J-C Juncker thinks the EU should be “intransigent” towards Britain. Be it noted that the EU does not however feel minded to be intransigent towards itself. It jolly well ought. I illustrate this with a piece from Guido:
“The EU’s auditors have failed to sign off Brussels accounts for the 22nd year in a row, claiming that they are ‘materially affected by error’. Some examples of waste include a project where the team tasked with repaving a 1 kilometre footpath in Italy ended up buying a €4,000 mountain bike, a €3,500 panoramic spyglass and donating €10,000 to a local church from their budget. An agency in Mozambique claimed €874,309 for office and lab supplies but provided no proof the items were ever bought. The accountants had an ‘adverse opinion’ of the legality and regularity of EU payments, a term which is used only in serious cases of error. Congratulations to the EU, 22 years in a row…”
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Surely it is possible to produce something identical to Marmite. A fortune awaits the chemist that achieves this. The only problem is to give it a name. Almanzor does not feel quite right. What offers?
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About nine months ago I issued a letter to the Financial Ombudsman Service on behalf of my brother-in-law and my son-in-law since their stockbrokers had invoked a barmy (i.e. completely mad) rule to their clients’ disadvantage and refused to admit their error, itself induced by the barmy FCA. Since for nine months I had had no acknowledgment from the FOS I enquired. All they had done was to send a general customer satisfaction questionnaire to my brother-in-law so he could comment on what the FOS had done. He replied that he could not comment since the FOS had done absolutely nothing.
Incidentally, this disagreement with the stockbrokers arose through their being asked to be clear as to what is a complex instrument/investment. The stockbrokers did not know, and subsequent enquiry by me showed that nor did the FCA. Golly! The FCA is useless: they have rules which entail consequences and they do not know what in effect the rules are.
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I would have thought Jessica Ennis-Hill could apologise for her stance over Ched Evans. As for an apology from the ghastly harridans that hounded the poor fellow, no chance.
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Finally, Orosur (OMI) has come up with stunning figures this morning.
Cash is at long last rolling in. Of course it can be spent fruitlessly. But it is not fatuous to suppose that net of tax profit in the year ending 31st August 2017 will be north of USD10m and that cash will match it. It is time for OMI to indicate that it will pay material dividends. The CEO is calling in at Drayton Gardens this afternoon. I will give him an ear-bashing.