Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 31st January)

OFT clears oil firms on petrol prices, despite experts' claims that they quickly rise but fall too slowly
Competition is ‘working well’ at the petrol pump and price rises over the past decade are largely due to increases in tax and the cost of crude oil - and not because of sneaky retailers cashing in - the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) reported this morning. It says it found ‘very limited’ evidence pump prices rise quickly when wholesale prices go up but fall more slowly when it drops. As a result, it will not be launching a full investigation into the market. The watchdog failed to implement a measure called for by motoring organisations that would have seen wholesale petrol prices published, so that customers could easily see whether the price at the pump was fairly rising and falling. DAILY MAIL

Britain’s biggest multi-national companies oppose Cameron's call for tax disclosure 
Most FTSE100 businesses have warned David Cameron to abandon plans which will expose corporate tax dodging. They say it threatens to undermine the economic recovery. The PM said that firms have a moral duty to pay tax - in comments which angered global business leaders meeting in Davos, Switzerland. TELEGRAPH
(“It’s that word tax that makes us furious. And moral. And duty and pay, for that matter,” said our global business leader insider.)

Minister says UK pension charges pass the 'baked bean test' despite them being among the highest in Europe

Pensions minister Steve Webb says there is no need for price controls in the "vibrant" pensions market. Asked about the possibility of a cap on charges,  he said: "Why doesn't the Government set a price cap on a tin of baked beans? We don't need to because there's a vibrant market, people have lots of choice." Many workers and employers with little previous experience of pension saving will invest in poor value deals, say critics. TELEGRAPH

(Do you really think the pensions market is fine, minister? Or is that just the baked beans talking?...)

HMRC helpline keeps 16 million people hanging on the telephone, and paying for it

MPs attack HMRC for keeping helpline callers on hold for more than five minutes. Last year HMRC’s 0845 helpline cost callers £136m through delays in answering calls. HMRC has promised to move to a cheaper number. GUARDIAN

(We reckon HMRC should start using an offshore phone provider. They are always the cheapest, for reasons HMRC understand better than any of us.)

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Government 'Buddy' scheme to give more multinationals access to ministers

The government officially allows big corporates to meet ministers "to improve coordination." The dates of the meetings are publicly available, but what was said is not! Don't worry, Cameron will save us...

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As Osborne's Austerity (Os-terity) pushed Britain towards a triple-dip recession, differing unemployment rates around Britain show we are not all in it together.

As official GDP data showed Britain flirting with a 'triple dip recession', we take yet another look at whether we are really 'all in this together'. 

For this post our focus is on how the Tory party's policy of 'austerity' is reflected in the unemployment rates in parliamentary constituencies around the country. Data from a report by the House of Commons Library, released in January 2013, shows that vast swathes of the country have low unemployment. Austerity is not so hard if you have a job. A wage freeze is far less austere than moving from a salary to the dole. So with all the vast swathes of low unemployment, where is the high unemployment and who is actually paying the price of austerity?

The data in this report reveals the unemployment rates in each parliamentary constituency. This shows just 10 Tory MPs and 4 Lib-Dem MPs have unemployment rates higher than 5%. While the unemployment rate is higher than 5% in 137 Labour MPs' constituencies.

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National lottery ticket price to double

Can KJ change Fee's mind?..

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 24th January)

NHS staff crisis: Hospital pays £1,800 a day for agency nurse

The bill for temporary workers has risen by more than 20% in just one year, with private agencies receiving more than seven times the rate paid to nurses on the pay roll. The use of temporary staff has become endemic with almost every trust in the country now relying on private agencies to plug gaps in staffing. The total bill for temporary nurses is set to reach £450 million - a 21% rise on the previous year. Official figures show there are 6,000 fewer nurses working in the NHS since May 2010. TELEGRAPH

(...and what are the odds that, miraculously, there are 6,000 more nurses working for agencies!)

'Buddy' scheme to give more multinationals access to ministers

The controversial "strategic relations" initiative was launched in July 2011, giving 38 companies, including oil, telecoms and pharmaceutical giants, a direct line to ministers and officials. That number will now be extended to 80. The 38 companies – more than two-thirds of which are based overseas – have collectively had 698 face-to-face meetings with ministers under the current government, prompting accusations of an over-cosy relationship between corporations and ministers. The full degree of contact between the chosen companies and the government is not known as the content of telephone calls, emails, and meetings with officials are not recorded. GUARDIAN

("Why 'Buddy'? An alternative word was put forward but did not survive a successful court challenge for defamation by the Association of British Prostitutes," said our government insider.)

Gas market whistleblower who accused firms of price fixing is sacked

Seth Freedman, the whistleblower at the centre of energy market manipulation allegations, has been sacked by his price reporting agency, ICIS Heren. Freedman's concerns about unusual movements in the wholesale gas trade triggered investigations by the regulators. ICIS said it removed him because he had lost the trust of price reporting agencies (PRAs) and his colleagues. Freedman said his "victimisation" may make other ICIS staff too scared to speak up. GUARDIAN

(“Don’t worry. We have now made it clear to all staff that their concerns about market manipulation will be dealt with swiftly and effectively. A P45 can usually be issued in minutes,” said our ICIS insider.)

Watchdog gives banks final warning over staff incentives that lead to mis-selling

20 out of the 22 firms the FSA investigated had features that increased the risk of mis-selling. Managers face a conflict of interest as they have to oversee standards, yet get rewarded if sales increase. Despite the failings it has found, the FSA said it does not want to ban incentive schemes. DAILY MAIL

(“You simply cannot protect customers if you are always rewarded for making the banks more money. And I should know,” said former FSA boss Sir Hector Sants, who got his knighthood and a £3m job at Barclays within months of leaving the utterly useless FSA.)

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Poll shows 58% think new benefits cap is unfair

Surely Cameron can commission another poll giving a different answer...

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How did the FSA miss this? 5 years of "extensive and widespread" misconduct across three continents!

You can tell how much miscreants respect authority by the effort they put in to hiding their misbehaviour. Shoplifters in a well guarded store take great care, preparing themselves with voluminous bags and outer-wear providing space to stuff misappropriated stuff. British prisoners of war took the most elaborate precautions to avoid the notice of their jailers when trying to dig themselves out of prison camps. 

On the other hand, where the guardians are either incompetent, complicit, don't actually give a damn, or have been ordered to turn a blind eye, the miscreants have no need to take precautions.


The contempt the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is held in by those they pretend authority over is evident from the stunning openness of their wards' frauds. To know this you have to look no further than the FSA's own reports, such as that into LIBOR rigging by the bank UBS. Undisguised extensive, widespread, open and shamelessly documented rigging occurred over several years and several continents before the FSA's pips squeaked. The traders made scant effort to disguise their misconduct which the FSA describes as "extensive and widespread" involving "At least 2,000 requests for inappropriate submissions [that] were documented – an unquantifiable number of oral requests", and occurring in "various locations around the world including Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the USA".


The financial services industry contempt for the FSA is well founded:
a) They know they are unlikely to be caught.

b) Even if they are caught, the fines - even those that run into hundreds of millions of pounds - are a small fraction of profits.

c) Fines are paid by shareholders. The individual staff who perpetrate the misdeeds hardly ever pay any meaningful penalty.


To detail the brazen behaviour banks get up to, contemptuous of their regulators, we need do little more than quote directly from the FSA:

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Financial Literacy in Schools private member's bill bites the dust

The 18th of January 2013 was the date for the second reading of the Financial Literacy in Schools bill. Being greatly interested in the progress of this bill we invested in a packet of ginger snaps and settled down with a mug of Tetley's to watch Parliament TV.

As it turned out this eagerly awaited debate lasted a minute (at 14.02) and would fit into a tweet. We therefore reproduce the debate in its entirety:

"Financial Literacy (Curriculum) Bill, Second Reading"

"Not moved"

And so this much heralded legislation seems to have faded away. The time, 14.02 (two minutes past two in the afternoon) is important, as House rules state:

"Note: If proceedings on the first Bill end before 2.30 pm, the second Bill and, possibly, subsequent Bills may be debated in the time remaining. After 2.30 pm, only those Bills which are unopposed may make further progress."

Being prior to 2.30pm, this bill had a right to be read even if it was opposed. So why wasn't it read?

The bill's sponsor, the Labour MP Thomas Docherty, said the reason for not debating this bill was the filibustering time wasting of the Conservative MPs, the members for Shipley (Philip Davies), Plymouth (Oliver Colville), Rosendale (Jake Berry) and Bury (David Nuttall) who droned on about a bill relating to the Antarctic.

"I am sure many people are disappointed that we have not had the chance to debate energy tariffs or financial literacy. I hope that those Members who are now slinking out of the Chamber, such as the hon. Members for Shipley (Philip Davies), for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) and for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry), will reflect, particularly in this weather, on the fact that we did not have the opportunity to discuss a measure that would help thousands of their constituents because they filibustered it out. I hope that their voters are made aware of that.  On a more positive note, I thank the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Newbury (Richard Benyon), for the productive way in which his Department has engaged with this [Wild Animals in Circuses] Bill."

Thomas Docherty MP, 2.02pm Friday 18th January 2013

MPs of all complexion suffer from chronic verbal diarrhoea. The question that occurs to us is why Docherty decided he didn't have time to discuss Financial Literacy, and then went on to spend more than half an hour on his next bill concerning "Wild Animals in Circuses", to ban the use of wild animals in circuses.

Now we at Ripped-Off Britons have as soft a spot as the next man for elephants and the like. But it seemed a strange choice of priorities in this current era of rampant financial scams by the nations banks, insurers and investment managers. We would have thought the children would have come first.

Perhaps someone could enlighten us? Please do let us know (email us at financialeducation@rippedoffbritons.com)

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Tesco beef burgers found to contain 29% horse meat

Chris is suspicious...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 17th January)

Seven in ten MPs on £65k believe they are underpaid
A majority of MPs said they deserve a 32% pay increase to £86,250. The survey by the Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) also found that more than a third of MPs believe they should keep generous final salary pensions. Unlike in other parts of the public sector, Ipsa is not proposing to introduce performance-related pay, regional pay or to take outside earnings into account. Facing accusations of hypocrisy, the Ipsa chairman Sir Ian Kennedy said his consultation was open to the public “and I would urge people to get involved in this debate.” TELEGRAPH and IPSA
(...Get involved in the debate? Isn’t that an incitement to riot? Someone call the police!)

Seventeen NHS hospitals have dangerously low numbers of nurses

The warning coincides with an imminent report on the scandal at Stafford Hospital, where up to 1,200 patients died needlessly while managers slashed their budgets and staff numbers in pursuit of NHS foundation trust status. At Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, women in labour were exposed to unnecessary risk because there were not enough staff. At Milton Keynes, patients with dementia were left unable to reach call bells, tables, drinks and warm clothing. TELEGRAPH

(...and in Whitehall ministers with blind right-wing myopia were left unable to see the storm brewing among an angry electorate who consider the NHS our most treasured institution...)

Taxpayer-owned RBS to be fined for rigging Libor market 
In 2012 banks were caught rigging Libor, affecting $300 trillion of trades worldwide, causing losses for ordinary savers and investors. The RBS fine is expected to exceed the £290m fine paid by Barclays but not the £940m fine paid by UBS. It is not clear whether bankers will lose their bonuses. BBC NEWS
(“We’re now all in a panic and have truly learnt our lesson,” said our RBS insider, barely audible above the sound of wrists being slapped...)

Major defence projects are hit by delays and £6.6bn overspend

Despite last year’s promise by the MoD that costs are under control, the National Audit Office found costs of the 16 largest projects had risen by £468m and slipped in timescale by 11 years. Overall, project costs have risen by £6.6bn. Delays to a £32m Falcon communications system for Afghanistan mean it will not now be ready until after British troops have withdrawn in 2014. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond compared improving efficiency at the MoD to "turning around a super tanker," with fuel inflation and other factors outside of the department's control responsible for three-quarters of the cost increase over the past year. BBC NEWS

(...the ‘super tanker’ of other factors being the infamously corrupt deals with the military-industrial complex and foreign governments, perhaps?..)

Tesco beef burgers found to contain 29% horse meat
Horse meat has been found in burgers on sale in British supermarkets. Tests on beef products sold in Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Dunnes Stores uncovered low levels of the animal’s DNA. TELEGRAPH
(And that’s why I always buy my burgers from Fortnum & Masons. They're contaminated with veal, venison and sometimes lobster. Much better...)

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