Regulation Slightly Less Lite

Here is how Daveybloke and his Cuddly Coalition are going to slim down the fat cats: they aren't. Many of the present Government's policies are either watered-down or pumped-up versions of New Labour policies: watered down if the original resulted from one of New Labour's feeble twitches leftward, pumped up if it resulted from one of New Labour's stronger and more successful attempts to turn the country into one big happy casino with UK Border Agency trimmings. In this case, the starting point is New Labour's policy of giving investors an "advisory" (in Standard English, ignorable) vote on remuneration; Daveybloke and his Cuddly Coalition plan to make this vote binding, which might be taken as a pumping-up were it not for the fact that shareholders nowadays, being mostly hedge funds and foreign gamblers, do not often take advantage of the privilege. Most votes at annual meetings go in favour of all resolutions, generally by margins that would do credit to a plebiscite in the sort of aspiring democracy to which Daveybloke likes to shill weapons for crowd control.

The Government has also asked whether a ratio of boadroom pay to wage-slave pay should be published, which appears rather incautious given the public's continuing inability to blame the economic crisis on nurses, the disabled, bad weather, the French or Alex Salmond. Fortunately, the Government had the good sense to ask the question in a consultation, so Daveybloke already feels the idea can safely be crunched up, thrown away and consigned to Danny Alexander's food bowl.

Me at Poetry-24
Tw*t