2325 Olympics 2012 Opening ceremony

The sun shone on the day the Olympic Games commenced in London 2012.  At twelve minutes past eight an art event took place across the land with as many bells ringing for 3 minutes including the striking of Big Ben, the only occasion  the clock struck out of sequence  since the ending of World War II. There were arranged events including at Beverley in Yorkshire. The Culture Secretary was on the Naval ship H M S Belfast moored on the Thames near Tower Bridge and when he gave a demonstration for one media provider the handball came apart and fell off missing a woman standing nearby. I almost felt sorry for Jeremy Hunt, but not quite and hopefully this will be another nail in his Ministerial Coffin.

The Torch completed its last movement around London commencing at Hampton Court Palace including guided tour of the Royal Maze. It was then carried by four gold medal Matthew Pincent on the Royal barge which had led the Diamond Jubilee River pageant. With sets of rowers the flame was taken on a five hour river journey to Tower Bridge where it remained until being taken to the Olympic stadium for the opening ceremony. By whom and by what means remained a secret. 

The previous day had seen a visit to the Palace to be greeted by Prince William and his wife and brother Harry, a bus along Oxford Street with a huge crowd either side, the Absolutely Fabulous duo, Sir Bruce Forthsythe and others with a visit to the Prime Minister outside number 10. It has been taken across the Millennium Bridge from the City to the South Bank and Shakespeare’s Globe and taken on a trip around the London Eye.

I have followed the movement of the flame around GB, on the live feed after discovering it was available, too late for its travels around the North East although there were several good reports on regional TV as well as snippets of the some of the key moments and people on national news channels. It was possible to learn about all 8000 Torch bearers on the official website which includes short films on the highlights of each day. If the opportunity arises later in the year I hope to do some justice to  the Torch relay which certainly lit the British imagination with millions lining the route as the relay progressed. It left two questions as the evening approached. Would the opening ceremony live up to expectations and could team GB match and even excel on their brilliant performance in Beijing?

In this short piece I will attempt to answer that first question. The opening ceremony would have to be good, not just because of the expenditure of £27 million but the wish of everyone involved to do Britain proud. We were promised that no attempt would be made to compete with Beijing which had lots of WOW factors and portrayed a nation with a huge population undergoing major changes under a Communist dictatorship

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There had been a red, white and blue fly past of the Red Arrows across Scotland, Ireland and Wales and at 20.12 they flew across London and over the Olympic Park hence the selection of 08.12 for the bell ringing in the morning. 

On the night there was too much to take in even for the TV cameras. The opening feature included a cottage/croft with smoking chimney, various live animals(goats, geese, a shire horse cows and sheep), a game of cricket on a  village green, maypoles and working in the fields. Among the fixtures was a hill topped by a tree. I am not sure if the giant water wheel was at the beginning or appeared during the early stages as it was able to disappear later. 

The performance was started by the chiming of a huge bell created at the Whitechapel Bell factory which I noted on a walkabout after visiting the Whitechapel Gallery. This was undertaken by a surprise appearance of Bradley Wiggins, winner of the Tour de France.  A choir had sang Jerusalem, followed by Danny Boy, the Flower of Scotland and Cym Rhondda (Bread of Heaven) to demonstrate the coverage of the United Kingdom.

There had also been an aerial shot of the second major scene taken by a national newspaper, This shows industrial UK with the appearance of tall chimneys and  men coming from the bowls of the earth. The segment was opened by Kenneth Branagh in the guise of Isabard Brunel recited from the Tempest “ A land full of noises and this was the cue for  a chorus of drumming led by Evelyn Glenny. 

In the central area there were five large rings being forged and these were then raised still red hot  into the air and merged to form the Olympic symbol. At some point out side the stadium a set of Olympic rings was launched into stratosphere from two balloons and from which later a shot of earth was taken, but somehow this was lost in the great scheme of things. 

There was a march of the women’s suffrage movement with two grand daughters of the Pankhurst family leading. There was also reference to Trade Unionism and the Jarrow March and Pearly Kings and Queens. And then  bringing the  20th century up todate there was a group of Chelsea Pensioners and a collection of Sergeant  Peppers and an inflatable Yellow Submarine. The arrival of the Windrush which brought the first West Indian settlers to help with London Transport and our hospitals heralded the beginning of multi cultural London. Under the Labour Administration of Tony Blair London became one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

I think it was at this point that apart from the grassy hill and water wheel the stadium was cleared of everything else in preparation for the third segment. I am also not sure at which point between the major scene changes did we have the two comic events of the evening. In the first there was James Bond (Daniel Craig) entering Buckingham Palace with the Corgis including one doing a tummy over and then entering a room with the Queen, the real one at a desk. She says Good evening Mr  Bond and they are seen going downstairs and outside and into a helicopter.  We see Craig in the Helicopter with someone dressed as the Queen and both appear to launch out of the craft above the stadium in parachutes. It was at this point that the Queen enters the stadium to take up her place with the President of the Olympic games and with the Duke of Edinburgh already in position. Other members of the Royal family including the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and the Princes two sons with the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Anne who is on the International Olympic Committee were also in their seats.

The second comic moment came when Sir Simon Rattle conducted the London Symphony orchestra playing Chariots of Fire only to have a keyboard played by a one fingered Rowan Atkinson whose strength is his facial expressions which would have been lost on the majority of the audience dependent on large screen high above to gain an idea of what was happening.

The third segment would have had visitors a little   bewildered  by the concentration on the Great Ormond Street Hospital with children on sixty beds which they used as Trampolines and  where the beds formed G O S H and then N H S.  600 real doctors and nurses and other NHS staff from around the UK were also involved.

The emphasis was also on childhood with the creator of Harry Potter J K Rowling reading a bedtime story and a  number of Mary Poppins floating down into the arena.  This led to the final scene of a house which was lifted at one point to reveal the creator of the World Wide web Sir Tim Berners Lee.  On another structure brief scenes from  British TV and Films were shown while thousands of young people became disco and rock dancers from Glam to  punk. Music was provided live by the Artic Monkeys.

The pageant was titled Lands of Dreams and designed to show the recent history of the UK and some of the characteristics of the people, openness and generosity, a little eccentricity and daftness. Before the pageant ends there was a moment of silence with images of those killed  on 7/7 while a group of soldiers stood in a field of poppies and as Emeli Sandé sang Abide with me and dancer performed a  piece to signal life reborn and ongoing.

This led to the arrival of the Athletes, coaches and officials from the 204 participating countries, Gibraltar has participated in the past in the shooting competition but did not feature this year. Attention is paid as to who leads in each team holding the flag and where a holster is used or the flag is held in one and at arms length. The honour this year for Team GB went to Sir Chris Hoy. Each of the flags was planted on the grassed hill. There was still a question of where was the Olympic cauldron and with the planting of the flags the transformation of the  hill could be ruled out. In order to ensure the Athletes kept roughly to the time table hundreds of the 7400 volunteers kept a drumming beat which given the hour this took was a remarkable feat in itself.

The Torch was taken from Tower Hill in a speed boat driven by David Beckham with Dame Kelly Holmes holding the flame. Later it was seen speeding to a landing stage at the Olympic Park and as the barge which led the Regatta is now also docked within the Olympic Park there must be a route via the Thames to the Park which is in effect an island. 

The Queen formerly opened the game with speeches from Lord Coe and by the President of the Olympic Games Committee who emphasised that the Games were coming home because it was in the UK that modern sports had originated spreading out around the world. In the Royal Box was also The Prime Minister and former Prime Ministers John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown together with the  Mayor of London and I assume the former Mayor of London, Ken Livingston  was also present, together with Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister and the present Sports Minister.

The Olympic Flag was carried into the stadium by a number of personalities including the Secretary of Liberty Shami Chakribarti has also been an advisor to the Leveson Committee, There was a leading campaigner  in protecting the Rain Forest, Marina Silva, Daniel Barenboim the conductor of the orchestra with Jewish and Arab musicians. Mohammed Ali with an assistant was also present to touch the flag as a participant. The General Secretary of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon, Doreen Lawrence the mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence, Hailee Gerbrelassi, the African Long distance runner and Lemah Gibowee, the African Peace activist also participated which led one Tory Member of Parliament scumbag to sounds off  about multiculturalism. David Cameron is alleged to have said the tweeter was a twat. There are those in the USA who would have seen reacted adversely that this was a pinko communism especially with the part about the NHS. I thought Fox was ignoring the event until hearing there was a delayed time showing in the USA but this nevertheless meant they could support the Romney outburst about London not being ready. God help America and us if he becomes President.

After taking the Olympic Oath the representatives of the 10000 at athletes together with their coaches and officials said to number a further five to seven thousand, the volunteers and 65000 in the stadium, restricted because of the displays and the billion odd said to be watching around the world, the remaining question was where was the Olympic Cauldron and who would light it.

The cauldron consists of 204 arms with golden tops laying flat in the centre of the arena and which then rose to form the cauldron. It was a beautiful moment. It was lit not by one athlete but by six promising athletes of the future each nominated by a distinguished British Olympians who included Mary Peters.  They were named as Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds, and Adelle Tracey, conveying the 2012 Games' aim to "inspire a generation" . I have not been able to find out about these young people. They were invited to a meeting with Danny Boyle the creator of the event, each with a parent to learn of the honour being given and under oath not to divulge to anyone which the one young person interviewed afterwards admitted she had found it difficult to do.

The evening ends with Sir Pail McCartney playing Hey Jude as a sing along to stagger the departure. So what was my reaction. A little disappointed that there was not one great moment of WOW but I felt it did communicate who we have become.

2324 London 2012 Football Olympics 1

The Olympic Games came to Newcastle on Thursday and was there for Mexico playing South Korea and the Gabon playing Switzerland. I left the ground at half time in the second game in order to return home in time to watch England play at Old Trafford.

I had an early meal of three veggie sausages and a beef burger with the remains of beans and tinned tomatoes with one of the small cans of fizzing drink before leaving the house at noon with a view to arriving at the stadium around one and ninety minutes before the commencement the first game at 14.30. I had no idea of how empty the 52000 stadium would be but there were others going on the Metro train and in the city centre there were small groups of Mexicans in their national costumes of sombreros, moustaches and blankets, attire which I suspected they would not wear at home. I assumed the Mexicans would outnumber those coming from South Korea. I also speculated on how entry would be made into the stadium compared to normal match days

What happened is that roads surrounding the stadium at the Gallowagate end and the East stand were closed off which isolated the Strawberry pub. Before reaching the ground I came across a number of Newcastle Ambassadors, with a couple at the Metro station handing out information to commuters and shoppers on the number of games being played and the availability of tickets. There were others to assist visitors from other countries and other parts of the UK to the city. At the Monument a screen had been erected with deckchairs to enable shoppers take time off to watch events live. Around the perimeter to the ground in addition to the police there was security officers dressed in black separate from the stewards inside the ground.

There was a huge queue for tickets with a report of thousand people still in line when they game commenced and with the promise of a better approach before the next series of two games on Sunday when Japan plays Morocco and Spain Honduras. There was no queue to get in one of the turnstiles into the East stand where my seat was very close to where I had a season tickets for about five years, having previously had one in the North East corner for over a decade although there was a been move to the North West corner during further ground development. I had one year’s experience in one of the seats in the main stand with an attached lounge; about twice the cost of the standard season and which gave you the privilege of a smoked filled bar before and after each game.

It looked as if there was a policy to pack as many people as possible into East stand so the camera would give the overall impression of more people than there were although I had a seat free to one side. There was no one behind until just before the second match and more about that later. It was said that approximately 15000 attended the first game with I suspect less than half this for the start of the second game and even less after half time given the hundreds who like me left at half time.

In the stadium the supporters for the two countries appeared to be closer in number than anticipated with a good contingent of perhaps 100 from the Republic of Korea behind the Gallowgate goal as well as elsewhere in the stadium including one young man sitting in the row in front of me besides a Mexican couple in their forties, could have been older. The Korean Team, as their supporters, were organised and I wondered how many of the supporters were members of the forces rewarded for their conduct and loyalty or perhaps students studying at GB universities?. They contrasted with the Mexicans who appeared determined to have a good time with their wave being introduced from time to time and a drum which beat incessantly throughout most of the game.

In terms of the game the Koreans dominated most of the game but although they could not take the many chances which came their way. There was little to cheer for the Mexicans fans although they had perhaps the better chances albeit few. The game was 0.0. At half time and at its end. It was not great football but great theatre despite the two thirds empty stadium. Later I learned many had come but left because of the length of queue as kick off approached. I read reports that there would be an attempt to improve the situation for the next double game on Sunday.

Because of the early meal I was hungry and went for the food concessions optimistically. The food concession had been given to one company who provided pies beef, pies chicken curry and pies cheese at £3.60. Chips were advertised but I did not see any sold. There were small tins of Pringles for £1.50 with colds drinks £2.60 and coffee from on one outlet on the East side for £2.20. No receipts given and only cash. I invested in Chicken Balti pie as the couple of beef left were burnt and there was no cheese, a can of Pringles and a coffee cost a total of £7.30, the most expensive snack ever. However needs must. I will adopt a different approach on Sunday.

Although most of the Mexicans and it appeared all the Republic of South Korea supporters left before the start of the second game, the actual football was better between a professional Swiss team and an enthusiastic but not well organised Gabon. The Swiss scored early on and looked as if it was going to be a one sided rout. The Gabon was enthusiastic and adventuresome when the rare opportunities arose to mount an attack on their opponents but they were reward with a goal before interval which delighted the home supporters who took to the underdogs. This ended 1.1 as I discovered on returning home.

I must mention Josh, India, Jasmine and Angelina who sat behind with their parents and who clearly had not been taken to a football match before, competed for the attention of their father whose idea I suspect the decision to take the youngsters to the game because it was the Olympics and who were clearly bored and wanting to be themselves. For the greater part of the game I was knocked as the children passed by and my seat was kicked. Also the young couple so after tolerating this for greater part of the half I turned to the young person involved and asked her not to do it, something which her parents should have done. I am mentioning this because her father then asked her to apologise to me whereas she was just being a child and any apology should have come from him or his wife who appeared to separate herself from her children and made no comment about their behaviour. The father threatened to take one back to the car but this was obviously the kind of threat he had made in the past with little effect on the miscreant although as I say given the age of the children, the miscreants were the parents.

I had a good journey back to South Shields making my way up the hill tired but having enjoyed the experience and looking forward to first game of British men although the team comprises English and Welshmen only with Scotland and Ireland unwilling to participate.

The problem with this team is that unlike the British female squad they have only played one competitive game together and the rules restrict the number of senior players in the squad to three with David Bellamy and Ryan Giggs selected in order to bring in the maximum of Welsh performers and excluding David Beckham who has done much to bring the Olympics to London and had grown up in the East End of London. He wanted to be in the team was and was disappointed at not being selected with led some of the media to attempt a campaign against the decision, the same people I suspect who are against Pearce the British Team Coach as they were against the decision not to appoint Rednapp as the English Manager. Although how much of this campaign was generated on behalf of Harry or to cause trouble can only be speculation. It was a Tottenham player who disgraced himself by withdrawing from the British Team and then playing for his team in a friendly. Gareth Bale was rightly pilloried by the British commentators before the game and should be rightly booed whenever he appears on football grounds in England and Wales during the coming season. He let the UK down badly. Traitor.

The commentators used to partisan and scum nature of football crowds at their worst were also clearly put out by the friendly family Olympic spirit of the crowd at the stadium and had clearly forgotten the difference between sportsmanship and professionalism. Unexpectedly the GB team scored a goal early on with an excellent shot from Bellamy who has matured over the years since his days at Newcastle. However the opponents were a strong team and merited their equalizer in the final moments of the game.

The live action had commenced the previous day with the GB women’s team which was the established English Internationally proven team together with two excellent Scottish players. They not only won their game but did so again last night with an impressive 3.0 victory to guarantee them a place in the quarter finals even if as expected they lose to Brazil, the likely winners, and hosts for 2016 games.

While the Olympic games and my experiences of them will dominate the news for the next 16 days International strife and political life as well as the economic instability continues to be greater importance to the majority of the billions of us who live on the planet and there will be those who condemn the expenditure on the games, question the value and legacy or who are just not interested. It is estimated that 30 million people that is one in two watched the Opening ceremony of the games on Friday night which suggests that in addition to those running pubic transport, the emergency services, in hospital, in the armed forces there was about half the population engaged elsewhere including a majority of these not watching from choice.

One development was the news that the Government and organised a trade summit conference, inviting the Chief Executives of the biggest International companies for a pre Games conference and no doubt free tickets to the Opening ceremony and which coincided with the latest figure indicating a deeper and longer lasting second recession that anyone had forecast and hoped for. This led to the Liberal Lord Oaskshott calling for the replacement of Chancellor George Osborne mentioning the competence of Vince Cable and tow former liberals left the government under a cloud as having the kind of business experience which the country required comparing them to the present Chancellor who and spent his careers within the Westminster bubble. This will never happen as Osborne and Cameron are welded together and if one falls both will so this could be considered end of term political massiveness on the part of a leading member of the LIB Dem establishment for the way the Tories failed to promote the House of Lord Reform legislation.

The media on the look out for disasters and problems was rewarded later when someone in Scotland confused the North Koreans for the South Koreans and presented the players on screen with the flag of their hated neighbours. This was deliberate sabotage by someone as the players were not individually introduced on screen at St James park it suggests this was not the fault of those at Hampden Park but of the makers of the software for the player presentation programme. There was immediate political repercussion.

It has also been discovered that it will not be possible for some spectators to see the top of diving stand which will mean money being refunded, another great disaster especially of seats are to be occupied by the travelling families of competitors or other visitors. This an extraordinary mistake and I do not understand while the problem was not spotted before now.

There were also the expected gripes about the coming into effect of the special through road lanes required for the Olympic Games as part of the contract. This is to enable signatory’s participants to move freely across London to and from venues. This is largely nonsense and people trying to get compensation which Home Office staff at Heathrow and elsewhere try on but withdrew when the government stepped in with the intention of taking a High Court injunction. The threat was withdrawn at the last minute with the union lying about the reason for the climb down. Train workers are also trying to increase their special led by the notorious RMT union. Everyone appears to be on the make although the sums involved are huge. The other problem was the cable car system at the Olympic village which also failed for a while

Part of the focus on shortcomings is political because the decision to create a separate company for the detailed games management thus attempting to isolate the government and the IOC committee from responsibility when the usual mishaps occur. This device always fails because the current government is also blamed and rightly so.

My other moan was for the BBC coverage of the Torch relay which kept crashing without explanation often at crucial moments. Having said this all 24 additional stations are in operation on the red button or as separate sports channels on Sky. I am going to be overwhelmed.

2323 An excellent weekend sees Britiains cyclists supreme

The sun shines again on this Sunday before the commencement of the 2012 London Olympic Games and I am particularly thrilled because Sky is going to show the games in 3D via Eurosport thus it gets over the BBC broadcasting monopoly. The BBC will have one channel for every sport, all 24 as well as endless repeats and highlight programmes. It is going to be amazing. It already is when one of the great events of all time in the history of sporting achievement by a British Athlete took place as Bradley Wiggins rode into the centre of Paris to win the Tour De France.

This is also the day when the nation gets into gear for the start of the Olympic Games on Friday and is also a special day because the Olympic Torch passed through Croydon where I was born and on to Wimbledon via Sutton for the Andy Murray and Venus Williams to parade the Torch around the famous tennis stadium. The live feed crashed out over lunchtime. From the map they went down Duppas Hill from South Croydon to Waddon and along to south Wallington via Beddington Park to Carshalton and then to Sutton.

The crowds throughout the day have been huge and among those carrying the Torch was Patrick Stewart in Croydon, Andy Murray and Venus Williams and Tim Henman. The details of all 8000 Torch bearers is available on the 2012 Torch Relay site except for the name of the individual who will light the Olympic Flame at the Athletic stadium

Bradley Wiggins had ridden flat out for most of the 3000 kilometres apart from to day when in the 50 kilometre of the ride before reaching Paris the riders relax. They then complete a seven times circuit in which the first is more ceremonial before the serious racing in which Bradley and the Team grouped together in order to provide the opportunity for Mark Cavendish the World speed champion to successfully win the final stage for the fourth year in succession. Moreover standing on the platform with the overall winner was the British rider Chris Froome as second. Before this the highest placed rider in the completion has finished 4th. Bradley had become the overall race leader on stage 8 a position which he held throughout the rest of this 20 stage competition made up of mountain climes, time trial, distant stretches and speed finishing. Mark won three speed finish stages with Bradley 2 and Froome 1 with fellow Olympic Team member David Miller riding for a different team also winning stage thus British riders one every three stages in the race. The achievement of Mark Cavendish was also extraordinary as he has now won more stage in this competition than any other speed rider and no one before has won three let alone 4 consecutive stages.

As a school boy I dreamed of owning bicycle and I had to wait until I was thirteen or fourteen and had a cerise Raleigh with dropped handlebars and eventually a double clanger gear change. I used the bicycle first to go to school and back but on leaving school I joined a cycle club and had several memorable trips of over 100 miles in the countryside around London. I was not involved in racing other than getting up early to stand at some junction to wave the rider in a race in the right direction. My closest friend and a relative came on one open meeting when we met up with Catholic cycling clubs from throughout the greater London area. As with many activities and sports there was a unique culture and camaraderie which I have continued to remember with affection As I reached my forties I took up cycling again this time with a stronger and low level cycle rather than lightweight hill climbing multi gear racing vehicle than mine became.

Because of this experience and my interest in achievement in sports I followed the Tour de France for many years until it become enveloped with drug taking and as with Boxing and Athletics decided that it was wrong to support something which had proved such a bad example for young people.

The first cyclist who caught the British imagination in what had remained a minor sport until the 2008 Olympics was Reg Harris a sprint racer on the Track from Birtle nearly Bury in Lancashire. He became a world champion and in 1948 won a silver Medal at the London held games and as well as in the Tandem sprint, He was a voted a top Sportsman by Journalists.

It was Tom Simpson who finished 6^th in the Tour de France until Robert Miller in 1984 who finished 4th who achieved International success in the road racing branch of the sport. He was the first cyclist to win BBC Sportsman of the Year in 1965. He became the Elite Men’s World Champion that year after winning a bronze in the 1956 Melbourne Games.

The next Champion was Hugh Porter who became world pursuit champion in 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1973 as well as two silvers and a Bronze. Born Wolverhampton he combined a track and road, He was inspired after watching Reg Harris. He married the British swimming gold medallist Anita Lonsbrough after meeting her at the Tokyo games in 1964

The next individual in the hall of cycling fame and who can be said to have launched the modern era of British Cycling. Born in 1968 at Hoylake in the Cheshire Wirrral Chris Boardman won a Gold medal in 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona 4000m individual pursuit and he became World Champion for this event in 1994 and 1996. His attention turned to the Tour De France where he won three stages. He developed osteoporosis at the age of 30. The treatment would have involved taking a banned substance so he attempted to continue without the treatment until the 2000 Olympics two years later to end on a high note, He finished 11^th. In addition to his riding achievements he introduced the Superbike when he won gold in 1992. He continues to hold the world record for the covering the greatest distance in an hour both using the old form cycle and the new.

This brings me to the 2008 Olympic Games when Chris Hoy led that extraordinary team with thirteen of the fourteen members gaining a medal and this included eight golds bearing in mind that back in in 1996 the entire British team covering all the sports included gained one Gold Medal which was understandable regarded as a national Disgrace. Chris was knighted and will lead out the GB team on Friday having been voted to carry the flag by a majority of the other British Team Members. Other who became famous in 2008 included Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins. The most famous until then was Mark Cavendish from the Isle of Man who was World Champion in 2005, 2008 and again in 2011. He proved to be the only member of the 2008 team who returned without an Olympic Medal.

He has become the most successful rider in the Tour De France not just in the UK but almost without Peer in the world has won 23 stages in his career as well as winning the four final stages into Paris in succession as previously mentioned. He will compete for the first medal of the games to be decided this Saturday and if this is achieved he will ignite the goal of the British team to win more medals in more sports than achieved in 2008.

The so far unsung hero of the 2012 Tour de France is Chris Froome born in Kenya of British parents he moved to South Africa and it was only last year that be burst into International attention with a second overall place in the Grand Tour events, He joined Team Sky in 2008,. His achievement finishing second to Bradley Wiggins is even more remarkable having lost a minutes early on because of a puncture and then had a bad crash on stage 3. It was Bradley the year before who broke his collar bone after a crash and had to leave the tour. Froome won his first stage on the Tour this year and is considered a good prospect for being the overall winner in the future.

I should also mention the other stage winner who was not a member of the Sky Team but is a member of 2012 Olympic Squad, David Miller, controversial because he was banned for two year after an admission he had taken a banned substance. He has won seven stages in the Tour De France and has worn all the available Jerseys as some point his during ten year road racing career at International level.

This brings me to Bradley Wiggins both 28^th April 1980, Bradley has an English mother and an Australian father added to which he was born in Ghent where his father was professional cyclist. His mother and father separated when he was only two years of age and he paid tribute to her winning the Tour as well as in a special documentary which has featured on ITV 4 over the past week. He was brought up in Kilburn by his bother, stepfather and grandparents, He has a half brother.

He joined the famous Herne Hill Cycling club at the age of 12 years and rode for Camden in the London Youth Games. At 20 he came third in the team pursuit at 2000 Olympic Games. In 2004 he became the first British Athlete to win three Medals at one game since Mary Peters 40 years before including an individual gold and team gold plus a bronze. He was made an OBE in the New Year Honours. And he won these same two Golds again in 2008. He has six World Championship Medals, three silvers and a bronze. His OBE was converted to a Commander in 2009.

The success of Team Sky came about because of the genius of the main had managed the British Cycle team in 2004 and 2008 and who will do so again this week, David Brailsford. Born in 1964 be commenced a professional cycling career at 19 and then commenced a degree in sports sciences and psychology and then followed this up with a Master in Business studies. Awarded an OBE in 2004 this was increased to a CBE in 2008 when he was also awarded the BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year. He is the next most likely candidate for a knighthood although it can be expected that Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish will also find themselves recognised in similar fashion when their careers end if not before. I should also mention Sean Yates the Sky Team Director of Sport with experience of riding in 9 Tours de France and a British National Road Race Champion.

The enlarged British Olympic Team is not expecting the same level of dominance as in 2008 because other teams have progressed with the technology of the bicycles, the preparation which including nutrition and psychology to same level. However it is unlikely any other sport will be as successful, including rowing and sailing.

It was an all-round good weekend with warm sunshine outside and the desire for a bacon role led me to go out on Saturday morning leaving the washing machine at full steam. As I passed the end of the Morrison’s car park I saw a horse box parked in the corner and he first what later emerged as two ponies being led out which was a puzzle as I mentioned to lady who cooked by bacon roll at the Wetherspoons. I enjoyed the roll and a large coffee for £1.99 before setting off enthusiastically into town meeting a neighbour who recognised me but with whom I do not recall speaking before regarding my note on the great hole. After giving an update and mentioning the possibility of a well they announced they also had a well in their back yard: the plot thickens.

My first visit on the Saturday after visit was to Wilkinson’s to purchase four more of the black lever arch files for £5, having purchase another four the previous day. I may get the energy to go and buy the remaining four later. I left until Sunday making 12 in total and some smaller size black with the prove £1.25 for two, purchasing five sets. On the Sunday shop I purchased some soft blue folders from Azda after finding only one left at Wilkinson’s.

The main search on Saturday was for Canes where I was able to get an amazing bargain of 20 Bamboo for £1 a fraction for the price previous paid at Wilkinson’s. I also had a look around the market for a copy of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo having decided not to make the journey to Tynemouth station where I had nearly purchase a volume the previous weekend. The number of active stalls at the Market Square in South Shields has reduced considerable over recent visits, There was nevertheless three stalls selling second hand books, two mainly airport/holiday reading paper backs but the third has a good range of hard back books covering a good range of subject. I missed the Paper edition of the book the fist time of look but then saw it looking as good as new for £1.50. I also could not resist the Readers Digest book on Yorkshire by Simon Jenkins as part of the Britain’s Historic Houses. This 192 page coffee table book covers every known building with excellent descriptions and location information as well as brilliant photographs. I purchased it as a gift but will take time to list a number of interesting properties about which I had no idea.

I must move on to the films and TV with Blackout a timely three part series on the dangerous power of the private contractor for public services and work‘s projects, and the first episode of Newsroom, and the second season of he Borgias although I may leave the later but finish Prisoners of War. THere is Whistblower about human Trafficking and the dark side of UN peacekeeping along with Formosa Betrayed. Less significant was the Fighting Seabees which I have seen before as I have 40 Guns to Apache pass films for the afternoon after a good meal and insufficient sleep of quality the night before. There was also the nonsense of the Green Lantern in 3D and Galaxy Quest and top of all these the latest three 90 minute BBC Sunday night productions of Wallander with the extraordinary and exceptional acting performances of Kenneth Branagh which also included one episode on the subject of human Trafficking. I will write separately about the best drama series on TV of all time with a female heroine Lisabeth Salander the Girl in the six part Swedish series Millennium from which The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo emerged in both Swedish and English language versions. There is also the half a dozen episodes of the Sopranos which brings to an end the first part of the two part final series, after which I shall concentrate on the Olympic Games including my visits this week to St James park for the Football, and then for my visit next week to Wembley Arena and Stadium for Football and for Badminton, to the Olympic Park for Basketball and Handball and to the Excel Stadium for Boxing.

Before I go I can mention that my contact with the Ward Councillors proved affective as the two holes were filled on Monday and topped on Tuesday with the local authority taking responsibility although he extent of the problem does suggest either a sunken mains or the long terms erosion of sub soils over the Roman ruins of the outer storage and other facility of the great supply fort.

The horror of the ruthless state continues with the situation in Syria while in the United State their obsession with owning gun has led to the slaughter of ay least a dozen individual including a six year old girl watching a later night opening of the latest Batman film. Back home the Leveson Inquiry ends to day and I will also need to report the final update of the various police investigation which resulted in the Director of Public Prosecutions announcing the decision to charge eight former journalists included the Editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks with conspiracy to committee a crime and a number of other charges. This will also require separate report. The sky had included and darkened although it remains warm but one has to travel south for the high temperature sunshine of the next two days. Things change for the Olympic Games so I shall take my poncho.

2322 Mouth of Tyne Festival 2012, Sleep Apnoea progress, the car breaks down and he great hole emerges

The sky is clear blue and cold this summer’s morning July 21st 2012, one week before the commencement of the Olympic Games in London and although I want to write extensively about the best TV drama series I have experienced, the six episode Millennium with covers the two stories of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and, the four episode two part story The Girl Played with Fire with the Girl who kicked Hornet’s Nest, I need first to catch up on the cultural and sporting events of last weekend and other developments.

As the weekend approached the weather had been a better mixture although it was disappointment on Saturday morning when I elected to make my visit to the North Tyneside Mouth of the Tyne Festival at Tynemouth. Sunday was to be warm and sunny but I wanted to do other things at home.

I decided to take the large red umbrella as the skies were grey and looked full of rain and headed for the Tyne Ferry walking at a good pace. On reaching the road crossing I saw that the ferry had just arrived with the majority of passengers already reaching the end of the landing stage so I quickened my pace to a trot but was still overtaken by a man who appeared about my age. He continued running until entering the Ferry but I worked out I had time to stop and walk at a normal pace. In this I was proved correct and took one of the few available seats downstairs on a bench where a teenage girl in the latest fashion of short hot pants and tights was engaged in enthusiastic conversation with a young man with a bicycle and where from the subsequent conversation it appeared that although they knew each other, possible from school, they had met unexpectedly but were both delighted to have done so.

At North Tyneside I discovered that for some unexplained reason the new bus turning circle and facilities had been closed on June 25th for four weeks so there was a little walk to the bus stop where a 333 was waiting and I took a seat and waited for other passengers to come and although several walked by along towards the Fish Quay. I did not see or may have missed what happened to the new found young couple but I believe that the man who had passed me on the way to the ferry also got on the bus and I subsequently know that he alighted  in the North Shields town centre and made his way to the Metro train station.

Before making my way there I went to Greggs and purchased my lunch, a £1 medium baguette filled with cheese and pickle. For the same money I could make myself two or one larger but this presently meets my needs and I enjoy  two or three times a week when I have decided to eat the main meal in the early evening. Whereas the French made baguette goes hard, these become soft if left for several hours before consuming.

The North Tyneside Metro station has been undergoing major renovations for the best part of a year and the line is regularly closed over weekends so that the work can be undertaken without interruption. There is now a long walk on either side of the track with a new entrance at the far end of the platforms and it was here as I sat down that I encountered the man from the Ferry landing at Shields who recognised me and asked if I was the person he had also passed running.

It is a feature of the North East, only in part because we are of the same generation, that strangers of both sexes will engage in passing the time conversation. I cannot remember how we got onto the subject of the Second World War he was born afterwards but remembered sweet with his rationing sister four years older remembering the puzzlement of what did one do with a banana which I matched with the story of someone who had rejected a fried egg for a proper egg having been used to powdered eggs until then. We moved onto the challenges which young people faced and also the world in which they now lived as well as our reality of being elders.

On the train my attention was taken first by a short man in an RAF uniform with a shoulder of medals who I felt sure I had seen in a previous year at the Festival or elsewhere, and then a young man accompanied by two young women and who wore a top which said weekend offender and had the crest of Her Majesty’s Prison department. He and the  girls appeared cool about the situation and I assume that if it was for real he would have worn a coat but the top attracted considerable attention from other passengers especially as nearby there were a couple of policemen. I suspect the trio were making their way to the Castle for the evenings Rock concert with the Wanted whereas I saw the policeman and woman walking about the Festival site in the course of their arranged duty.

I was headed for the next station Tynemouth on the circular route to Whitley Bay for two reasons. I wanted to view the £1 million plus restoration of the station to its original Victorian splendour and there was also a full day of music and dance events on a stage within the station concourse and where a bric-a-brac market is also held every Saturday and Sunday with stalls on both sides of the station. On the side from Newcastle and North Shields where I alighted there are twenty large overheard glass canopies fronting the platform with glass arches to the station walls and entrance. One needs to go over the bridge to the other side to reach the town centre and the ruins on the headlands of the Priory and Castle Keep.

It is on this side that the greater expense was incurred because the glass work had been absent from a significant area and the iron metal supports had rusted and required considerable repair. There are some thirty large vaulted arches spanning perhaps twenty five metres from platform edge to station walls and facilities. There is an expensive Italian restaurant to one side of the main entrance and a coffee shop cafe on the other plus a newsagent store, hairdressers and toilet facilities. I explored the full extent of the stalls on this platform area. There was quite a crowd of visitors so that passage between the aisles was difficult. It is the kind of place where I could readily spend a lot of money buying jazz and other music CD for £1 as well as books for the same price. There are also interesting books and original gramophone records costing tens of pounds. There were lots of other items of interest but I decided to keep my cash firmly in my pocket until I catch up on the videos and books already in possession and listen again too much of my record collection. I therefore resisted a copy of Stag Larsson’s the girl with the Draft Tattoo , but later regretted after viewing the four CD disk of all three books made into a six part TV series and considered making the trip this Saturday to see if the book was still available.

The other temptations were the food from delicious olives at £3.70 for 200 grams or extraordinary rich cream decorated cup cakes home baked for £1. There were also hot food stalls and specialist coffees ready to drink. I had quickly consumed the baguette and was hungry again but resisted. A couple of young woman were performing an intense artistic dance on the stage with occupied seating and a standing audience behind. A Street Dance Cru of young men drew great applause and there was then a gap for the establishment of new sound equipment for another intense duo of artistic dances which a young man playing what seemed to be an African type of drum 

Leaving the station I went a few steps in the opposite direction to the start of the road down to the Castle because my attention was directed at the recruitment drive at the local Territorial Army base. The government has announced it is to increase this force to 30000 balancing out the reduction in the full time forces. A poster listed the rate of daily pay for officers and other ranks plus the signing on bounty once basic training was successfully completed. At one level these appeared generous until one remembered the use of the TA in Afghanistan. While the emphasise was on the logistical trades and rolls required in small print there was reference to basic training with all that this entailed omitted.

There is a church with a tall steeple at the commencement of the wide thoroughfare leading to the Castle and Priory on the headland and which I can view from North Marine Park a few yards from my front doorway, the headland not the church I mean!  On either side of the entrance to the church building, which as in other years invited people in for coffee and sandwiches, an attractive young woman on stilts stood to one side in a very short skirt with a young man also on stilts on the other. Because of the weather there were comparative fewer people than previous years. Most were gathered by the main stage located on an area used for car parking. Here there were acts designed to appeal to children as well as families. Throughout the day there were walkabout artists. In this instance I spotted two men in costumes of artic explorers but it was the five young persons on stilts dressed as some kind of creature with tentacles and large colourful wings which aroused great interest.

In addition to the stilts for their feet they held two long poles as an aid to walking although from time to time they used a pole as a form of greeting to a young person with those present fascinated as how the creatures were able to get about as their faces were fully masked but as one mother explained the material was one way see through.  There were several pavement hot food sellers from specialist sausage rolls and burgers to unusual roasted meats. Here as at the Metro Station there was a preponderance of middle class families and individualists some bordering on the eccentric elderly with trimmed beards and their confident well dressed ladies unphased by the cost of meals in the restaurants.  However I did note that while there was huge crowd exploring the stalls at Tynemouth station the majority appeared to be looking and few buying. Having said this hot food stalls at the station and along the High Street was doing good business. It was that kind of day.

I made my way to the Rock of Gibraltar Inn overlooking the start of sandy bay far below where an elderly jazz band with a female clarinettist was preparing to start their set to a bedraggled audience although there was about a dozen souls who had brought their own seats or sat on the damp grass with their protective clothing as I had originally planned to do had the weather appeared likely to be better. The rest sat on the benches at the pavement roadside of the small green with an audience of thirty to forty in total. I sat in the enclosed bus shelter together with a dozen young Asians clustering around me to get out of the cold wind and spitting rain. Why they had come and what they intended doing next remains a mystery.

We were outnumbered by a long line of mainly teenage girls who appeared to have already queued for sometime at the closed entrance to the headland grounds and then down towards the riverside. They had come early to ensure a front of stage place for the band The Wanted who was scheduled to appear seven hours later in the evening.  There was a steady flow of the young women to the modern public conveniences brought to the area adjacent to the stage and which required a coin although the queue was such that most were able to keep the door opened for the next individual.

Almost all the girls were wearing the latest fashion of short hot pants and many without tights.  Later when I walked in the sunshine in Newcastle centre there were also dozens of similar and again as I had noted my visit to Hoppings and Newcastle two weeks previously that as with mini and micro skirt they can appear attractive and sexy, but alas many do not have good legs and have large bottoms to the point of being fat. Such is group pressure and not wanting to be different or out of the mainstream fashion. I have only seen such attire once in South Shields recently. 

I also noted the Sunday afternoon show where the cost was less had been sold out. The cost for Wanted was £25 plus the usual booking extras. 

I stayed for about half an hour of jazz when I decided I was not enjoying the experience and made my way back for a bus to North Tyneside and the Ferry. I waited for over 15 minutes and the only bus that came along was a park and Ride. The airman with his medals arrived and engaged in conversation with a woman also at the bus stop and she advised that they go for another bus which stopped around the corner. I debated joining them and set off only to see a bus coming up the road in the distance. I was able to get back only to see it was the bus destined for the other stop. I put out a hand more in hope than expectation but it stopped so I was able to find myself a good seat whereas the other two had to joined a long queue and were amazed to see me smiling at them and comfortable.

On reaching North Tyneside town centre I changed my mind and stayed on board as I was feeling tired and went all the way to the in Newcastle and the Haymarket. The bus took the more direct route used that is known as the Coast Road and the one I take when travelling from the Silverlink roundabout to the Freeman Hospital, and which also passers the People’s Theatre if you continue into Newcastle. The other bus I had intended to take goes closer to the Tyne and visits Wallsend. On the way into to the town centre I was struck how much is now given over to the buildings of the two universities with their 50000 students from all over the UK and indeed the world. Newcastle has become a very exiting city for young people.

On arrival I was torn between a growing tiredness and not wanting to make use of the warm sunshine even I considering returning to the Festival. While debating to catch the Metro back to South Shields I heard the sound of a good band coming from down Northumberland Street, so went along to listen. It was an interesting group with saxophone, trumpet, drums, trombone and a  West Indian singer all of middle age to older, I stood against a wall to listen as the many new seats  now in the Street were all occupied enjoying the music in the continuing sunshine. I was still torn between the sunshine and tiredness so after a short walkabout went back to Haymarket for the train home. My barber and the female assistant she employs on a Saturday were outside enjoying the weather at the entrance to their small building once a newsagent, then Pizzas and then a nail bar. The Pizzas have moved down next to Station taxi office. In the updated former railway station building with the award winning Women’s health centre in one part I noted that the Mobility centre which provided electric wheel chairs for the shopping centre had closed down and was up for sale. The “barberesses” gave me a wave of recognition as I continued wearily up the hill and home deciding against going into the pub for a coffee.

On Sunday I decided to remain home and research and write in the morning despite good sunshine outside and then watch sport on TV in the afternoon rather than go to Exhibition Park for a free concert by Scouting for Girls. In the afternoon Durham was playing in a televised 40 40 game at the Rosebowl Hampshire reminding of the difference between the aggressive and hostile security staff  on my visit there for 20 20 final and the contrasting approach of those employed for the one day international at Durham.

I had a discouraging feel about the game and this was reinforced as four wickets fell with the Durham total below 60. Stokes had played and missed for 1` and with Mustard out early for 5, Stoneman had looked promised and then out for and Collingwood  confident now as captain of the champion side  went for 28. Fortunately Gordon Muchall showed what he can do and with 5 fours and 2 sixes he was unbeaten in the end at 96 with Benkenstein helping out in a stand of 80, The second disappointment of the innings was that the South African Myberg who has been given an extend contract from the 20 20 to the 40 40 and could not celebrate this with what could have a match winnings on a difficult wicket.  Hampshire got off to a great start and the usually tight Graham Onions was hit for several fours in one over. Young Borthwick was the more expensive with 51 runs off his eight overs but with the prize of four wickets. Durham’s total of 200 was never enough and Hants achieved what was required by a good knock from Katich not out with 59 as the home side one with 8 balls to go. While all is not lost in the completion they cannot afford another defeat if they are to gain the fourth spot as the best runner up. Rain again prevented a win in the championship at Worcester as previously report so Durham continues to hug the bottom of the table. Losing the wickets of Smith and Muchall with only one of the board Durham again struggle on a difficult wicket at Arundel against Sussex a game I had hoped to visit when planning my summer visits earlier in the year, Benkenstein 43 and Borthwick rescued the side to a modest total of 231 and only one batting point. Sussex is looking better after the second day with 100 for 3 in another game where a draw looks promising and defeat is possible. Sussex were 100 for 3 at the close with Goodwin ands Yard moving forward after the wicket went at 

It was a different story at the important first Test against South Africa which commenced on Thursday in which England hopes to reinforce their position as the number one Test side in the world.  England won the toss and elected to bat on what had appeared to be a flat Oval wicket  when a wide range of personalities were present from the Lord Chancellor to former Prime Minister John Major and the personality Michael Parkinson and his wife. There was also a host of former Cricket stars spotted from around the world.

The South Africans had a brilliant start getting captain Straus out for 0 in the fourth ball on appeal. However the indefatigable Alistair Cook batted through the rest if the day and is 114 not out and a long period he was supported by Trott who took the total to 170 before going for 71 before he out. Kevin Pieterson who is not in the World Cup 20 20 squad because of his decision not to play one day cricket looked as if wanted to prove a point before  getting out  when he also look like making a good score when 42. Bell stayed with Cook until the close at 267 for 3. On this wicket England will need a 500 plus total to exert sufficient pressure to be able to enforce the follow on although with the spin likely to be a major factor on the fifth this might be a better alternative for Swann. I shall watch the game on TV at least keep one eye on the screen while I get on with this piece.

There was an enjoyable game on Sunday Tea Time on BBC TV as Warrington beat Huddersfield convincingly in the second Semi Final of the Challenge Cup to play Leeds in the Final at Wembley in five weeks time. This is the third time Warrington has reached the final in four years winning their two previous visits.

I have fully mastered the use of the treatment machine for sleep apnoea as well as settling into a pattern of nightly use between five and six hours although I cannot say that this is being achieved without difficulty as I find the head gear uncomfortable and the balance of being able to breathe naturally through my nose with my mouth shut and the absence of upper body wind is not always managed. I am also not getting as much exercise as I need although I have commenced to jog on the spot in the house and to walk with purpose when out and about. I have not progressed with weight loss but so far prevented the kind of swing back increase that occurred last summer which keeps me in a good place to lose more.

I have achieve 29 of the past 30 nights with a use above the recommended level of four hours and the reading should become 30/30 over the next week. I am hoping to be able to demonstrate this pattern on my next visit to see the consultant in November. The average hours over night is 5.8 although I am unlikely to keep this up and indeed I only managed 4.2 one night during this week. Having been told those four hours is adequate I am relaxing and not persisting with use of a third session at times. Another reason is that while the addition of a humidifier has been positive in that it appears to be the main factor in having sleeps of three and last night four hours at a time I am still waking with a sticky dry mouth. I have tried various levels of use on the register of .5 to 6   although with no attempt above 4 which I plan to try over the coming days. What I have decided is to start high and keep for a few days and then work downwards until I and only isolated bouts of tiredness during the day, usually related to the total hours of sleep the night before as well as its quality. My total use of the machine exceeded 275.

As mentioned when attending the one day International between England and Australia at the Emirates Chester Le Street a warning light came on as the journey commenced, I  was due to replace two tyres following the MOT and asked if the garage could deal with the problem or should I take to a Suzuki dealership. I was advised that they provided a diagnostic service  which I decided to use and was advised that according to the error code which  on the system the spark plugs should be replaced and also the coil a significant more expensive item. I was faced with a bill of £350 and set off to Sunderland to check out the PC speakers at PC World which I looked at when at the Silverlink Odeon for the Men’s Tennis Final 3D relay. There was no warning light but as I approached the city the same light returned. 

I continued to PC World and decided to obtain the least expensive speakers available which I had viewed on my visit to Silverlink for the 3D Odeon relay of the Wimbledon Men’s Tennis Final. Because of the changed circumstances a pair of speakers with a small base box was available for £10 but not in stock but as luck would have it, and which I badly needed they had a pair at the Comet which is now part of the same enterprise and next door. I can now enjoy voice and music with a good volume more than I need together with sound quality which is a joy and also will be excellent for sound when using the TV as a large monitor for the PC.

I returned the vehicle to the garage upset at having wasted £250 on repairs which were evidently not necessary. It was agreed that the amount would set against the eventual cost. It became evident on Friday that they had been unable to diagnosis problem and contracted with a nearby electrical specialist to undertake further diagnosis. The hope was a loose wire but it now appears that a new electrical unit is required. By Saturday morning before going out to the Festival I heard that the cost of a new unit would be astronomical and that the effort was being made to find a less expensive alternative. I viewed a telephone call on Monday with apprehension. In fact it was Wednesday before the situation was resolved with payment of a further £140 and all the prospective gains from having paid off the vehicle were wiped out until Christmas and by then the annual would come around, assuming that the work proved effective and an electrical unit of some £1000 was not required.

Also at the time of the visit to the cricket a hole had appeared in the back lane following the great rains and which following referral by a neighbour the local authority had barriered off. At the time it was possible for my vehicle get by. However after what appears to have been a further inspection by either the local authority or the Water Authority the hole had been made larger at the surface indicating a gap between the surface tarmac and what appeared rubble and earth below. The barrier had been strengthened and moved in such away that further passage by was not possible. Usually there are vehicles obstructing the other exit at various times including the vehicles of those working at some of the properties on both sides of the lane but fortunately the work was completed and a passage out of the garage was possible. Then I was without the car for almost a week so although noticing the lack of progress with filling the hole I was not concerned. With the return of the car I decided it was time to make enquiries. I first contacted the local authority and spoke to a receptionist and then someone who appeared to have the information on computer that the problem had been reported and referred to Northumberland Water authority on July 10th. I also gained the impression that communication between the authorities was not good because of different viewpoints about levels of responsibility for undertaking remedial works and costs of such problems when they had arisen in the past.

What concerned was the suggestion that rats in relation to sewer workings dislodge earth and given the size of the hole this concerned. This was added when on reading the headlines from the local newspaper online I noted concern about the release of rats into the open in another part of the Borough. I spoke to neighbours and the concern mounted as reference as made to two previous  similar occurrences and today another neighbour revealed that they also have a Roman origin Well in their yard  as another had previously mentioned and on further examination of the hole later it looked as if this another  Well so the plot thickens. 

I decided to contact Northumbria area direct via customer services and Operations and explained what I knew.  Later in the afternoon I was contacted by the authority to say that an investigation team had been sent out and I would get a report back on Friday, He added that there was the possibility of a sunken main. After the call I looked outside and there as a Northumbria water vehicle at the back. I drafted a note which I then circulated to my neighbours and those on the other side of lane. I had also contacted the three Ward Councillors and was contacted to advise that contact had been made with officers. My understanding is that following contact between the local authorities the Local authority has agreed to fill in the hole on Monday although there remains the longer term issue of the overall situation given the history and the situation on the hill which was once residential quarters and storage facilities for the fort which served as the supply base of the whole length of the Wall.

On Thursday my Azda home deliver arrived as uncertain at the time when the car would be returned I had used the on line home delivery service something which I had done   for several years, not on my own behalf but for my mother and aunt when they were prevented from going out to shop on their own in the late 1990’s. Then I had used Sainsbury at Purley Way  and after talking to them and  a cousin who lived nearby each week I would make the order on line and then have a call after it was delivered,

In this instance although I telephoned on Wednesday the order was delivered on the Thursday afternoon for one of the lost variable charges listed of £3. The delivery driver lives lower down the hill and he told the tale of neighbour that the side wall of her house was affected by subsidence due to Roman workings with the consequence that  this side of house had to be underpinned. The delivery provided everything I had ordered although I discovered that I had not as I thought reduced an unintended order of four whole chickens to two so I have a six to eight week supply.

I am leaving the major sporting event of the weekend and the subsequent week until the next writing as Bradley Wiggins kept the Yellow Jersey as the overall leader of the Tour De France and looked to becoming the first British winner of the race after 99 years since the race commenced. Moreover his team mate Chris Froome has remained in the second position before the final Time Trial on Saturday afternoon followed by the Sprint race in the centre of Paris Sunday afternoon which could be won by the British Mark Cavendish who won the Sprint finish race on Friday and who could become the best ever Sprint racer in the history of the race, Chris was the only member of the British team at the 2008 Olympics not to win a member from the most successful cycling team ever. The impact of the win on Bradley personally and on cycling in the UK will be extraordinary.

2321 Barclays Scandal End game for Casino Bob and the roles of Marcus Agius, Lord Turner and Mervyn King

In this third part of my interest in the economic, political and social implications of the LIBOR scandal while the focus is on the end game for Casino Bob Diamond the former Group Chief Executive of Barclays Bank, the roles of Chairman Marcus Agius, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England are also covered as a consequence of the hearings by them before the House of Commons Treasury Committee.

I want to begin by making brief pen pictures of the individuals and interests in reverse order commencing with the Bank of England, the oldest major central Banking body in the world and on whom the central Banks of most economically developed countries has been based.

The  position and the role of the bank was significantly changed under the first Tony Blair Administration led by Chancellor Gordon Brown in making the Bank independent of the Treasury and direct Government control in relation to monetary policy something which had also been Liberal Democrat policy since 1992. The Bank sets the interest rate and takes other monetary measures (such as the so called Quantative Easing which is simply giving money to banks to enable them to increase their capital and therefore be able to increase the amount of lending to commerce) within the national guideline of an ongoing inflation target of 2.50% a year later revised down to 2.00% since the Consumer Price Index replaced the Retail Price Index.

If inflation undershoots or overshoots by more than 1% the Government has to formally notify the Chancellor why this has happened and state the action being taken.

Clearly the Bank which became a Limited Liability Company of the Government does not operate in isolation and maintains close links with the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority, other Central Banks and International Organisations Associated with Banking including the British Bankers Association. While the Bank therefore has had considerable Independent influence over the British economy and its financing it was and is still not a yet a Regulatory Authority although this is in the process of change.

The present Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King serves on the Council of the Central European Bank. The Central European Bank functions directly on behalf of all the major European Economies in total 17 of the 27 EEC countries in the Euro zone but its Council involves the 10 other nations outside the Euro notably the UK and Sweden.

Mervyn King has taken the view that Banks had put profits before people and should take moral responsibility for their actions and should be allowed to fail. Alistair Darling criticised this approach in his memoirs and in a recent Mansion House speech he criticised Darling’s hostility to the Coalition’s new approach to Regulation which gives the Bank of England a major role in terms of Prudential Regulation.

The Governors views on the Casino immorality of the Big banks led them to making direct threat move their bases from the UK elsewhere if a more sympathetic figure to their interests does not replace him when he retires in 2013. They were said to be in favour of the present Deputy Governor because he is thought to be more amenable to furthering their interests which are expressed through  the lobbying of government by the 150 committees of the British Banking Association and their Executive Council which is presently led by Chairman by Barclay’s Bank, Marcus Agius and where Barclay’s former Chief Executive was a powerful member, rather like the Rupert Murdoch chairing the Proprietor’s association with one of the leading lights of the PCC being the shaper creative Dacre.
It has also to be said that King told the Labour Government they did not have tough enough deficit plans and he has supported the Coalitions belief that the reduction plan needs to be continued and toughened if the long term position of the UK’s economy is to develop.

The Labour Government changed the self regulatory approach of the previous years of Tory administrations, by creating the Financial Services Authority in 1997 regulating banks, insurance companies, financial advises, mortgages and general insurance, excluding travel insurance between then and 2005 to bring order and stability within the agreed framework of growth having believed it had abolished the boom and bust cycle. However as I shall report the FSA has been charged several times with incompetence and being too close to those it was supposed to monitor and when appropriate  control.

In June 2010 the Coalition announced that the FSA authority was to be abolished and its function allocated to new agencies and the Bank of England. The Chief Executive of FSA Hector Santa had told the Treasury Committee on 9th March 2011 that Parliament should legislate to make the organisation accountable to Treasury Minister and to Parliament. At present the organisation is funded by the services it regulates and until now the money collected in fines was used collectively to maintain or reduce the levy in subsequent years. The Coalition has indicated that the Barclays and subsequent scandal fines should be paid to the Treasury. Sir John Gieve a Deputy Governor at the Bank of England and responsible for its Financial Stability is a non executive Board member of the FSA.

The FSA has been the subject of repeat criticism since its creation first for failing to take up the thousands of Consumer complaints about payment protection insurance and bank charges. The way it handled the collapse of Northern Rock and the Equitable Life Assurance Scandal is added to the criticism that it ignored warning signals leading to the collapse of Northern Rock and now it is under the spotlight in relation to the LIBOR scandal. It has been renamed by Private Eye as the Fundamentally Supine Authority.

The Chairman of the FSA Lord Adair Turner has also come in for criticism from Private Eye. He was chairman of Cambridge Conservative Association as well as President of the Union after which he worked for BP and then the Chase Manhattan Bank during which time he joined the SDP. As Director General of the CBI he supported joining the Euro which he later said was a mistake. Over the past decade he Chaired the enquiry into pensions, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Overseas Development Institutes Council and the Climate Change Council which he left this Spring. In 2008 he commenced his five year term as chairman of the FSA; Under his leadership he defended paying the 3000 staff of the Association a 15% annual bonus on top of their contracted salaries. At the same time he criticised the financial sector for giving excessive reward packages.

He appears a strong, self confident and assertive chairman whereas the influential and well connected Chairman of Barclays Bank, Marcus Agius, communicated as a traditional English gentleman type of Chairman. Like me his background is one of part Maltese descent and also with the military, however with this any similarity appears as demonstrated by his appearance before the House of Common Treasury Committee. He is just the kind of individual who would be invited to join the Knights of Malta and Freemasonry although his good connections come from his wife, a member of the Rothschild’s family.

Marcus obtained an interesting Degree at Cambridge combining mechanical sciences and economics and the economics side led him to the famous Harvard Business school for his Masters. At the age 26 (born 1944) he joined the Investment bank of Lazard in London and after achieving several senior positions he was appointed the Chairman of the London branch in 2001 and a year later Deputy Chairman of the global company. He was also appointed as a non executive Director to the Board of the British Airports Authority in 1995 becoming Chairman from 2002 to 2006.

It is evident from the facts that when he joined Barclays Bank in 2006 as a non executive director it was with the intention of preparing to take on the job as Chairman to succeed Matthew Barrett early in 2007. His salary is believed to be in the order of three quarters of a million pounds. I am not aware if he also shares in the bonus or other benefits in his rewards package but it is difficult to believe that any Chairman can gain respect and control his Executive Directors if his reward package is less than theirs.

Marcus has also served as a non executive Director of the BBC’s Trust Board since 2006 and is Chairman of the Kew Foundation serving as a Trustee of the Royal Botanical Gardens. The interest in Gardens appears to stem from his involvement with the British Rothschild’s Family Estate, Exbury Gardens in Hampshire through his marriage to Katherine, daughter of Edmund de Rothchild.

His background and record is in complete contrast with that of the American Bob Diamond who was already established as the Shaper Leader of the Investment Trading expansion which had taken the bank to one of the major players in this market. It is an interesting question if Marcus was canvassed as the Chairman in order to act as break on the bank’s Los Vegas style activities or he was considered the ideal kind of chairman to let it flourish?

While using creative and shaper creative executives  was all the rage in the mid 1980’s when I attended one of the top International senior management centres in the UK it was considered essential to have a get rid off strategy at the ready if the behaviour became negative for the organisation. As I had discovered after finishing top of the class at the British Olivetti training course in the later 1950’s the only ethical consideration was the sale and nothing but the sale and no one was concerned how you got it, only that you did.

So I am suggesting that as long as Bob Diamond and those like him delivered what was required of them by their organisation and furthered the interests of Government their methods were not just accepted but encouraged and rewarded for as the European boss of 3M’s confided  after a good meal evening session on the International management course, a handful of such individuals account for most of the developments which led to the corporation creating new multi million ventures compared to the more pedestrian approaches of the rest of the team.

Bob Diamond was born in the USA one of nine children with Irish and Scottish Catholic background parents, second generation immigrants and who were both teachers. After a BA in Economics he became first in his MBA class.  After a short career as a Lecturer he joined Morgan Stanley rising to the post of Managing Director and head of the fixed income trading division. 15 years later in 1952 he became Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the CS First Boston Pacific for the Pacific Region based in Tokyo.

He joined Barclays on July 4th 1996 and as mentioned is recognised as playing a leading role for the bank switching what had been a traditional high street banking enterprise into the new era of Investment banking. In 2008 he was behind Barclay’s acquiring key assets of Lehman Brothers when the bank collapsed in 2008. It was therefore not surprising that when a new Chief Executive of the whole world wide banking group was required he was appointed with enthusiasm and in accordance with standard procedure he was interviewed by the Financial Services Authority and in a letter to the Barclay’s Chairman Marcus Agius the Regulator stressed that in addition to assessing his competence to take on the role they had to ensure that an appropriately robust and rigorous appointment processes is undertaken by the firm.  Given subsequent events it appears that there was strong support for him from the leading shareholders as well as from other members of the Executive Management Team although the position of the other non executive Directors particularly the Independent Non executive Director has not been disclosed.

Chairman Marcus indicated to the Treasury Committee that he had no knowledge until the weekend before his appearance that according to the Financial Times that a previous Barclay’s Bank Chief Executive, Martin Taylor, regretted not sacking Marcus because Traders under his control are said to have exceeded the limit on making substantial loans to Russia by declaring them as Swiss or USA area loans. When the loans defaulted the bank incurred massive losses which would not have happened if the risk liability rules had been followed. The Financial Times is traditionally conservative in protecting its reputation for objectivity and accuracy and would not have published the Taylor article without being confident about the implication of what was being said.

Even more worrying was the admission to the Treasury Committee this week that the Independent non Executive Director had said that he was never made aware of the concerns that had been expressed by the FSA in 2010 at the time of the appointment as Group Chief Executive and again when the FSA followed up their meeting with the Board in February of this year with a carefully worded letter demanding major changes in the management culture and approach from the top.

Understandably the Commons Treasury Committee became collectively angry when they discovered that Barclay’s Bank or the FSA had not provided copies of the key correspondence before they interviewed Bob Diamond and expressed amazement when both parties defended their position by saying they were not asked, which as the Chairman explained can one be expected to ask for what we do not know exists? It is for those called to the inquiry to provide all the relevant documentation and information. However it is clear that over several decades now Barclays has gone out of its way to misrepresent and mislead and for which all those directly involved require the severest censure.

In the light of subsequent event the 2010 letter is illuminating. I accept that the 15th September letter under the name of FSA Chief Executive Hector Sants who announced his resignation in March which took effect in June, is open to different interpretations, but not the spin which Chairman Marcus advanced at the Committee after admitting he had been coached by the team of legal and presentational advisers as had Bob Diamond a few days before and which therefore accounted for similarities in what was being said to the Commons Committee.

The first point made the 2010 letter is that the FSA expected Mr Diamond to develop a close, open and transparent relationship with the regulators in the UK and globally. It had already been identified that this would require an increased level of engagement from Mr Diamond and this expectation had been made known to him. It was also assumed that Mr Diamond would be based in the UK.

The succession plan had Rich Ricci as co Chief Executive with Jerry Del Messier and the FSA wanted assurance that the managerial structure would remain effective. The FSA wanted appropriate clarity that Mr Diamond would exercise oversight of their responsibilities and that as CEO for the Group Mr Diamond would provide independent challenge to the work of the co Chief Executives. (we now know this comment was apposite in relation to the failure of Bob Diamond to check what had happened when he directed Jerry Del Messier to lower their LIBOR returns following a conversation with the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.

Thirdly the FSA wanted assurance that Mr Diamond would set the right culture, risk appetite and control framework across the entire organisation and that a prudent balance  was struck in delivering the group’s financial and strategic objectives and desirable consumer outcomes, alongside of broader reputational risks for the group.

The final point made by the FSA was that Mr Diamond’s experience had been on the capital investment side, and which some would argue was in Casino banking and therefore he had a relative lack of direct retail banking experience. The FSA appreciated the depth of the experience of other Executive Committee members and the Regulator said it would look to be satisfied that the required focus on the retail banking business and consumer outcomes is maintained by him. The offer was made to discuss these points in greater detail.

From what Chairman Marcus said to the Commons committee the impression was that the letter was regarded as a standard advisory on the making of a new appointment and looked to the future rather to be regarded as criticism about an aspect of his role and culture setting in the past. It remains unclear to what extent the letter was discussed with other Non Executive Directors or shared with the key shareholders before the appointment was confirmed, or if any action was taken by the Chairman at the time of the appointment or if he went over the issues with the Chief Executive as part of the formal review of his work undertaken in 2011 before his bonus reward package was agreed.

It is also not clear at what point in 2010 Marcus was advised of the formal investigation being taken by the FSA into the way LIBOR was being unlawfully influenced by Barclay’s Bank Corporately and I shall examine this further when also considering the role of the FSA and the Bank of England in this respect.

I want to next turn to the meeting of the Board of Barclays Bank in February of this year at which the FSA communicated its ongoing concerns about culture and approach of the bank on a number of important issues. There are again diametrically opposed viewpoints of what happened at this meeting. Both the Chairman and Casino BOB took the view that the concern was on how the bank would perform in the future and that whatever problems were being uncovered there was no direct criticism of the Group Chief Executive. This relaxed view appears to have been maintained even after the FSA Chairman met Marcus, following up the meeting with an extraordinary letter.

Mr Turner, the FSA Chairman underlined that the purpose of the meeting had been to state the cumulative concerns arising out of the investigation in the LIBOR manipulations.  underlining that all the specific matters would be taken up by the FSA Supervisory team directly with those concerned at appropriate levels within Barclays. This in my judgement meant that the FSA was in effect taking over control of the Bank in terms of the matters where there was continuing concern and was not trusting the internal management to ensure that things were now right or were being put right.

They had commenced in what Marcus regarded as old news in terms of previous communications between the FSA and Barclays. The first was that Barclays had created a convoluted way of portraying a favourable accounting result. The implication of this comment is that under Mr Diamond and the Chairmanship of Mr Agius the bank had been concerned more with presentation than substance and this was evident to me as it was to the Commons Committee when the evidence of Mr Diamond was re-examined against the contents of this letter.

The other old news was a technical point which I understood to mean that Barclays had adopted an aggressive approach to acceptable spectrum of valuations.

The first of the new points was that Barclays had not been fully transparent about a matter causing the FSA unnecessary time consuming and therefore costly problems. This point needs to be viewed in relation to the 2010 letter.

The next point was blanked out by Barclays on the grounds that it concerned only a matter of commercial significance to the Bank. Mr Agius explained that the redaction had been agreed with the FSA and in discussion with the Treasury Committee staff. It is puzzling that this was not communicated to the Committee Chairman and led to Mr Fallon MP raising the issue on behalf of the Committee.

The third issue also indicated a protracted attempt by Barclays to get issues resolved in their interests and which inefficiently used up FSA resources and goodwill.

Fourthly that Barclays under Mr Diamond had confused and attempted to potentially mislead over a separate presentation of an issue and that Barclays attempted to spin its message in an unhelpful fashion.

The behaviour of the bank in relation to its tax position had created a lack of trust in Barclay’s approach to tax, regulation and accounting. While accepting that it was the job of the management of the bank to make its case and express its position in the most favourable light, the FSA Chairman made the point that Barclays continued to have the tendency to seek advantage from complex structures or favourable regulatory interpretations and that he and his Board were urged to encourage a tone of full cooperation and transparency between all levels of the Bank’s management and the FSA.

Mr Turner concluded that he appreciated from their conversation that Mr Agius took the matter seriously. The final sentence is blacked out which is puzzling and merits explanation and revealing to the Chairman of the Committee although it appears covered by the commercial interests explanation.

I remain unclear about the extent to which this letter was shared with Casino Bob who gave the impression to the Committee of not knowing about its serious nature. The Chairman could only go as far as saying that he would have arranged for Casino Bob to receive a copy although in fact there has only been a discussion of the issues raised by the letter with the Board. It is not clear what direct contact he then had with his group CEO about the letter and as previously stated the Independent non executive director has expressed concern that he was advised of the seriousness of the issues.

It appears from this that the Group CEO had no hand in helping the Chairman to draft his response to Lord Turner sent 18th April 2012 because he appeared to be ignorant of the nature of its contents although the Chairman said he would have arranged for a copy to be sent to Casino Bob even if the matter was separately discussed outside of he Board meeting. I would expect the Commons Committee to regard this aspect one of negligence by the chairman of the Board

Marcus in reply accepted the need for a strong, open, cooperative, transparent and open relationship with the FSA and all the global regulators but he also explained the banks position on all the matters covered.  The letter underlined the point that at the February Board meeting the FSA had excluded Casino Bob and the Chief Financial Officer Lucas from their adverse comments. Mr Agius said that when Bob Diamond had responded to questions at the committee he had referred to this endorsement made by the FSA representative at the February meeting and not to the April letter in much the same way that Mr Diamond was accurate in saying that he had not considered resigning over the weekend.

The House of Committee spent a significant amount of time questioning Casino Bob on the reasons for his departure, after which the issue was raised with Chairman Marcus and then the Chairman of the FSA and then the Governor of the Bank of England.

Chairman Marcus admitted the bank had been shocked by the public outcry to the announcement that corporately the institution falsified information resulting in individual and corporate greater profits as well as financial damage to others which will be the subject of substantial civil litigation. He had held a meeting with the Chairman of the FSA on the Friday after the Wednesday publication of the reports. I suspect that the Thursday evening Question Time on BBC 1 had a profound affect on the approach of National Politicians and the Regulators.

Lord Turner told the Commons Committee that he had left Chairman Marcus in no doubt that given the history of concerns about the management style and approach of the Chief Executive and the gravity of the offences committed by staff at the Bank and the International response, it was unlikely that confidence in the bank could be restored while Casino Bob remained the Group Chief Executive Officer. Lord Turner, as had Chairman Marcus, stressed that the Regulator had not ordered or insisted that the Casino Bob left but made the bank aware of the problem which they now faced.

Chairman Marcus appeared to be frank and open when he said he had gone back and consulted the non executive directors on the board and in particular the firm which represented the corporate shareholders and that the overwhelming opinion was the Casino Bob should stay, In this circumstance Chairman Marcus decided that he should resign and notified the appropriate authorities including the Governor of the Bank of England, the Chairman of the FSA and Whitehall of his decision. Following this Bob Diamond had told the Commons Committee that he had spent the weekend dealing with this development and prepared a document for internal circulation to staff within the bank.

The development was made public on the Monday and Chairman Marcus was contacted to attend a meeting with the Governor of the Bank of England at 6pm. Members of the Committee questioned the Governor on the justification for his intervention given that he was not a regulator and had not participated in the investigation into what had happened and led to the damning reports and fines. He defended his action on the grounds of the International reaction as well as supporting the FSA Chairman that what happened and in relation to  previous matter indicated a failure to establish the right culture at the bank and that Casino Bob was not the man to bring about the radical change that was now required.

The Chairman had gone back and contacted the Non Executive Directors and broke the development to Bob and left him to consult his family and consult his legal and other advisors. Chairman Marcus was confident Bob had got the message and would do the right thing. Following agreement about his leaving package the decision was confirmed the following day and announced to the public.

Through Chairman Marcus, the FSA Chairman and the Bank of England Governor emphasised that the authorities had only advised with the outcome left to the Bank and to Casino Bob. The Governor and the Regulator resisted the suggestion of the Commons Committee that Marcus had been handed a revolver which he had turned on himself so they had come back and insisted that the Chairman then redirect the weapon at the intended target. Marcus had then spent the night working out with the Non Executive Directors the best way to move forward so he had withdrawn his immediate effect notice and was staying on until a new Chief Executive and a new Chairman could be appointed. Chairman Marcus had felt the necessity to consult the authorities about the proposed interim arrangements before going ahead which prompted  observation that in effect the authorities had taken control of the bank albeit briefly. All this appeared to have made Bob angry and perplexed but which casts considerable doubt over his openness and directness when appearing before the Commons Committee something which the Chairman and Committee are taking very seriously.

Attention had turned on his leaving package which at first Chairman Marcus implied it was a payment of six months salary in lieu of notice but that this was amended to one year and in the inclusion of the £.7m payment in lieu of pension as Bob had negotiated in which he provided his own pension to which the Bank made their substantial contribution approximately 40% of his basic salary. This total was £2 but the larger bonus package said to have brought up the total to £20 million was not accepted.

There was also a lack of clarity if this meant that Bob had left or was still on the official payroll taking “gardening leave.” It was no clear if Bob had left and the payment twice that in the contract was made out of goodwill because of his previous service to the bank or in fact it was because he would still be called up to assist the Bank with information in relation to the series of inquiries and court cases anticipated on both side of the Atlantic.

A key factor in forcing out Casino Bob was the issue of the Culture set by him on the trading floor and within the bank generally and whether thus culture had led to individual traders being open in shouting instructions to the LIBOR submitters or sending emails on their success in changing the rate in such a way that they were able to profit. It emerged at the Commons Committee that no one is still sure how individuals gained or went to the length which they did.  One argument is they would not have done so systematically, at one point every couple of days, had they not made personal profit. The extent to which it was done is also questioned because those identified had come through the search of millions of emails and individuals admitting what had happened. However the extent of informal communication potentially involving others has not been ruled out. What is agreed is that Barclay former employees who moved to other banks appear to have conspired to fix the rate and therefore they were more effective or the extent to which non Barclay employees in other banks were involved.
The Commons Committee also raised the issue of internal auditing and compliance and whether those responsible ever sat on the trading floor to observe what went on. I have personal experience of what used to be old system of monitoring going back to the 1950’s.

When nineteen years I worked as a cashier in the Croydon CBC Treasurer’s department and could not go home until I had balanced my cash till against the cash income from motor vehicle licences renewals received during the day.  Two members of the Internal Audit had an office in the same building and it was not unknown for them to pop out when I and the two other cashiers were balancing up and see what we were doing.

However the attention to sticking to rules and regulations could be taken to extraordinary length. There was a member of staff in the former West Riding of Yorkshire Children’s Department who if she spotted what appeared a questionable mileage claim by an officer first used a device to measure distance on a route map and if still not convinced actually retraced the route in her car with her husband at weekends in order to ensure that she was not authorising an inappropriate expenses payment.

Moreover as an Assistant County Children’s Officer, one of three each responsible for over 600 hundred children in care and all the child care homes within my area which covered the Doncaster,  Barnsley and Rotherham local authority areas I received each day over 100 written requests  from heads of Homes and each of my three Divisional Directors and their staffs to approve expenditure which had been delegated to me following the arrival of  the second Children’s officer appointed since the department was set up in 1948, as well as  professional decisions about the future welfare of the children

Each application for an item of clothing, or expenditure on a child was accompanied by the headquarters full copy file. Before the arrival of the new Children’s Officer the files of decisions not delegated to the Children’s officer were loaded in laundry size wicker baskets and taken down to County Hall to be available to the Children’s Officer and his admin Assistant to seek political approval. The pile of files filled his office beforehand and could be used as seating.

I was therefore not unsympathetic when a subsequent Treasurer in another other local authority in the 1970’s argued at the Management Team that such monitoring and compliance systems were costly and ineffective because they failed to discover the worst offenders and this as with all major criminality goes to the nub of the situation which Barclays and other banks now face. 

It has emerged that a new approach to regulation has been adopted by Barclays and one assumes all the banks involved including compliance officers making unannounced visits to observe the rate setting notifications.

However at the Inquiry Chairman Agius disclosed that a senior Executive at the FSA had told him that the bank was top of the class in relation to their compliance system. The FSA Chairman while disclosing the senior officer had left shortly afterwards, albeit for reason unconnected, explained that she had referred to their agreed system on paper not to how it worked in practice. Nevertheless what she said was used by the Bank to defend itself from criticism.

As previously reported the problem was that no one in the industry or government had considered that LIBOR could or would be manipulated given its previous stability. It was only after the collapse of Lehman and the sub prime discoveries did the LIBOR mechanism stop being a litmus paper test of a bank’s liquidity and overall book balancing. And indeed when the issue was first raised back in 2008 no one then considered there was a problem which involved intentional unlawful activity.

The amazing thing is that in December 2007, it was a Barclay’s compliance officer who contacted the British Bankers Association and Financial Services Authority to complain about the LIBOR rates submitted by other banks failing to mention that its own submissions could be questioned, saying they were within a reasonable range!

The officer alleges the he gave his view of the position at Barclays and the FSA agreed that the approach seemed sensible in the prevailing circumstances. Across the Atlantic a Barclay employee responsible for setting the dollar rate contact the USA regulatory authority to  advise that their Bank was not setting “honest” rates, that is some four and half years ago. He also advised his superior in writing “We are therefore being dishonest by definition and are at risk of damaging our reputation in the market and with the regulators. Can we discuss urgently please? It was not until three months later on April 11 that that an official of the New York Fed Bank contacted Barclays about the problem of LIBOR reporting. The officers explained why Barclay was underreporting and five days later the Wall Street Journal questioned the integrity of LIBOR. According to the American Regulator a senior treasury Manager at Barclays informed the British Bankers Association that his bank was not making accurate submissions saying they were not the worst offender,”We’re clean but we are dirty clean rather than clean clean.” The Representative of the British Bankers Association replied no one is clean clean. Barclays was contacted by the BBA to express its concern saying that if true the behaviour was unacceptable.

In May 2008 officials from The New York Federal Reserve Bank notified other US agencies of their concern following a meting to discuss he problem. This included a direct meeting with US Treasury Officials followed by a written report. It is difficult to believe the US Treasury did not contact its London Counterpart. The New York Fed had direct contact with the British Bankers Association on the matter. At Barclay the decision was formally taken to tell the media that the bank had always quoted accurate and fair LIBOR and had acted in defiance of the market.

It is also recorded that the Governor of the Bank of England had discussed the issue with the head of he New York Fed at a gathering of central bankers and then was sent a list of proposals to tackle the problem which included the potentially cover up suggestion of no longer disclosing the identity of the banks which submitted the highest and lower rate submission on the day which in effect meant not disclosing as previously all the identities of the individual submitters. These recommendations were passed to the British Bankers Association who owned the separate LIBOR setting company. This all happened before the collapse of Lehman Brothers,

The Deputy Governor at The bank of England told the Treasury Sub Committee that Barclays was considered the next bank in line to Lehmans at risk. Barclays then tell the New York Fed that the rate had become rubbish and this led to the now infamous conversation between the Deputy Governor and Casino Bob on October 29th 2010.

Bob usually made a written note of the conversation and which he passed to Jerry Del Messier. Before this he told Jerry that he had been told to lower its rate submission because of pressure from Whitehall. Del Messier interpreted this conversation as an order and effectively told the trader to lower the rate, unwittingly, giving them authority to do what they had been doing for personal gain but now for the good of the bank on official advice. They lowered the rates to become within the pack.

The British Bankers Association then issued new guidance on how LIBOR should be set in the future as a draft with the final document circulated on 16th July the follow year (2009), seven months later. Barclays then commenced to improve its systems and control but ignored the BBA document. This was prior to the Marcus becoming the Chairman. It was not until June 2010 that Barclays formally told submitters not communicate with those in other banks and to report any attempt within the bank to influence their submission. It also appears Barclays Executive Managers, Directors and Compliance officers did not conduct an internal investigation until the FSA inquiry commenced.

It is also known that late in 2011 four Royal Bank of Scotland Staff were sacked because of their alleged roles in LIBOR fixing.

In his evidence to the Commons Treasury Committee, despite all this and one suspect a lot more going on, including the awareness by the Treasury and Vince Cable and his Department and if not why not, the Governor of the Bank of England claimed ignorance of unlawful wrong doing by anyone until he read of this in the published reports along with everyone else.  The Chairman of the FSA also denied they had been slow given that the issues were first raised in 2008 and they did not commence their inquiries until 2010.

I can understand why Cameron and Osborne do not wanting Leveson style Inquiry which could reveal the extent of the collusion between authorities to effect a cover up, or more likely to prevent an escalation of the lack of confidence in the banks based in London and the position of London as a premier banking and financial centre. There is now news of another British bank being accused in the USA of drug money laundering and enabling financing to bypass UN and USA approved sanction including in relation to Iran.

I also thought we had a classic admission of truth that if you or I owe a bank £100 it is our responsibility and we face mounting interesting payments, but if you owe £100 million this is the banks problem and one current approach is just to write off so as not to affect the capital provision of the bank in its annual accounts.