The great dissembler himself, Peter Mandelsom, has his latest pronouncement
faithfully reported by the BBC:
'Lord Mandelson has launched a personal attack on the president of Barclays, Bob Diamond, branding him the "unacceptable face" of banking.
The business secretary told the Times that Mr Diamond, head of the bank's investment arm, had taken £63m in salary which could not be "justified".
He said he had made the money by "deal-making and shuffling paper around".'
Of course the facts are somewhat different:
'Barclays said Mr Diamond had a basic salary of £250,000 and dismissed the £63m figure as "total fiction".
A spokesman added that Mr Diamond took no bonus in 2008 and 2009.
BBC business editor Robert Peston said the pay of top business leaders was "ferociously" complicated.
However, he believed Mr Diamond earned £6m last year from a long-term incentive scheme and £27m from selling his stake in a Barclays-owned business which had been sold.'
So who to believe? Peter 'dodgy mortgage application' Mandelson or Robert Peston? When even the loyal Robert Peston can't back Peter Mandelson up then you know something is dodgier than normal is being attempted by the master of the dark arts of spin. What is being attempted by Peter Mandelson is a piece of misdirection, shift the attention from Labour's increasing isolation over the National Insurance increase, with a renewed attack on evil bankers. Maybe Peter Mandelson could answer the following questions: What was Gordon Brown doing to control the evil bankers when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and the money supply was heading ever higher and the retail money markets were flooded with cheap money? What did Gordon Brown do to stop the banks from offering mortgages at five or six times first salary and twice times second salary? What warnings was Gordon Brown issuing to the banks about their actions at the time?
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