Mandy Watch No.8

Baron Mandy of Fop is at it again, so it appears. His Lordshit is now embroiled in a row over his relationship with PR firm Finsbury which is run by Roland Rudd, whose son is Mandelson's godson. Rudd's firm represents BAA, BAA have secured the Heathrow runway extension, Mandelson vigorously supported the extension in Cabinet and Rudd had numerous meetings with Mandelson (and other ministers) before the decision was made. Rudd's firm also represents the Russian oligarch on whose yacht Mandelson holidayed. You can read more HERE.

Big Wheel Turning?

Here we go again. One company’s money making venture is an anathema to vast numbers of other people and I think those who are worried have every right to be. It seems that ‘one of the nation's leading visitor destinations’ – don’t you just hate that term – is planning a giant 112ft wheel to be up and running by the summer. The Lomond Eye is expected to attract thousands of tourists courtesy of a unique perspective on the Loch Lomond landscape. The company behind the idea is Loch Lomond Shores, which believes the structure – equal in height to the Edinburgh Wheel on Princes Street at Christmas – represents a major tourist draw.

Let’s take this in shall we. They think that the wheel will be a tourist draw. No it isn’t! It’s Loch Lomond and the surrounding area that is the tourist draw this is merely a scheme to make money off the back of it. There’s certainly an argument to say that while they might make more money putting it up and charging a pretty penny to go on it, the numbers of tourists overall visiting the area could be hit. Certainly more people probably don’t want to look at one of these things on the bonnie banks.

It’s one thing having them in London, Edinburgh or York where they are sited among a built environment but quite something else in the natural beauty that is Loch Lomond. The proposal has yet to be approved by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, which governs the national park, but those behind the structure claim it would not be visually intrusive.

They would and they are barking if they think that.

Loch Lomond Shores attracted more than 1.2 million visitors last year, and Clare Gemmell, the centre manager, views the wheel as a means of increasing that figure. She said: "We have no intention of this attraction being seen as a funfair big wheel, and we will ensure the structure and the promotions surrounding this proposal will be seen as an educational, environmental tool.

The centre had 1.2 million visitors, it didn’t attract them and how can it be seen, as anything other than what it is. . .a bloody great wheel!

To cap it all those experts in all things tourism Visitscotland are hoping that the Lomond Eye could be as successful as the Falkirk Wheel, which last year attracted over 500,000 visitors. Do they not get it?

In an increasingly busy, built environment we need to protect the natural beauty that offers visitors to Scotland respite from the visual assault that cities provide. A few years ago the former head of Scottish Boarders Tourist Board said to me. “The trouble with the Borders is we don’t have a world class attraction.” This scheme is a result of that same muddled thinking. We have the best world-class attraction of all in Scotland. The beauty of the hills, mountains, lochs, views, seashores, moors and the fact that there’s not a lot of people.

Let’s not try to fix it, ‘cos it ain’t broke.

Money's Not Too Tight. . .

OK, let's get this straight. Fred Goodwin, I can't bring myself to call him Sir Fred, isn't contractually bound to get the £693K pension that he's been given. It was a deal agreed by the RBS Board (which indeed is our bank in which the Havers' millions are deposited) to somehow reward him for his years of service. The government knew he was getting this pension last year but said nothing. . .now there's a surprise. Meanwhile we have a new Chief Executive of RBS (I wonder what his pension arrangements are?) in the shape of Stephen Hester (salary £1.2 million and a pay-off package reported to be £4 million if he's sacked) who finds it difficult to answer the question as to why some of the people who are still on the RBS board were the same people who gave Goodwin his pension deal.

Then you have the BBC senior executives justifying the salaries they are paying to some of the presenters by saying that they would get that much in the commercial sector. No they bloody wouldn't! Has anyone noticed the dire straights that ITV and commercial radio are in?

Oh yes, and then we have the likes of Peter Mandelson, Baron Fop of Mandy who is another that seems to be given a whopping salary to be a government minister because none of our elected MPs are up to the task. So we make him a Lord, for which he gets paid handsomely by us the tax payers.

What's this all mean? It's a bloody cartel, a club in which those who are running it decide whose in it, decide what they are going to get and then police it as well. There's something very rotten in the state of Britain and it won't be long before something happens that will be related to releasing the pressure.

World Class Golf Resort in the Rough

. . . and no it's not the Donald's

The multi-million pound celebrity golf resort on the Ury Estate, near Stonehaven is under threat as the Edinburgh-based FM Group of companies, which includes the firm behind the golf course project, FM Developments, has called in the administrators..

Jack Nicklaus had been due to open a £40m ‘world-class’ course in time for 2010 season; it’s Nicklaus that has designed the course. According to the administrator "We're firmly committed to exploring the future options available for the group's developments and in particular the ambitious plans for the Ury Estate and its proposed Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. The Ury Estate is a stone’s throw from the Donald's ‘billion-pound’ development.

A Sign of the Times....

What do you say to an Investment Banker?

A 1/4 Pounder with fries Mate!

Yer Little Bliar. . .

According to the Daily Mail. "Tony Blair faced fresh allegations of cashing in after launching a business venture touting political and economic advice. His new firm, Tony Blair Associates, will allow wealthy clients the chance to buy the experience of Britain's longest-serving Labour Prime Minister.

On the basis of their expenses wealthy clients could be almost any one of the current cabinet. Still I suppose after he loses his job our current great leader will get a job running Tony Blair's economic advice division. On the other hand perhaps not if Cherie's on Tony's board.

The Trouble For Trump

It's simple really. The Donald's business model is to get people to stump up the money and call whatever they're doing Trump – Trump towers. Trump casinos, Trump resorts etc. Trying to get to the bottom of where he has his money invested is difficult. Certainly the demise of the casino business has cost him dearly but what about the other projects around the world? The slowing of work on the New Orleans project, the apparent problems in Dubai and several other difficult situations do nothing from brand Trump.

When it comes closer to home who exactly are the people who are going to be putting up the money to build, 'the world's greatest golf course'? Will they now be thinking again about digging deep into their pockets to fund the scheme? This despite the protestations of Team Trump that, "The money is there, ready to be wired at any time. If we needed to put the development up tomorrow, we have the cash to do that. It is sitting there in the bank and is ready to go."

Does anyone seriously believe it in the current climate? What's more how bad is the damage to the Trump brand are this week's events? Naturally the Donald is having none of it, his brand is “stronger than ever” and that “sophisticated people understand that the casinos were a very small portion of my net worth and I had nothing to do with the management of the company.”

I wonder what the Scottish Government think now about throwing themselves at the Donald like school girls trying to get close to some X-factor winner, hoping that some of the charisma will rub off. What about those 500 houses? The hotel and all the jobs that were going to come flooding into Scotland as a result of the Donald deigning to come home to the mother country to spread some of his largess? On his web site it opens with a big sounding splash that says 'Welcome to the world of Trump.' Some world!

The Donald Gets Trumped

The Donald's former flagship gambling concern, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, will be delisted from the Nasdaq after the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing this week. Yesterday the stock was down to 10 cents. Meanwhile following the bankruptcy, The Donald, who is the largest individual shareholder, with a 28 percent stake in Trump Entertainment, relinquished a large chunk of stock. Trump has disclosed in a securities filing on Wednesday that he had "abandoned" nearly 9.4 million shares. He has failed to explain why. The Trumpster still owns about 1.2 million shares of common stock.

What does all this mean in corporate terms and how does it affect the building of 'the world's greatest golf course'. Well back in November 2006 the Trump Resort shares were trading at over $23, making that the value of the Donald's shares that he has 'relinquished' worth over $223 million. The shares that he still owns were worth close to $29 million in November 2006; those same shares are now worth $120,000

No doubt this will in no way affect the Menie project. Meanwhile another of the Donald's project has suffered a blow. The $400 million Trump International Hotel & Tower in New Orleans (a Trump project that doesn't cost a billion? Surely some mistake - Ed) is on hold until the markets recover from the recession.

On a happier note the Donald has just had a grandson. . .his name? Donald Trump III. No pressure at all then.

Oh Dear What Can The Matter Be? Trumptown Latest.

Back in November 2008 the man who runs Billionaire Donald Trump's Scottish operation said that he had a billion £. "The money is there, ready to be wired at any time. I am not discussing where it is, whether it is in a Scottish bank or what, but it is earmarked for this project. If we needed to put the development up tomorrow, we have the cash to do that. It is sitting there in the bank and is ready to go."

Well there's news this morning that might make that a little more difficult to believe. According to Reuters. "Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc , Donald Trump's casino group, is expected to file Tuesday for bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company's board was scheduled to meet late Monday night to decide whether to authorize the filing, the newspaper reported in its online edition. Otherwise, the casino operator would be forced into bankruptcy involuntarily by creditors, the newspaper said."

Unfortunately the timing of this little financial worry could not be worse. The Donald is about to start a new season of the Apprentice on American TV. Perhaps he'll fire himself? Oh he already has...

Because the Donald is no longer at the helm of his troubled casino operator – at the weekend he resigned. The resignation followed weeks of negotiations with bondholders to restructure debt. Apparently Trump could not come to terms with the company’s creditors in seeking to refinance $1.25 billion in debt owed by Trump Entertainment. He said bondholders would neither sell the company to him nor accept his offers to repay existing debt. “I strongly disagree with the bondholders’ decisions and actions. Part of the reason that these bondholders can’t make a deal is… they’ve lost so much money on this deal, and they’re probably going to lose so much money on other deals, that my impression is they don’t care.”

Trump who controls over a quarter of the company's stock has seen the value of his shares crash to around 25 cents each from $4 a year ago. Will this make him a nearly billionaire?

Bloomberg are reporting that Trump’s exit from the gaming company may endanger the sale of the Trump Marina Casino to Coastal Marina, a deal already entangled in financing problems. Trump Marina’s price had been lowered to $270 million, still quite a bit of cash for the cash-starved company.

Of course this is not the first time. Back in the early 1990s he almost went to the wall when his Atlantic City casino, it too cost a billion (do all his developments cost a billion?) and was built with money from high-interest junk bonds ran into trouble. Such was the level of debt servicing that was required that it ate through most of his companies cash and almost finished him. Trump had to file for bankruptcy protection.

Meanwhile according to the Herald this morning. Gordon Dewar, the secretary of the Scottish PGA, last night revealed that he had made an audacious bid to lure Donald Trump, the US tycoon, to the Tartan Tour as a sponsor for the Northern Open. The 72-hole championship, one of the oldest professional events in Scotland, will still go ahead in May despite losing the financial backing of the anonymous benefactor who has bankrolled the 78-year-old tournament for the past four years.

"We have a number of sponsorship options that we are working on but we thought it was worth giving the Trump idea a go," admitted Dewar after receiving news that his bold move had failed.
It was a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained and we did receive a response thanking us for our inquiry but that nothing would materialise."

So where does this leave the development of the greatest golf course in the world? Naturally complex corporate financial arrangements are at play and the Donald's golf and construction empire will be totally divorced from his gambling empire. But, who would still like to bet on there being a billion in the bank just ready and waiting to finance the Menie project? It's all pretty hair-raising

Alastair Campbell Still Tellling it Like it is

Alastair Campbell has a new web site on which the banner claims he's "a communicator, writer and strategist." He's also started a blog in which he says he's "I have enjoyed some of the exchanges (on facebook) with political opponents, of which I seem to have a few, despite having left the frontline ages ago." This despite also saying "Tories welcome (to the blog). Some of them anyway, if only to be told where they're going wrong.

There's a section on the blog where it talks in the third person about his public speaking. Part of it says. "He is towards the top end of the fee scale for paid public speaking engagements. But he speaks regularly, pro bono, for charitable, political and educational events. "

Pro Bono? Does that mean he likes U2?

Tell It Like It Is

So, RBS seem to be saying that they may be paying bonuses to their senior management. How can this be when they've lost such spectacular amounts? Most of the country seems to be happy having a job at the moment. But then what does Gordon Brown say. "We expect whatever decisions are taken to reflect the conditions of the economy and the performance of the banks. There are no rewards for failure in what we are proposing." Meanwhile his new best friend Mandy (who last night said on TV "Remember small business grow into big businesses." – what insight!) said. "What I would say is please be mindful about how this looks and what public opinion will be,

What is it with politicians that they find it so hard to speak in proper clear language. "RBS you must not pay those bonuses." Is what he should say. The Government owns 70% of RBS after all.

28 Million People Should Buy This Book

Did you know that about 28 million people worldwide can claim Scots ancestry? It means if they all turned up during the year of homecoming we'd be in deep trouble! I know this fact because I've just heard about a fascinating new book to be published next month called Scottish Genealogy by Bruce Durie.

Did you also know that Scotland has possibly the most complete and best-kept set of records and other documents on the planet? Given the extraordinary worldwide Scottish diaspora, there's clearly a need for a thorough guide to Scottish genealogy; Bruce Durie’s book brings authority to the subject and is firmly based on established genealogical practice. Bruce disabuses the reader of the many canards which have accompanied the recent upsurge in interest in family history, notably that it’s ‘all on the internet,’ that there is such a thing as a ‘family coat of arms’ and that everything written down must be true (just check out the blogosphere!).

Bruce is the Course Director in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde and was formerly a biochemist, pharmacologist and neuroscientist; he is also Archivist and Historian to the Chief of the Durie Family and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

The Day The Music Died – 50 Years Ago Today

The 3 February 1959 was immortalised in the song American Pie by Don MacLean as “the day the music died”. It was the day on which Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash in Iowa. Eight years later Joe Meek, the eccentric, and sometimes brilliant, record producer, shot himself after shooting dead his landlady at his flat in the Holloway Road. Two years later John, George and Ringo signed a management deal with Allen Klein, while Paul opted to go with his father-in-law Lee Eastman. This was a year to the day after recording Lady Madonna, which was exactly four years after they arrived in NYC to begin their first US tour. Two years to the day after Buddy Holly died Bob Dylan recorded his first song, San Francisco Bay Blues. On the positive side a number of rock and pop people have been born on 3 February. On the day that Buddy Holly and the others died, Lol Tolhurst of the Cure entered the world. In 1947 Dave Davies of the Kinks and Melanie were born. A year later Ozzy - although his mum called him John - Osbourne let out his first wail. . .I’ll refrain from making the obvious link.