever was a true son of the city, the lead singer of Black Sabbath would be a leading contender.
