Day 2839: Mum's Gone to Iceland… so slap her with a Section 44 Order

Thursday:


THIS is why Governments should not ever ever ever be given powers under the Terrorism Act… because they will use them, and abuse them and get us into a WAR with them.

I mean, okay, so why SHOULD Iceland expect to be treated any differently to the way the Government treats our own teenage kids, just because they've got, you know, a NAVY.

Still, the people of Iceland should be used to FROZEN ASSETS… oh, come on, SOMEONE was going to say it!


But HONESTLY, is it even LEGAL?

Even our own Government Ministers don't seem to think so.

Mr David Dimbledonkey tried asking the Secretary of State for Innovative Scams, Mr John Deadman on Questionable Time and the minister's reply was:

"Well, it looks like what Iceland did was illegal too!"

Doesn't he know that two WRONGS do NOT make a Jonny WRIGHT? And since when has "THEY STARTED IT" been an excuse fit for a Minister of the Crown? (Don't you DARE say "Poland"!)


Okay, so it is VERY annoying when you have accidentally misplaced getting on for a BILLION pounds. I can get quite cross when I lose a sticky bun down the back of my sofa so this must be a lot like that. You think you've put it somewhere SAFE and then Daddy comes along and SITS on it…

Anyway, it is, after all, basically Mr Frown's FAULT (again) because he was the one who ordered the Councils to put their money in banks with the best rate or return, and it was his FSA who failed to pick up on (Liberal Democrat) warnings that the Icelandic Banks AA rating might be less Fourth Emergency Service and more Alcoholics Spendaholics Anonymous!

But frankly, torpedoing the Icelandic economy when it's already sinking is really NOT going to help.

This sort of retaliatory action is the start of the kind of PROTECTIONISM that will sink the Global Economy and turn a recession into a depression.

Wouldn't it be a lot more sensible to see if the European Union or the World Bank can step in; wouldn't it at least be worthwhile organising the G7 to consider some rescue package for the Icelandic Banks; wouldn't at the very least enlightened self-interest tell you that freezing their assets is going to freeze OUR Councils' cash in there too? Starting a fight through the courts to get hold of the money is surely the longest, costliest and STUPIDEST way out of this mess.

Working together is the only alternative to falling apart.

The Prime Monster has called these "extraordinary times", and extraordinary times for the people and the state call for agents extraordinary…



…no, hang on, this leads to Sooty in a skin-tight leather cat-suit and then madness!


Let us instead try to BE extraordinary.

We can start by unfreezing the Icelanders' money, and sit down and talk to them, talk to other countries and see if we can't solve this TOGETHER. The old Labour/Conservatory approach of BLAMING others and throwing up barriers… we know that that doesn’t work; this is the LIBERAL solution, the internationalist solution, the reach-out-to-others-in-need-and-they-will-reach-back-to-you solution. But more importantly, it's the ONLY solution.