More Dishonourable Behaviour

My article three weeks ago referring to Lord Carrington is once again in the forefront of my mind.

Today the BBC tells me that the "Chief Executive" of Oxfordshire County Council, one Miss Symons, will not be resigning following the disgraceful case where a bunch of Asian scum (why are they here?) "groomed" young girls for sexual purposes; the girls were raped.  One assumes that a number of lives have been ruined.

It has emerged that the one of the mothers of one of the girls had approached the Council for assistance in this regard and that the Council conspicuously failed to act - "the door was slammed in my face."

Were this third-rate CEO to have a scintilla of honour, she would have resigned by now.

Of course she hasn't; that's the way moral responsibility is viewed these days. Such people are paid vast salaries for the responsibility they undertake; should their organisations fail - as Miss Symons admits hers has - then they should go.

I should add that the police have also failed in this case - there are no reported resignations; perhaps someone will retire early on "medical grounds" and on a full pension; I would not be at all surprised.

Until the next time.

Lady Thatcher's Funeral

As I wrote last week, thousands of words will be written and spoken on this subject.  I have raised it solely because I was pleased to see that the Viscount Carrington was present.

I mentioned him in a post here in 2008; (I am sorry that half the text in the original has disappeared; blame it on HTML. The second gentleman in this article was a French banker who though entirely innocent, resigned immediately following the appalling acts of certain of his staff). 

Lord Carrington was for me, the epitome of the disinterested aristocrat, a type which  thanks to disastrous experiments with taxation, democracy and socialism, now is more or less extinct.   Look on, Mandelson, Blair & co. and weep.

Sic transit gloria I say.

Afterthought:  I noticed that Mrs Blair has finally found some manners and managed to wear a hat.

Until the next time

Two Gentlemen

It has been said that one definition of a gentleman is "someone who can play the bagpipes but doesn't."

I have no information concerning the two gentlemen I am writing about today in this regard, and my awarding them the accolade - and indeed writing about the matter - is my whim of course; I should mention perhaps a third (but fictional) gentleman in this connexion since his family motto was "As my whimsy takes me."*

So, to my two real-life gentlemen.

The first earned his spurs (that is in my own experience) in 1982, when he resigned as British Foreign Secretary. This was following the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina. The Rt Hon Lord Carrington, for it was he, took full responsibility for the complacency that resulted in the withdrawal of the minimal naval force in the area allowing the disgusting General Galtieri to proceed with the invasion which he hoped would distract the Argentinian population from his appalling regime. It is my understanding that Lord Carrington resigned on a matter of principle (as the Secretary of State responsible) and that it was in reality his underlings (the Ministers of State at the Foreign Office) who should have gone.

Lord Carrington. Picture Source: NATO

The Rt Hon. Lord Carrington. Picture source: NATO

I have mentioned this 26-year old event because it was brought to mind today by another gentlemanly act (at least in the light of the information I have): the resignation of the President of the French Bank Caisse d'Epargne, M. Charles Milhaud.

M. Milhaud resigned following the loss last week of €600,000,000 owing to "unauthorised derivatives trading" by a team at the Bank. In his statement, M. Milhaud pointed out that these trades were made despite specific instructions to the contrary, issued by Milhaud himself and some of his co-directors. The bank is in no danger whatever of collapse, by all accounts unlike certain others not so far from France - that is until their government bailed them out (or effectively nationalised them).

However M. Milhaud after a 45-year career** at the Caisse d'Epargne opted to take responsibility; two of his fellow directors have also resigned.

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It is true that we are living in exceptional times, but M. Milhaud's behaviour in this affair reminded me of Lord Carrington and contrasts pleasantly with some of the rather unattractive characters in certain banking communities that have cropped up in the news recently.

It would be depressing to discover that M. Milhaud was obliged by pressure from the French government to fall on his sword. I hope I don't.

Until the next time.

*Lord Peter Wimsey of course.

** Just imagine: a career banker in charge of a bank these days - I prefer this idea to some of those spivs running other institutions!

BLOODY HTML! The link to the picture source under Lord Carrington's picture does not appear. I have been obliged to place it above the picture. Apologies, but not my fault.