Rose given a helpful hand
APOLOGIES from regulators are not very common, except among football’s VAR enforcers confessing human error. it is refreshing that the information Commissioner’s office (iCo) has apologised to former NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose for suggesting it had made a finding against her when she had not been investigated.
Rose found herself in the firing line from the iCo after it found that NatWest had breached data protection laws by allowing details of Nigel Farage’s bank account to become public.
The information Commissioner now acknowledges that it never gave Rose a chance to comment on its findings.
it was NatWest, as the data controller, which was the subject of the investigation, not its former chief executive.
The ioC’s correction could be helpful to Dame Alison, her lawyers and advisers as they combat efforts to claw back up to £11m of salary and share incentives due under the terms of her contract.
Rose was effectively dismissed from NatWest after its biggest shareholder HM government, with a 38pc stake, encouraged her departure when details of Farage’s bank account at Coutts were inadvertently disclosed. it is normal practice for regulators to run their findings past all individuals affected. The right of reply is seen as part of natural justice. in the case of the well off and powerful, it can be weaponised as a means of delaying findings or disciplinary action.
We live in an age when social media, rolling news stations and commentators can rush to wrong judgments, which fix in the public mind and are never fully squashed.
it generally has been accepted in public debate about the economy that the office for Budget Responsibility assessment that the UK would suffer a 4pc hit to output as a consequence of Brexit was holy writ.
New analysis of Britain’s trade patterns by the free market institute for economic Affairs shows that the UK’s commerce with the eU has failed to show any adverse impact from Brexit, let alone a calamitous loss of growth.
in the world of geopolitics, it is hard to shift similar errors. By the time that Western intelligence had determined that the israel Defence Forces bore no responsibility for the destruction at the al-Ahli Hospital in gaza, it was fact on the Arab street.
erasing factual errors, with enormous financial, economic and political consequences, is all but impossible. That is especially true if the narrative is one which powerful factions or people want to believe.
As NatWest chief executive, Rose has become a victim of a false narrative as far as the ioC is concerned. None of this excuses naivety in disclosure of confidential customer details to the media.
We can no longer expect the highest standards from our high street banks after so many behavioural failings.
Power play
BRiTAiN’s titanic struggle to meet climate change targets is admirable and for the greater good of the planet.
But when it sacrifices the wellbeing and safety of the nation, you have to question the speed of adjustment.
in the greater scheme of things, the government’s intention to speed up investment in offshore oil and gas by holding annual auctions may seem provocative.
securing energy supplies has never been more important. At the weekend, the UK’s friends in Riyadh conspired with foes in Russia to keep the oil price high by limiting production. That will hurt almost every citizen in Britain this winter. Matters could get worse with the World Bank fearful that conflagration in Middle east could send the oil price to $157-per-barrel.
Unlike the Us, which has prospered from the fracking revolution, Britain is never going to be self-sufficient in fossil fuels. However, as the nation transitions to a green future, the knowledge that there is local production available, even if it is sold at market prices, ought to be comforting. Moreover, it should be positive for the balance of payments and the pound. Maybe that’s what ‘securonomics’ – as shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves calls it – should be about.
Wrong number
is Telecom italia showing the way ahead for europe’s struggling national phone networks? ending speculation, Telecom italia (with Rome’s approval) has agreed to the sale of its fixed line operation to private equity kingpins KKR for £17bn.
The whole of BT, including thriving mobile network ee, is valued at just £12bn. That points to serious mispricing.