Sunday 24 October 2010

Monday 18 October 2010

Who Asked Them?

So apparently
"The leaders of 35 of the UK's biggest companies have expressed their support for the government's plans for spending cuts running into billions of pounds.

The bosses of Marks and Spencer, BT and GlaxoSmithKline are among those to have signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph." (BBC)
My question is, why on earth is this considered news?

These people have salaries in the millions, they're less reliant on public services than anyone. Why would anyone care what cuts they think are appropriate?

It'd be more pertinent to pick a random bunch of people off a geriatric ward or picking their kids up from nursery. Or how about asking some of the kids trying to escape war and slavery by seeking asylum in the UK?

Of course "business leaders" are going to support public spending cuts - lower tax for them, high unemployment meaning a nice cheap pool of labour, and opportunities to cash in on outsourced contracts and low property prices. Their opinion on cuts is as predictable as it is irrelevant. It's not news and should have been filed in the bin.

"GlaxoSmithKline Uses £7.8 Billion Profit to Distribute Free AIDS Drugs to Poor Countries" - now there's a headline we're all waiting for.