Economic matters
‘The pound has continued to gain against the dollar, rising above $1.70 for the first time since October on optimism about the UK economy.’ – BBC
‘It is not surprising that the bankers want to get back to the good times and pretend that they still function in a market economy; the argument Varley deployed yesterday to justify the high salaries and bonuses. The assertion is absurd. If the banks were operating in a market economy, a lot of them would have collapsed last autumn. They were saved by government intervention and only function now, in some cases, as heavily subsidised companies.’ – Steve Richards, The Independent
‘In this context of massive public sector support, it is scandalous that the practice of paying staff excessive bonuses persists. These bankers should really be paying back their bonuses of previous years which, as we now see, were based on illusory profits, not raking in new ones.’ – Leader, The Independent
Unrest in Iran continues
‘Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, formally endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term as president today, seven weeks after bitterly disputed elections prompted mass protests and deep divisions within the country’s elite.’ – Peter Walker, The Guardian
‘This was not the most confident display of power by the regime. Only the day before it had launched a mass trial of more than 100 government opponents with the televised confessions of a former vice president and a former deputy interior minister. The show trial nature of the proceedings was too much even for some hardline supporters of the supreme leader. This is the problem with having to up the dose of repression just to get through each week: it has less and less effect and the opposition continues to muster impressive displays of dissent.’ – Editorial, The Guardian
Sats results
‘There has been a slight fall in the proportion of 11-year-olds in England reaching the standard expected of them in English national curriculum tests.’ – BBC