PRIZE OF ECONOMIC FAILURE

Gordon Brown's appointment as a senior wealth creation
adviser to Pimco, the global asset management company, is 
triumph of apparent nepotism - Ed Balls's brother is the company's chief 
investment officer - over breathtaking incompetence. Between
1999 and 2002 Mr Brown sold off over half the UK's gold reserves
at a fraction of their subsequent value. The move was indicative of a 
mindset that appears to run counter to Pimco's view that gold is important
part of an economic portfolio.

The sell-off happened in order to protect the solvency of major US banks,
which had become dangerously over-exposed in the gold derivatives
market. The cost to the UK taxpayer amounted to billions. It occurred
at the behest of Gordon Brown without any consultation reganrding what,
turned out to be the squandering of taxpayers' money. The decision was
announced well in advance, thus achieving the US banks' objective: the 
lowest possible gold price.

This disastrous decision adds to Gordon Brown's lasting legacy of profligacy
and near national bankruptcy. Under his chancellorship there was rampant
public spending during a period of brisk growth, unsustainable consumer
debt and frequent extensions of the business cycle in an attempt to balance
the books. He continued with his reckless borrow and spend policy, while
making the absurd assertion that he had abolished boom and bust. I am at a
loss to know what qualifies him for the role at Pimco.














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WOMEN ON BOARD

The under-representation of women
in manufacturing and engineering,
clearly requires a cultural shift in
education, in order to encourage more
girls to study mathematics and the
sciences.

Only a fifth of female students take physics
at 'A' level and one third mathematics. This is
reflected in those studying the subjects at
university. It is, therefore, unlikely that many
women will be qualified to rise to the levels of
seniority in engineering and technology, which
meet EU demands for more gender balance in
the boardroom.

Change the perception of young women that
manufacturing is a man's world. That is the first
step in establishing a pipeline from which women
will emerge to take up senior positions on
merit, rather than political correctness. Vacuous talk
of glass ceilings and EU-imposed gender quotas
will do little to develop the vital contribution that
women can make to the economy and the UK's
ability to pay its way.

THE SCANDAL THAT IS THE BBC

It is right that John Whittingdale has been appointed
to look into the national scandal that is the BBC.

Anyone looking at the TV schedules - I have counted
as many as eighteen repeats a day, some fifty years'old
- may come to the conclusion that the £3.5bn the BBC

receives annually from the licence fee represents

increasingly poor value for money.

The BBC has become a powerful metaphor for arrogance, 

incompetence, profligacy and worse. Senior executives 

found wanting are never dismissed, but merely moved to 

more senior positions with seemingly meaningless titles. 

Those who leave appear do so with extraordinarily 

generous compensation.

The Corportion appears to have all but abandoned the 

role Lord Reith intended: an impartial public service 

broadcaster, educating and enriching the fabric of our 

society. Instead, it has become a number of 

disfunctional and unaccountable feifdoms, 

contemptuous of any criticism of how it spends 

public money in competing with the commercial media. 
The £100 bn wasted on the abandoned digital archive
is but one example.

Savile and other big names with ludicrously expensive 

contracts illustrate the folly of needlessly seeking to 

boost audience figures in the ratings' war. 

The appointment in 2010 of the former Labour cabinet 
minister, James Purnell, as Head of Digital and Strategy,

on a salary £295,000 - the post unadvertised - strengthens
the perception that the BBC has a growing left-

wing bias. Its recent coverage of the general election merely
merely confirms this.

LABOUR'S DAMASCENE CONVERSION

Labour's defeated MPs and their instant Damascene conversion
back to the values of New Labour will, come the 2020 general
election, have little traction with sceptical voters'
ingrained memories of the catastrophic economic failure of the leftist Brown
government. Had David and not Ed Miliband been
elected in 2010 by democratic process instead of union
diktat, the younger sibling would not have had his "I'm
not Tony Blair" moment and the  outcome of this general election could
have been different. Free-market economic liberalism and
wealth creation - marks of New Labour - will always triumph over Marxism in the
fiercely competitive global economy. Growing the size of the national cake
is more productive than cutting it into ever smaller pieces.

LABOUR - THE THERE'S NO MONEY LEFT PARTY

THOUGHT TO PONDER AS WE APPROACH THE GENERAL ELECTION


NOTE FROM LIAM BYRNE, LABOUR'S FORMER CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
LEFT AFTER ITS DEFEAT AT 2010 GENERAL ELECTION


"I'M AFRAID THERE'S NO MONEY LEFT."


LABOUR - THE THERE'S NO MONEY LEFT PARTY WHICH HAS CREATED

ECONOMIC CHAOS EVERY TIME IT HAS BEEN IN OFFICE.

Financial black hole left by Clarkson

The BBC's possible liquidation of Top Gear, the corporation's £50m
flagship, is a worrying example of its mismanagement of creative

talent and licence fee income.

Jeremy Clarkson is an original and unpredictable talent, who has given
the programme such wide appeal. Inevitably, we should now 

expect that this will lead to an even poorer quality and range of programmes -

the result of the corporation struggling to repay the millions received from

global broadcasters, in advance, to televise the series.

It will certainly come as no surprise if they do not accept the option of

alternative presenters, who would be unlikely to attract the same 350m

audience around the world.

IMMIGRATION - THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

A recent report on immigration during 

Labour's thirteen years in power 

is a stark reminder of a pre-determined

situation, which is beyond control.

More migrants have arrived here 

in the UK since 2004 than during

the entire preceding period following 

the Norman Conquest. The impact on

the social fabric and infrastructure

of our country has been profound.

Notwithstanding the debatable

benefit of marginally higher GDP, the 

effects of such a massive inflow can

be seen in the NHS, housing and 

education, where scarce resources are 

being stretched to breaking point.

We are where we are but should remind 

ourselves how this situation has arisen. 

The continuing assertion that, when in office, 

Labour acted in good faith in not properly 

assessing the impact of immigration and 

of integration is contradicted by the facts. 

A publication of 2000, obtained under the 

Freedom of information Act, contained a 

secret Cabinet Office report. This 

characterised Labour's open-door 

immigration policy as a deliberate attempt 

to rub the Right's nose in cultural diversity.

In this, Labour has clearly succeeded.

Its aim was to expand the Party's 

support among the immigrant population, 

where, according to Chris Mullen in his book 

A View from the Foothills, 80% vote Labour.

Current projections are that by 2026 immigration 

will add to England's population about the 

equivalent of seven cities the size of Birmingham,

changing the nature of the British identity.

Research shows that in Manchester no fewer 

than 151 languages are spoken. It indicates 

rapidly growing immigrant numbers, accompanied by

white flight. The dynamic is one of accelerating

cultural change which is transforming 

urban connurbations throughout the UK. 

As we approach the general election, what is

strange is that while immigration, together with 

the NHS, is at the top of voters' concerns, EU

membership which has driven immigration, is 

not.

DECISIVE LEADERSHIP IN RUN-UP TO GENERAL ELECTION

In the final period of this coalition government we must
consider the possibility of a major terrorist attack
during an inevitable constitutional interregnum, following
an indecisive outcome of the general election.

The country would be virtually leaderless and national
security seriously compromised, while inter-party 
negotiations were taking place over what could be an 
extended period of drift.

In these circumstances it is not difficult to see how this 
could be exploited by those who would seek to destroy
us and that the price for not voting in a government
with an overall majority and strong, decisive leadership
could be high indeed.

THE MITICHONDRIAL DEBATE - LAWYERS TO BENEFIT

The legal profession must be awaiting with bated breath
the outcome of the for and against mitochondrial debate.
Will it be a new dawn for lawyers' fee-earning potential,
following reforms to legal aid

As one door closes, another opens for the guardians
of our judicial system, as life becomes ever-more
complicated.