Old Gordon Brown appears not to have all his cups in the cupboard, as the Germans would say. During question time in the British parliament last Wednesday he claimed that Britain was in the process of negotiating with the International Monetary Fund and other institutions on how to collect from Icelandic authorities the money they owe as a result of the collapse of Iceland’s banks.
When asked about the status of Christie’s Hospital in Manchester, which lost high sums in the collapse of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, a British subsidiary of an Icelandic bank, he replied that Icelandic authorities were responsible for covering those losses.
The truth is that Kaupthing Singer & Friendlander operated as a British bank, under British law, and fell under the British compensation scheme. Surely a man as intimately involved as Brown in matters concerning the Icelandic banks should be aware of that.
As for unilaterally negotiating with the IMF over Iceland’s debts – this must strike any intelligent person as absurd. We’re talking about a dispute between two sovereign states, here, which needs to be resolved bilaterally.The IMF has a clear policy, which even YT is aware of, not to interfere in political disputes or any similar matter. And even if that were the case – of course we cannot rule out backroom intrigues – surely Brown would have the wherewithal to keep mum about that, rather than blabbering about it in parliament.
Predictably, IMF’s representative in Iceland categorically denies Brown’s claims about negotiations. “It is a bilateral matter that needs to be resolved bilaterally,” he tells Fréttablaðið today.
According to Fréttablaðið, queries have been sent to British authorities about with which “other institutions” they are in talks with, and whether new claims are being made on Icelandic authorities. So far, no reply. But we’re waiting, with bated breath.
THERE IS A NASTY, COLD WIND FROM THE NORTH
… Or is it from the south-east? In any case, it blew over the rock with a vengeance yesterday and last night, but happily has subsided now. It’s been horribly cold as a result. However! AAH was out last night, just after midnight, and claimed she saw the most incredible, amazing northern lights she has ever seen in her life. A dancing band of yellow, green, purple and pink … and she was just stunned. That IS amazing – because northern lights normally don’t appear at this time of year – in MAY. Right now 5°C [39F]. Sunrise this morning was at 4:36 am and sunset due for 10:15 pm.
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A link to the specific question. It starts at 27:46 and finishes 29:06.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8035460.stm
Definitely an odd one. I can only assume that he’s forgotten who’s responsible for what and has regressed back to Oct/Nov – it’s been a tough week
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And on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivmYGlFu_bg
Brown had been repeatedly mauled with personal attacks from the opposition for quarter of an hour, so he probably felt relief in being able to temporarily divert the focus to another country. And the literal way he responded to the sarcastic bullying question shows that he was under massive stress. Ministers in Brown’s own cabinet view him as a dead man walking and some of them (such as Hazel Blears) have even started ridiculing him this week. Time for someone else (such as the respected Jack Straw) to step up and take over until the election – I suspect even many Labour supporters would agree with that…
The official transcript is here. Brown is certainly get his knickers in a twist, as usual these days, but what he says is nothing like Fréttablaðið‘s interpretation. he states:
The sum concerned is £2.3bn (I haven’t seen that figure on any Icelandic media; it comes from UK budget data). The repayment conditions have yet to be agreed between the two governments: I’ve seen a couple of rumours that suggest that the UK is asking for interest of LIBOR+6%, which is pretty harsh (although still far better terms than an Icelandic mortgage).
“Negotiations” might be a strong term, but Iceland’s capacity to repay the loan depends to a large extent on the IMF stability plan as a whole, including the valuation of the assets of the “new” banks. Britain (and the Netherlands) surely have access to information as to how the IMF thinks the package is going.
As for “other parties”, you don’t need to look very far to know who they are: this press release from the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs states:
While we’re choosing people to send back to school (and I wouldn’t wish Gordon Brown on any teacher), can I also nominate Steingrímur J. Sigfússon for similar crimes against the principal of civil responsibility?
Thanks, all.
Lee – Jack Straw, however, was nodding in the background when Brown claimed Icelandic authorities were responsible ….
Alda – A good point about Jack Straw’s nodding, but he also poked his tongue out and rubbed his stomach – clearly demonstrating that he can multitask better than Brown…
Incidentally, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has summoned the British Ambassador for a meeting to request a proper explanation of Brown’s remarks.
I am sure, this is – as is always, when politicians talk nonsense – going to be a “misunderstanding”. Brown certainly mixed up the Icesave and Kaupthing S&F cases, intentionally or not – who would know. Why care for details, when you are desperately in need to find somebody to bully.
…But it’s definitely good news to hear about the northern lights, I absolutely love watching them. Unfortunately, in the last years they were quite a rare sight for me in Iceland due to low solar activity. But we are on the upswing – at least in this respect.
LDE – Indeed, Jóhanna has already called it a “misunderstanding”. The problem is that nobody else is buying it.
This is another example of the politics of distraction at work in the UK again. There has been the tendency to simply refer to ‘Icelandic banks’ when it is clear that there are different cases and different areas of responsibility.
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