Catalonia - A Self Assured Nation.

Congratulations to those Catalonians that went out to vote in favour of greater autonomy and a voice in Europe yesterday, it was an emphatic Yes vote albeit on a low turnout and it's a shame the result won't be binding on the Spanish state.

What this shows is the self assuredness and self confidence of a people proud to be called Catalans. This is something I think we in Wales are missing and particularly so when I read the comments of those Welsh defeatists and apologists like Stonemason and Noah Sembly.
It is not just Catalan politicians that promote Catalan autonomy or independence it is also their civic leaders like Joan Laporto the Chairman of Barcelona Football Club who in supporting the Yes vote said:

"Catalonia is dying, they are killing it and we must react...No Catalan can accept the fiscal pillaging that we are suffering nor the attacks on the rights and freedoms of Catalonia."

With the exception of the Archbishop of Wales what other civic leader do we have who would come out and defend Wales in similar terms?

To win a referendum convincingly we need to get these civic leaders on board.

Berlusconi

I wonder what the elder statesman of Italian politics did to deserve this or shouldn't we ask! Send your sympathies to Mr Blair to convey to his best friend.

Odious Odey

Crispin Odey is a Hedge Fund Manager and runs Odey Asset Management. Crispin is to pay himself £30 million, "after his firm made a fortune betting on the near collapse of the UK banking system last year" Believe it or not Odey will escape the one off windfall tax on bonuses as it does not apply to Hedge fund managers...another Alistair Darling loophole I suppose !

Odey admits that he was seen as 'one of the bad boys' for short selling Bradford and Bingley shares. So here we have yet another example of individuals being allowed to use dubious financial instruments to undermine banks that we then have to bail out!

What really bugs me with this lot is that they just don't seem to get it, they don't realise that they are part of the problem and not the solution. Odey's Chief Executive exemplifies the attitude when he tries to argue the difference between hedge fund managers and bankers, "We are aligned to the interests of our clients a third of whom are UK Pension Funds"...well really is that so, how many ordinary punters can safely say they are happy with their pension pot?

The Chief Executive then goes on to warn us what will happen if we don't let him and his mates do what they want and continue to rip us off, "The UK should not deny success. Wealth generation is part of our economy and if we deny that we will become a communist state."! The only people who are in denial of reality are the Hedge Fund Managers themselves.

Source - Sunday Times (Business)

No Economies of Scale!

On the 1st October 2009, the six North Wales Local Health Boards were amalgamated with the other three NHS Trusts to create one pan North Wales NHS Trust the Betsi Cadwalader University NHS Trust. Now one would have thought that there would have been considerable cost savings following these amalgamations especially voluntary redundancies, early retirements etc. It would appear however that this is not the case and HT to Miss Wagstaff Presents for bringing this matter to our notice.
Must go and pen a letter to Michael Williams, Chair of the BCU Trust or perhaps a letter to the Daily Post will have more impact!

Tiger Woods takes advantage of our libel laws.

I have written previously here and here on libel laws in the UK and the need for reform of these antiquated repressive laws. Tiger Woods is the latest foreign resident to get an injunction out in UK courts to prevent UK media outlets further reporting on Woods's personal life. Lawyers describe this latest controversy as 'unbelievable.' Gavin Millar a QC commenting in the Guardian says,

"Woods would not have got an injunction like this in America. Privacy law is weaker in America than it is her."

Given that there is an injunction against UK based media outlets I wonder if Guido Fawkes is aware of something the rest of us are not or is he just sticking two fingers up at the injunction for the sake of free speech?. He is either being very silly or very courageous, but whichever way it is I hope he has the resources behind him to defend any action!

Tory jitters

Iain Dale may be a Tory but he's not a blind loyalist. And he's honest enough to point a truth that is inescapable to any by-election watcher: The Tories are doing incredibly badly in local elections at the moment.

Jonathan Isaby has posted last night's local election results on ConservativeHome and described them as "disappointing". Indeed. Ok, you might think, what do a the results of a few council by-elections matter? And in some ways you'd be right. But these results are not isolated. There have been many similar results over the last few weeks. Invariably, Conservative vote shares are down and the party seems to be losing more seats in by-elections than it gains. Clearly, there can be peculiar local circumstances at play, but in seats like Wyre Forest, Tavistock and Weymouth & Portland (all parliamentary marginals), the Conservative should be gaining seats not losing them.

Anyone got any light to shed?

At a time when Brown's government is universally disliked and ridiculed, the Tories are unable to benefit either in the real polls or the opinion polls.

There's no doubt the Tories are getting jittery because the deal isn't sealed. This is clearly the case in England. In Wales and Scotland, they're coming from such a low base that some advance is almost inevitable. But here too, there is no appetite either for the Old Etonians who dominate the Tory front benches nor for the agenda of faster, deeper cuts they advocate.

Oscar and the law!

I don't really want to go back and talk about Oscar but I don't think we should ever forget the way he treated his staff, and still does! Being a bit of an employment law 'anorak' I have given this matter some considerable thought.

First of all, Oscar's staff have probably been employed by him since some time in 2007 when Oscar was first elected; this means that they have been employed for over 2 years which gives them full employment protection. The second question is, what is their employment status now? As far as I can see they are still employed by Oscar, they haven't been consulted about redundancy and they haven't received a letter dismissing them... so keep turning up for work, and if he stops paying you, you probably have a claim to Employment Tribunal for 'Unlawful deduction from earnings.'

Thirdly, we have the prospect of redundancy which is a form of dismissal which is lawful but only if certain conditions apply i.e. their job ceases to exist. Now you could argue that that is the case here; but has it?, Oscar is still an AM and he still needs staff so the job still exists! When making some one redundant the employer needs to consult with employees and needs to follow the ACAS Code of Practice. Failure to follow and comply with ACAS guidelines allows a Tribunal to increase an award for compensation by 25%. Therefore the chances are that any attempt at making the staff redundant could amount to unfair dismissal. Oscar may be in breach of the code of practice.

Fourthly, what would staff be entitled to? As a minimum those employed since 2007 would get 1 week's pay for each year of service (more if over 42 yrs), 1 week's notice for every year of service or pay in lieu of notice, holiday pay and of course pay for sitting round waiting for Oscar to decide which is the least expensive option for him! All this will be increased by Employment Tribunal but don't expect too much, compensation awards will depend on 'loss' to the individual rather than compensation as such.

Next steps should be to speak to ACAS and then seek detailed advice from their Union's legal team or Citizens Advice Bureau, who will probably advise staff to submit a joint grievance letter against their treatment by Oscar. Sooner or later staff will probably have to accept they have been dismissed and at that point should submit a joint letter to Oscar appealing against the dismissal. Staff should not delay submitting a form ET1 (Claim to Employment Tribunal), they have 3 months from the relevant date which I suggest is 3 months from the date that Oscar defected.

People like Oscar shouldn't be allowed to treat their employees in such a manner, so go for it!

WARNING - This is not definiative legal advice these are just my thoughts on a situation of which I am not fully aware of the facts or any individual's personal circumstances.