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Listed below are comments made by veryfedup between Wednesday, 16th July 2008 and Thursday, 26th March 2009.

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Wot no Dan? 5:54pm on 26 Mar 2009 Full marks for discussing this but poor effort in terms of explanation. Unfortunately it feels that you are employing a Gordon Brown tactic of no responsibility.

There was an opportunity before this article to comment about the buzz around his response which has been created on Youtube... but you decided not to.

Perhaps being in Brussels insulates you from this - which would sound a more plausible explanation.
Euro-Gordon steps into line 10:04pm on 25 Mar 2009 Like Gordon Brown cannot say sorry and take responsibility for the failure of this Government, Mark Mardell continues to ignore the story that everyone here is watching - the Daniel Hannan response. Go on Mark show that you have some steel and admit in your blog tomorrow how the Daniel Hannan story has captured the agenda without any traditional media help!
Was Fred really 'the shred'? 10:40am on 25 Feb 2009 The reality is that at the time of the takeover of NatWest - NatWest was being poorly managed.

In the last months before being taken over and the NatWest management realised that a takeover was a reality - they started to actually raise their game.

One Exec - who was brought in for the last few days - and then received a great severance payment when RBS took over (and happens to be friends with Gordon and is doing a nice little earner at Northern Rock) remarked that if NatWest had been performing to the level of the last couple of months over the previous couple of years then they would not be subject to the takeover.

So the reality is that the previous NatWest management helped the ball rolling.

Fred's reputation for micro-management was well known - stories of advertising concepts being signed off at first-class departure lounges before he went on holiday, choosing the lead for an advert and then realising that he did not like the accent - so demanding a voice-over, even down to the positioning of the kitchen at Gogarburn so his scallops would reach his office at the perfect temperature have all done the rounds.

With regards to the integration having "no harm" to customers then that is not strictly true. The internet banking service was not seen as a critical service for the big day switchover - and it went wrong. Busloads of people were brought from Edinburgh and all over the country to Harrogate to sort out the mess from the data conversion.

How the press did not big that up is anyone's guess - especially as several people stated this would happen...

However, when you get an organisation like that - then people start being scared to make decisions and that is what happened - the mass of the organisation became drones - while waiting for the next commands from on high.

I have no doubt that Fred is a clever person - but he turned into a bully - and those on the board that had the power to rein in this bullying neglected their duty.

The irony is that Fred and Gordon are so alike - and that while people start looking at who to blame - we should start thinking about the culture that was created - by Government, by the regulators and by the instituitional shareholders who were happy to encourage or condone the bullying culture at these places.

Unfortunately, it seems that this culture is being perpetuated at the next banking merger monolith...

When will they ever learn?
Lloyds and HBOS humbled 2:40pm on 16 Feb 2009 Agree that the BBC commentary over the weekend has been totally out of keeping - more akin to sensationalism than proper journalism.

Why have they dragged themselves to this level.

The one thing, I find ironic is that whichever political party had been leading the country, Labour, Tories, Lib Dems or Monster Raving Loony Party - the situation with the banks would still have happened.

While they were making big profits, contributing large amounts to HMRC and funding big companies helping to create more employment then who was going to be the party pooper?

The institutional investors seem to now have amazing hindsight of what was going to happen - in which case why didn't they sell up and take the cash?

Because everyone was enjoying the ride...

Now the ride has stopped they are all blaming each other - when in reality they are all to blame!

I found the Treasury Select Committees with the bankers interesting - politicians asking for straight answers when they never give straight answers themselves! Hypocrites interrogating hypocrites.
Who'd make your Ashes starting XI? 09:42am on 23 Dec 2008 At least we all agree that this is the end of Bell. For those commenters who say he is class - well before this cameo of a 2nd innings his scores have been....

1, 7, 17, 4, 24, 20, 50, 4, 31, 199, 0, 21*, 8, 16, 110, 9, 41, 11, 54* and 25 in 2008.

An average of 36 - saved by the 199 in the summer - and he has still yet to score a test century when no other player has in an innings...

Even Rob Key had a better run after his double century before he was dropped.

I think we should say goodnight to his career - so much promised but no cigar.
HBOS: Recession Bites 11:53am on 03 Nov 2008 Point 5 - Robert's estimate that there will be at least 20,000 job losses may end up being accurate BUT let us not forget that banks like all businesses do not keep staff 100% of the time each year.

All businesses have staff attrition rates - and if the banks have say an attrition rate of say 10% then in Year 1 alone that would mean 14,000 staff will leave - and they don't have to be replaced.

So let's make this clear - 20,000 does not equal redundancies...
The most divisive and tasteless selection in cricket history 10:09pm on 09 Sep 2008 I am pleased that Vaughan has been given a Central Contract and I am sure he will answer all his critics including those on this board.

However, why is Strauss singled out as the likely candidate to be dropped? Surely Ian Bell's record should also come under more scrutiny!

In Tests, he has scored centuries only when another player has scored a century - he has not scored a century under very high pressure - as Cook, Strauss, Vaughan, Pietersen and Collingwood have all done.

In ODIs, he has flattered to deceive and putting him in as an opener seems like a final throw of the dice for a player that just does not deliver the results in the middle order.
Where judo grapples, others will follow 9:43pm on 09 Sep 2008 Before criticising Sir Clive Woodward, I suggest people read his excellent book "Winning!".

There were a lot of calls for his head after the 1999 Rugby World Cup - and his honest assessment of the situation was used against him but thankfully the support of some of those in the RFU ensured that he could carry out most of his plans for the successful 2003 World Cup.

At the end of his book he states his concerns at the lack of access to players for 2004 and that the country vs club conundrum needed to be sorted out - which eventually happened this year.

The 2007 World Cup showed that when the England players had significant preparation then they stood a chance of success - and if only they had borne the lessons from 2003 then we could have seen back-to-back victories if access had been consistent rather than one year out of every four.

Interestingly, as announced on this site, Martin Johnson has announced that the England team will once again be based at Pennyhill Park - just read Winning! to see why it is a significant factor.

So before anyone criticises CW's results - remember Rome was not built in a day - and that the success of the Olympic and Paralympic cyclists has been around 8 - 10 years in the making - again there was an excellent article by the former Head of GB Cycling talking about the lessons they learned...
England bowling lacks menace 2:38pm on 21 Jul 2008 Wake up call for England...

The following need to be dropped for the Third Test:

Cook replaced by Key
Bell replaced by Shah
Ambrose replaced by Foster
Broad replaced by Harmison
Pattinson replaced by Sidebottom

and Vaughan needs to know that if he does not score runs in the next two matches - then he does not have Brearley status and will be dropped for the winter tours.
Unfair banking 12:52pm on 16 Jul 2008 Unfortunately Mr Peston, you seem to have lost the balanced arguments and seem to side with the government and government bodies...

Firstly, why don't you look at the studies of the costs of banking to consumers in other countries - you will be surprised to find that the UK is one of the cheapest in the world - blows a bit of a hole in the OFT argument.

Secondly, this government, the OFT and the FSA seem to have decided that people are not responsible for their own actions and therefore if anyone goes overdrawn then it must be the banks fault. Surely it is the individual - if you want to make sure people spend responsibly then teach financial education in schools as it seems that the edict of my parents which means that I avoid going overdrawn or borrowing more than I can afford is not being given to the current generation.

Thirdly, transparency... well we would have transparency except that this government and its quangos such as the FSA have brought in so much regulation and legislation that if you want a career for life then I suggest you go into Compliance - the fastest growing area in the banking industry.

Fourthly, you would think the FSA was there for the consumer - but as I have had from first hand experience when I went for an interview - there only concern is ensuring they have jobs for the future. I quote "Dear boy, why are you worrying about the consumers, the role is to ensure that we are seen to provide information, justify our role and hopefully expand the budgets available." Absolutely astonishing...

Finally, the OFT say only 6% of those sampled have changed bank accounts in the last 12 months. ONLY 6% - do the OFT have a target figure??? What is acceptable - 10%, 20%, 50%.... Frankly 6% should be seen as reasonable in this market. I take financial services from more than 5 companies - and a choice of banks that is around 10 and other financial institutions that runs into 100s... But my supermarket shopping is restricted to around 4 or 5 stores.

Get some perspective. A final thought if bank accounts were a license to make money then why do all the new entrants focus on the other products - such as credit cards, loans, savings, etc... maybe because there is a huge infrastructure cost as people still want branches. So it costs £1 or whatever to produce the overdraft letter - but what about all the other costs - it is easy to be over simplistic.

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