Numbers to add up

So let's have a look at what these billions and trillions really mean. Most of us deal in singles and tens, or hundreds and thousands if we're well off. The billions & trillions of George Osborne's world tend not to register with us, except as "a lot".

One million hours ago was Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Long-distance telephone was in use.

One billion hours ago, people (homo sapiens) first walked the earth..

One trillion hours ago, South America was still joined to Africa; mammals began to appear.

One trillion is the amount of pounds we gave to British banks.

That's how much they cocked it up. That's how much Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, thinks we should just forget about and move on ... meanwhile, encouraging us to blame one another and take the punishment.

Barclays chief Bob Diamond - he of the £11.5m pay package - has been saying for the past year that "The time for remorse is over". Our Chancellor, it seems, agrees that multi-millionaires have no need to be sorry while we, the voters who pay his salary, should feel very remorseful. So much so, he's going to make damn sure we do ...

Click to see all

I tried making a chart to show the difference but a trillion is so huge, the other numbers didn't show up; not even the billion. Somebody's done a neat graphic representation here, using $100 notes for size.

The Bank of England put the bailout bill at £1trillion in 2009. There have been further bailouts since then. It's even more now.

£1trn. is £19,608 per UK adult (at 51m. in 2011). That's how much you gave.

Well played, Mr Diamond!
[pic: Daily Mail]

I want to clarify that I don't question the need for this bailout. I think it was a stopgap measure, but that's beside the point. Our economies at present depend on the banking system to 'create' wealth and, since nobody had their eye on the ball at the time, we'd little choice but to keep it in the air after some clumsy fool dropped it.

What I do mind, very much, is being told that I - and my neighbours, my elderly mum, the nephew going debt-ridden to university next year, the niece with a new baby, friends with disabilities and disabled children, the newly redundant and the families in my doctor's waiting room ... being told that WE cost too much and WE are greedy.

I resent being asked to give up the securities our parents fought so hard for, and which we have PAID for. Purely because our governors are blindsided by the wealthy.

Andrew Haldane, of the Bank Of England, said in February 2011 that the cost of the credit insurance we have collectively provided to our banks is worth £100bn a year. He bases this on 2009 figures so, with the way insurance premiums go, it would be worth at least £115bn now. That's roughly the entire cost of the NHS and half the welfare bill.

I mind that this premium is still unpaid, unasked-for and taken completely for granted. This year the big four banks will announce  profits of £24bn. That's not counting the billions of pounds paid in bonuses and bloated pay packages. HSBC will also announce an imminent move to Hong Kong, thus ensuring they'll never have to pay us back.

Recovery of unpaid mega-taxes would generate £95bn for our economy. All the banks, Vodafone, Philip Green and his 'Top Shop' group of companies, Boots, drinks giant Diageo and Tesco are among the worst offenders.  They made their money out of us - and now we're being asked to pay all over again.

Articles worth reading:
There Is An Alternative [PCS]
The Government's Line [UKuncut]
Targets [UKuncut] - These pages explain why they have chosen certain companies for attention.

What can I do?

If you're up for personal action, join UKuncut. Some of their protests are very imaginative and quite funny - it's worth finding their videos on YouTube.

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