Kate Swan, Self-Serving Lords, Self-Help and Plastic Surgery Nonsense
Kate Swan, the boss of the airport and station retailer SSP Group has suffered a shareholder revolt over her £6.2 million pay package as she prepares to leave in May after six years. She has been paid a total of £22.4 million since she lead SSP to a float in 2014. She holds shares worth £40.3 million.
(The Times, 2019)
Have the shareholders woken up at last?
The Lords
One in five members of the House of Lords work as consultants or advisors to private businesses while serving in parliament.
An analysis by the Guardian of the register of Lords’ interests shows 169 peers reported they were working as advisors this year, and more than a dozen said they were paid by foreign governments in addition to the expenses they are entitled to as peers.
The consultancies range from a former Conservative MP advising the company of a Romanian businessman facing extradition to a former chief of defence staff who advises the Bahrain government.
The worlds of finance, energy, mining and defence are extensively represented among peers’ clients.
… A labour peer, Lord Levy, has apologised after admitting he failed to register three private interests connecting him to a billionaire Russian businessman.
(The Guardian, 2019)
Have the shareholders woken up at last?
The Lords
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Studies made in the House of Lords John Lavery (1856-1941) Photo Credit: The Fitzwilliam Museum [CC BY-NC-ND] |
An analysis by the Guardian of the register of Lords’ interests shows 169 peers reported they were working as advisors this year, and more than a dozen said they were paid by foreign governments in addition to the expenses they are entitled to as peers.
The consultancies range from a former Conservative MP advising the company of a Romanian businessman facing extradition to a former chief of defence staff who advises the Bahrain government.
The worlds of finance, energy, mining and defence are extensively represented among peers’ clients.
… A labour peer, Lord Levy, has apologised after admitting he failed to register three private interests connecting him to a billionaire Russian businessman.
(The Guardian, 2019)
Jobs for the boys. The House of Lords is the second biggest legislative chamber in the world after the Chinese National People’s Congress, which represents 1.4 billion people. Theirs is full of Communist Party members. Ours is full of bishops, judges, land-owning lords and assorted wealthy people. Which is the least democratic? Isn’t more radical reform of the Lords a necessity? Mind you, don’t hold your breath. They started the reform process in 1911 with the Parliament Act.
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Zusammenbruch, Ludwig von Hofmann (1861-1945) Photo Credit: Leicester Arts & Museums Service [CC BY-NC-SA] |
Three million such books were sold – a rise of 20% - according to figures from Nielson Book Research, propelling self-improvement or pop psychology into one of the fastest growing genres of publishing.
(The Observer, 2019)
Ludicrous and bizarre.
Plastic Surgery
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Portrait of a Girl, Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND] |
To a 17-year-old, wanting lip filler is like wanting some boots from Zara.” Sarah Tonks, a cosmetic doctor based in Chelsea, told one interviewer recently that these days, fillers are just an extension of the make-up bag.
… Cosmetic enhancement for them isn’t about delaying the ageing process because they’re too young for that. It’s about enhancing what they’ve got.
(The Times, 2019)
How can seventeen-year olds afford lip plumping or nose reshaping? Surely parents aren’t giving them the money?
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