For some reason I can't quite explain, my default page when I open up my internet browser-thingie is the BBC news page. I never read it, although I do quickly take in the headlines. Today, with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announcing a £2bn loss and the BBC whining as it asks, "What has Stephen Hestor achieved?" I decided to read the articles, here and here. They point out that this year's loss is virtually double last year's and on that basis the tone is one of snide criticism at the money Mr. Hestor earns even after he gave up his bonus. However, in a somewhat grudging nod at the truth they reported that RBS had been forced to set aside £850m to reimburse customers who had been stitched up by the spivs in the previous (non)management team, and also, they had to write off £1.1bn of Greek debt, again, the work of the previous bosses. Take that away and the reported loss drops to the same as last year's. All the time, of course, Hestor has been flogging off non-core assets and the market, sniffing a distressed seller in nano-seconds, was obviously not going to pay top dollar. Needless to say, the BBC keeps whingeing about the fact that it is the tax-payers who now own the bank - although I don't remember anyone asking me at the time! - and nor do I remember the BBC complaining about it on behalf of the suckers people who pay their disgracefully huge salaries via the TV licence fee. Naturally, the fact that we had a Jock PM and a Jock Chancellor at the time this Jock bank went belly-up, and that the Labour party absolutely depends on the Jock vote, had absolutely nothing to do with it, or at least, I don't remember the BBC suggesting it at the time!
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