What A Wunch Of Bankers
According to various reports, of which this article in the Mail is typical, the total cost of the PPI scandal is over £18 billion. That works out at four hundred pounds for every adult in the UK.
I got caught, in that when C died, I needed to get a new John Lewis credit card, as previously my card was a second one on her account. But Waitrose didn’t advise me to uncheck the box, if I didn’t want PPI.
I have since got all my money back, by just filling in a form and posting it to their credit card services.
Only Three More Days To See The Dalston House
I passed the Dalston House this morning and it was very busy.
As it closes on Monday, there is not long now to have a butchers!
Here‘s my pictures from a few weeks ago.
Is Funding Circle Going To Sleep With The Enemy?
There are rumours around the Internet that Funding Circle is going to tie up with Santander. Read a report here in The Telegraph.
For many years ING provided funding to a host of smaller lenders in the UK. Then they changed tack and left these lenders up the creek without a boat, let alone a paddle.
The only possible tie-up that I would possibly do if I was the CEO of Funding Circle is to licence the technology for use in a non-competing market.
I certainly wouldn’t get involved in any direct tie-up in the UK, for a number of reasons. Most of these are detailed in the Telegraph.
But I was part of a small dynamic company taken over by a big US corporation and it just didn’t work. Santander and Funding Circle are so different, I’d only give them a few months before they fell out in a big way.
I hope that if they are talking, that Funding Circle see the light and withdraw.
But the rumours probably haven’t done their business a load of good.
They Don’t Care About House Colours In Hackney
This story from Devon shows one of the problems of living in the area of a council and among residents, who have strong views.
It’s not a good shade of pink and I don’t like it. We may have a few brightly coloured buildings in Hackney, but at least they’ve generally been agreed by everyone.
In cities too, most buildings are of brick and they tend to match easier.
I don’t miss the petty [politics of the countryside.
Moss Gathers A Few Stones
I couldn’t resist the wordplay, when I saw this article and picture in today’s Standard.
Should We have Built It In The First Place?
One of the dramatic news stories on BBC television this morning, is the blowing up of the tower of Inverkip power station chimney in Scotland. Out of curiosity, I looked up the power station on Wikipedia and found an article, which showed how building the station seems to have been an enormous waste of money. Here’s what they say on the use of the power station.
It was to be Scotland’s first oil-fired power station. However, the soaring price of oil as a result of the 1973 oil crisis meant that by the time construction was completed generation was uneconomical. It was never utilised commercially, with 1200 MW kept in reserve and the remaining capacity being used to satisfy peak demand. It was only used at peak capacity during the miners’ strike of 1984-85, when low coal supplies prompted operation. Generation ceased in January 1988 and although the plant was retained as a strategic reserve, it was never used as such. The plant was finally mothballed in the late 1990s, but was kept fully operational until 2006 when it was decommissioned.
No wonder our electricity bills are so expensive, with gold-plated elephants like this to support.
I suppose, at least a lot of people got a cheap thrill when they saw the chimney blown up.
Archbishop In Cloud Cuckoo Land
This story about how Justin Welby aims to compete Wonga out of business, is on the BBC today. Here’s the jist.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned the online lender Wonga that the Church of England plans to force it out of business – by competing against it.
He may have laudible aims, but like the poor, loan sharks, where legal or not, will always be with us.
What the people who use Wonga need is money and if everybody supported credit unions, that wouldn’t give any money directly to those who need it.
Credit unions, like all responsible lenders, don’t lend money to those who would be unable or unwilling to pay it back.
French Think About Beach Smoking Ban
The French Minister for health has said, that she might like to ban smoking on beaches. It’s reported here on the BBC. This is the first paragraph.
A call by France’s health minister for local authorities to ban smoking in parks and on beaches has sparked debate as a heat wave grips the country.
Marisol Touraine told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper she wanted to see more tobacco-free zones, to protect children’s health.
The Socialist minister said she hoped smoking would also be banned outside schools and on university campuses.
According to the article, there is actually a ban at La Ciotat near Marseilles, where they say it has been well-received.
In my view, anything that cuts smoking is a good idea.
Not One Of My Problems!
This story about treatment for varicose veins shows how a lot of medical treatments are going to get more hi-tech. This is the first bit.
People with varicose veins should be offered laser or heat treatment, say new guidelines for England and Wales.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says, in most cases, surgery should be a last resort.
Both my parents had bad varicose veins, with my mother’s being particularly bad. She had them operated on at the old Highlands Hospital in Winchmore Hill in the mid-1950s. The strange thing about that operation was that the surgeon was an Indian lady, who did her ward rounds in a sari. I don’t think, I actually saw the surgeon, as eleven-year-old children weren’t allowed to visit their parents in hospital in those days, but my father would recall if her surgery was as as good as her looks, then my mother would be fine.
It’s strange, but you don’t seem to see the awful varicose veins you did fifty years ago!
I certainly don’t seem to have inherited them from my parents!
The Anonymous Widower 