Anger at the Banks Is Justified, Mervyn King Says
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has expressed "surprise" that the public is not more angry with the bankers who caused the recession.

In some of his strongest language yet, Mervyn King today claimed the fall in households' living standards was the fault of the financial services sector and he expressed sympathy that innocent families paying the price.

"The people whose jobs were destroyed were in no way responsible for the excesses of the financial sector and the crisis that followed," he told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee.

In most aspects, he said, the economy had been on a sound footing before the crisis. Previous downturns were often caused by inefficiencies or weak management and were useful opportunities to improve systems. "None of that applied in this crisis," he said. "We had quite a successfully operating economy."

The people who are now suffering "did not get bonuses of the scale people in the financial sector got". The financial crisis may have occurred two years ago but, as austerity measures kick in, "the cost is now being felt", he said.

It remains "a big political problem", he added: "I'm surprised the real anger hasn't been greater than it has." >>> Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor | Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Italy’s Rude Awakening: Perhaps la Vita Isn’t Always So Dolce After All!
THE TELEGRAPH: Italy is the latest eurozone nation to be threatened by finacial woe - after Silvio Berlusconi assured his compatriots for months that they had weathered the crisis.

They were the advance guard of an army of Italians whose anger is rising as their country joins the rest of the continent struggling with the worst economic crisis of recent times.

Waving banners, blowing whistles and chanting "Shame!", hundreds of public service workers rallied outside Italy's parliament in Rome to protest against the austerity package announced by the centre-Right government of Silvio Berlusconi.

The measures aim to shave 24 billion euros off government spending in the next two years.

They include a crackdown on tax evasion and welfare fraud, a three year salary freeze for Italy's 3.4 million civil servants and substantial cuts to regional government which will almost certainly result in less money for hospitals and schools.

In pushing through the package with an emergency parliamentary decree, Italy joined Portugal and Spain in trying to fend off contagion from the crisis which has brought deadly riots to Greece and shaken confidence in the euro. The cuts are greater in scale than the £6 billion of immediate savings recently announced by Britain's new coalition government, but are comparable with what the UK may face over the next 12 months.

The protesters, mostly women, who had gathered outside Italy's lower house of parliament in Piazza di Montecitorio, a cobbled square lined with expensive hotels and boutiques, were stung by the announcement and fearful for the future.

For months Mr Berlusconi had been assuring his countrymen that Italy has weathered the global economic crisis much better than the rest of Europe.

The government's overnight switch from breezy optimism to dire warnings of "very tough sacrifices" in order to spare Italy from a Greek-style bailout, and associated international ignominy attached, made the announcement of the austerity package all the more shocking to those with most to lose. Advance guard of angry women lead Italians into European protests over austerity cuts >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Little People No Longer Look Up to the Big
TIMESONLINE: The public anger is not just about expenses. There has been a cultural shift away from organisations towards individuals

When Michael Martin was first elected Speaker of the House of Commons, he symbolised the idea that power was within the grasp of the ordinary man. A former sheet metal worker raised in a Glasgow slum had landed one of the most powerful roles in the land.

Now Mr Martin has come to embody the disconnection between Parliament and the people. His failure to understand public concern about MPs' expenses, his attempt to block the release of documents and refusal to reform the system have made him the figurehead of a political establishment that is dangerously detached from voters.

Privately, Cabinet ministers and their Conservative shadows agree with the Liberal Democrat front bench that Mr Martin has to go. In the Commons yesterday the Speaker looked like a teacher who had lost control of an unruly class. It is hard to see how he can survive having lost all respect.

But politicians should not think that this human sacrifice will be enough to appease the electoral gods who will judge them on polling day.

The public reaction to claims for mortgages, manure and massage chairs is so intense because it is not just about MPs' expenses. It's about the inability of politicians to understand that the “little people” no longer look up to the “big people”, that the balance of power has shifted from institutions to individuals, that the iPod generation does not want to join party tribes. There has been an emotional outpouring, rather as there was after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, because there is a cultural clash between Westminster and the modern world.

The moat is a metaphor for the barrier between the voters and their elected representatives. A revolution is under way, and not just in politics.

Bankers are facing a backlash over bonuses. Bloggers take on the mainstream media. Banksy is as desirable as Botticelli. A decade ago, celebrity magazines would portray Hollywood stars as higher beings - now they write flatteringly about reality TV contestants while highlighting millionaire actresses' cellulite.

Just as Galileo argued that the Earth moved around the Sun, so the “little people” insist that they, rather than the “big people”, are now the centre of the world. A Cabinet minister says: “When you're knocking on doors one of the hardest things is the amount of anger and hostility towards anybody in authority. It's like a flame thrower being directed against you.” >>> Rachel Sylvester | Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Luton's Muslim Extremists Defy Public Anger
THE TELEGRAPH: The Muslim extremists in Luton who jeered British troops returning from Iraq are continuing to defy public anger despite the simmering tension it has caused in a racially-mixed town.

Fighting in the way of Allah in Luton. The flag of Jihad courtesy of Google Images
The Islamic extremist was in full flow, bellowing out his message on a busy street in Luton.

"British soldiers ... murderers ... rapists ... not heroes ..." Most passers-by ignored him.

A few, mostly young Muslim men on their way home from afternoon prayers, paused to listen and were immediately approached by the white-capped preacher's fellow radicals, eager to recruit new members to their cause.

Suddenly a mustachioed businessman in Muslim dress strode over the group, jabbed a finger towards the preacher and shouted: "You are giving Muslims a bad name!"

The radicals argued with him and tried to manhandle him away from the scene. For a moment the confrontation threatened to turn ugly until the businessman decided to walk away, still seething, but his point firmly made.

The angry scene encapsulated the tension that has hung over Luton since the preacher and the rest of his group staged a demonstration last week as 200 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment paraded through the Bedfordshire town after a gruelling tour of duty in Iraq. >>> By David Harrison | Saturday, March 14, 2009

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