Can You Bank on The Banks?

Dear Reader,

At a time of important festivities, my diary entry for this week is not going to be long.

But because it's not long it doesn't mean to say that it's not something I feel strongly about: I do. It's about the UK banks.

This week the news emerged that the banks have been avoiding the payment of their taxes. We also learnt recently that our financial wizard George Osborne has been getting friendly with the banks. Is his friendliness a roundabout way of trying to get the banks to pay their share? But, the banks being the banks, they will not play ball unless there's something in it for them.

After all, Gordon Brown's quantitive easing (printing money) policy did not nothing but effectively give money to the banks to bolster their balance sheets as they refused to play ball by making that money available to the community. They got free money, and now they avoid paying their share of taxes, we hear. And it is the banking system that created the financial meltdown of 2008.

As a reader wrote to a newspaper this morning, the government has found every way of squeezing the people most in need in society, but they show virtually no ability in being able to eke what is due from those who can most afford to pay it.

Those in government are nothing short of privileged bullies, yet they would be the first to be officially horrified if they hear about bullying taking place in our schools.

I don't see how the government and the banks can be pleased with themselves this Christmas, but they've certainly found ways to stuff themselves.

Despite all, we need to live in hope, and with empathy. Without those qualities we would adopt the grasping tendencies of the ruling classes.

A Happy New Year to all!