His Most Excellent Grace is not for dissin'
In the news this week:
Labour's Speaker blows £21,516 on libel lawyers- "Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has been accused of showing “contempt towards taxpayers” after spending £21,516.06 of public money on legal battles against the press. The office of Mr Martin, who earns £136,677 a year and lives in the Palace of Westminster, employed the elite libel law firm Carter-Ruck earlier this year to counteract a string of media articles that questioned his impartiality." (Telegraph 12.10.07)
BBC bosses' £17 grand parties- "The Director-General of the BBC Mark Thompson is to attend a cocktail party in India costing a reported £12,000 just as he finalises plans to cut up to 2,800 jobs. Mr Thompson and three fellow executives have jetted off to Mumbai for a lavish bash to celebrate the BBC's success in India... Meanwhile, BBC bosses splashed out a reported £5,000 on wine and canapes at a party for MPs. The event was held at the Atrium restaurant below the BBC's Millbank base in Westminster." (Mail 11.10.07)
Taleban police crashes cost £500,000- "Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales, was last night under pressure to explain why his own force, labelled the “Traffic Taleban” for its fervent pursuit of speeders, finished top of a league table for accident-prone police services. Mr Brunstrom’s force has paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for crashes – more than any other comparable police service for which data was available. Critics also questioned why no police driver has faced internal disciplinary proceedings in the past ten years, despite the fact that the force has paid out nearly £500,000 in compensation since 2000." (Times 13.10.07)
£1bn pa on wildly overpriced wind-power- "A recent recommendation from Ofgem, which regulates gas and electricity industries, [said] that the Government should end its Renewables Obligation, under which the wind industry receives a hidden subsidy of nearly £1 billion a year (eventually due to rise to a staggering £32 billion a year), paid by all of us through higher electricity bills. This compels the electricity companies to buy all the power generated from wind at around twice the normal market price. Without a subsidy, as the British Wind Energy Association pointed out, the industry would become so "uneconomic" that investment would dry up." (S Telegraph 14.10.07)
Ludicrous green homes plan costs £23,547 each- "The cost of installing energy-saving measures such as solar panels would take more than 200 years to recoup in reduced bills... a study from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors shows that some of the measures, such as solar panels to heat water, would cost £5,000 to install but reduce average bills by only £24 a year and would take about 208 years to pay back. The RICS data shows that putting in all eight measures, including insulation, condenser boilers and double glazing, would cost £23,547. This would knock only £486 off fuel bills and would take 48 years to recoup." (Times 13.10.07)
Total for week- £1,000,562,063.06p