London Mayor warns Obama: Stop Bashing Britain

[BigBadBrian]

Senior Tories today warned Barack Obama to back off as billions of pounds were wiped off BP shares in the row over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Mayor Boris Johnson demanded an end to “anti-British rhetoric, buck-passing and name-calling” after days of scathing criticism directed at BP by the President and other US politicians.

Former Conservative Party chairman Lord Tebbit branded Mr Obama's conduct “despicable”. And with the dispute threatening to escalate into a diplomatic row, Mr Johnson also appeared to suggest that David Cameron should step in to defend BP.

He spoke as the US onslaught against the firm became a “matter of national concern” — especially given its importance to British pensions, which lost much of their value today as BP shares plunged to a 13-year low.

Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today whether he thought the Prime Minister should intervene, Mr Johnson said: “Well I do think there is something slightly worrying about the anti-British rhetoric that seems to be permeating from America. Yes I suppose that's right.

I would like to see cool heads and a bit of calm reflection about how to deal with this problem rather than endlessly buck-passing and name-calling.

“When you consider the huge exposure of British pension funds to BP and its share price, and the vital importance of BP, then I do think it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great UK company is being continually beaten up on the international airwaves.

“OK, it has presided over a catastrophic accident which it is trying to remedy but ultimately it cannot be faulted because it was an accident that took place. BP, I think is paying a very, very heavy price indeed.”

Downing Street steered clear of criticising Mr Obama's conduct but in an apparent reference to concerns over UK pensions highlighted the “broader impact” of the spill and the need to deal with it swiftly. British business chiefs are alarmed that tough talking by Mr Obama and other US politicians is undermining the battered oil giant

BP's shares fell by 12 per cent at one point today on the London market, after hitting their lowest level since 1997 in New York trading overnight, amid intensifying political attacks in the US. Their price dropped to 345p in early London trading before recovering to 370p — still down five per cent.

The slump means the firm's share price has almost halved since the spill started in mid-April, when a well ruptured and the rig exploded, killing 11 workers.

Mr Cameron is due to speak to Mr Obama at the weekend over the issue. Among the President's criticisms of BP was his suggestion that chief executive Tony Hayward would have been axed if he had been working for him.

BP said its latest effort to capture oil from the leak with a cap was now collecting about 15,000 barrels a day.

[ELVIS]

To hell with BP!

Obama needs to get MORE assertive with these people and they WILL be faulted!


:elvis:

[Igosplut]

Well, of course Senior Tories doesn't have to worry about oil washing up on HIS shores does he? And that's fine to worry about British pensions, but they chose to invest into oil stocks because of the high yield. With that comes risk. So too fucking bad they lost (and on a side note I BET BP goes bankrupt VERY quickly to avoid paying anymore then they have to for this) What about all the lost jobs for the fisherman/related business in the Gulf?? Through no fault/making of their own?

Yes, the prime minister should defend BP. They only care about what THEY'VE LOST, fuck what happened here. Just ONE MORE government that sucks the cock of big oil......

[binnie]

Well, of course Senior Tories doesn't have to worry about oil washing up on HIS shores does he? ....

Dude, did you read the article? 'Senior Tories' is not a person - it is a plural for 'senior (i.e. superior) members of the Tory party'. Not ragging on ya, just making a little correction.

As a Brit, I can honestly say that most of the people here, and most of the media coverage, is very condemnatory of BP and sympathizes greatly with those effected by the catastrophe. Boris Johnson is largely seen as a 'novelty' or 'joke' politician, a buffoon who was fobbed off into the position of Mayor of London because he stood absolutely no chance of holding major political office. Norman Tebbit WAS a major political figure right around the same time that Ronald Regan was: in the 1980s. What I am saying is that the views of these two men do not, in any way, represent the views of the Birtish people and government. Boris has a record of putting his foot in his mouth - people might be concerned about pensions, but that concern in no way outweighs the sympathy for the those suffering the effects of the spill.

[Igosplut]

Dude, did you read the article? 'Senior Tories' is not a person - it is a plural for 'senior (i.e. superior) members of the Tory party'. Not ragging on ya, just making a little correction.

Yes, I read it, but misunderstood that. Thanks for the correction.


As a Brit, I can honestly say that most of the people here, and most of the media coverage, is very condemnatory of BP and sympathizes greatly with those effected by the catastrophe. Boris Johnson is largely seen as a 'novelty' or 'joke' politician, a buffoon who was fobbed off into the position of Mayor of London because he stood absolutely no chance of holding major political office. Norman Tebbit WAS a major political figure right around the same time that Ronald Regan was: in the 1980s. What I am saying is that the views of these two men do not, in any way, represent the views of the Birtish people and government. Boris has a record of putting his foot in his mouth - people might be concerned about pensions, but that concern in no way outweighs the sympathy for the those suffering the effects of the spill.

I'm not blaming the people of Britain in general, Just one's (that are connected/sympathetic to BP) that would make statements like that. Nobody wants to see their retirement evaporate (as many have over here), But I have the ominous feeling that BPs gonna bail on this (bankrupt before any real cleanup happens) and the worst impact is still away's down the road.

And i still say you gotta change your sig. It should read :Dip me in TUNA juice, and feel me to the Lesbians You'd stand a much better chance then.....

[binnie]

And i still say you gotta change your sig. It should read :Dip me in TUNA juice, and feel me to the Lesbians You'd stand a much better chance then.....

Hahahaha! Outstanding!

I agree with you that BP will do everything possible to worm their way out of this - they won't get much support from the people here if they do, however.

[Seshmeister]

Boris Johnson is the UK equivalent of Arnie - a protest vote novelty. Wait until you see this joker at the 2012 Olympics.
Norman Tebbit is a nasty geriatric cunt who left politics 20 years ago after using it as a way to make money suckling the tit of big business.

[binnie]

Norman Tebbit is a nasty geriatric cunt who left politics 20 years ago after using it as a way to make money suckling the tit of big business.

And, as Margaret Thatcher's right-hand man, is probably as responsible for the culture of greed, selfishness and consummerism in Britain, and the decline of the working class, as any other human being. I'd say that he'll burn in hell for it, but I know that you don't believe in things like that Sesh :D

[Seshmeister]

It's very tiresome how long these cunts are living for.

I've had a special bottle of champagne chilled for Thatcher for 2 years now since her last health scare.

[Seshmeister]

I just found out the 1 in 6 of all pensions in the UK are tied into the BP share price so I guess that's why people are getting pissy.

BP shares are down 40% partly down to Obama. If I had a pile of money lying around I would buy some since Obama is obviously just doing some shouty PR and BP are insanely rich and will wriggle out of this.

[binnie]

I just found out the 1 in 6 of all pensions in the UK are tied into the BP share price so I guess that's why people are getting pissy.

.

The only people getting prissy are the right wing media - take a look at the front pages of the Daily Mail and Daily Express today. Compared to the smacking that pensions took when the banks went belly-up, this is small fry; and, given that BP will recover eventually, for most pension funds, its only a short term blip. If someone is retiring in the next couple of months, it might effect them. Otherwise, it won't.


I would say most people here are flabbergasted by the fact that oil companys clearly don't have contingency plans for disasters like this.

[Seshmeister]

I take it that the front page of the Express was something about Diana's car being filled with BP petrol...

[ELVIS]

I applied for work with BP for placement and maintenance of boom...

$1500 per day for 18 month contract...

I need a helper and i'm set...

Getting the boat lined up now...


:elvis:

[ELVIS]

But I predict BP goes chapter 11 very soon, so who knows how long that kind of money will last...

[Seshmeister]

I predict they won't.

They are richer than a lot of countries.

They will play nice just now, maybe 'sack' a few directors for show but once things settle down they will raise an unholy army of 20 000 lawyers...

[ELVIS]

Well, I'm going to ride around in my future father-in-law's boat for as long as I can...

[ELVIS]

They are richer than a lot of countries.


Maybe so, but they are a company that has to earn it's money, not a country that can just print it...

[Seshmeister]

Well, I'm going to ride around in my future father-in-law's boat for as long as I can...

He's not so much gaining a son as losing a boat. :)

[ELVIS]

:tongue0015:

[binnie]

You two should quit flirting and get a room: if you have children, however, they are going to be very, very confused on Sundays.....

[Nitro Express]

Let's not forget BP is drilling the Alaskan north slope and in control of the Alaskan pipeline. A pipeline past it's designed use term. In the past the law stated that only US oil companies could drill Alaska and all the oil had to be used in the US. Not anymore, the politicians were bought off and now a British company is taking our oil.

[Nitro Express]

I just found out the 1 in 6 of all pensions in the UK are tied into the BP share price so I guess that's why people are getting pissy.

BP shares are down 40% partly down to Obama. If I had a pile of money lying around I would buy some since Obama is obviously just doing some shouty PR and BP are insanely rich and will wriggle out of this.

The richest people in the world are BP shareholders. Evelyn de Rothschild being one. Just that one family owns much of the world's wealth. If anything, they can merge the company in with another and change the name but as long as the world uses oil and there is no real competing fuel, they have us. One reason I wish they would make a law and sell flex fuel cars. It only costs $100 extra to make one. That way you could burn ethanol or petroleum. I'm in the ethanol business and we run flex fuel cars. There are parts of this country where ethanol could compete with oil. Bio diesel or propane made from natural gas is another alternative. This would add in some competition.

[Nitro Express]

It's all about the money anyways. If it's hurting someone in Britain financially then they aren't happy. It didn't ruin their tourist season or destroy their fishing business so they don't give a ratt's ass. If the problem was in their backyard it would be different. All they are worrying about is holy shit, my shares have gone down!

[ELVIS]

Yep...

[Nitro Express]

We are entering an era where multinational corporations have become more powerful than individual countries. The European Union was put together by a bunch of well connected individuals behinds the scenes. The average European just watched their individual sovergnty dissolve in the name of one currency and free trade. They were pushing the North American Union hard when I was finishing college clear back in 1990 but now we see the BS and the failure. Basically the basket case countries like Italy failed even under the EU while Germany stayed solvent. Now it's coming apart and these elite assholes are trying to tape it back together.

Then you had cap and trade and it's failure in Copenhagen. What's interesting is China has stopped loaning money to the US and Europe and passing such things relies more on bribing than anything and various organizations tried to borrow their bribe money and could not get it. So really China and Russia aren't playing ball with this whole put the world under one happy corporate umbrella.

They are going to steal all the money they can by raising taxes, cutting services, raiding savings and pension funds while they try to save the Euro, socialize the US, possibly attack Iran, and make the International Monitary Fund an international treasury department.

The sick joke is they are still selling cap and trade via global warming; even though, it's pretty much whipped.

I think this whole oil disaster, the economy, and the internet is going to make things different. I don't see it as business as usual. I think the average person wants a sovergn state instead of having their state taken over by a global cabal of corporations. Watch these corporations sell themselves as the good guys coming to save us from the horrible depression. They will just sell another union to save the world. I don't think people are going to fall for it. I don't think they are going to get much more from Obama. He's a talking doll nobody listens to anymore.

[Igosplut]

The richest people in the world are BP shareholders. Evelyn de Rothschild being one. Just that one family owns much of the world's wealth. If anything, they can merge the company in with another and change the name but as long as the world uses oil and there is no real competing fuel, they have us. One reason I wish they would make a law and sell flex fuel cars. It only costs $100 extra to make one. That way you could burn ethanol or petroleum. I'm in the ethanol business and we run flex fuel cars. There are parts of this country where ethanol could compete with oil. Bio diesel or propane made from natural gas is another alternative. This would add in some competition.

Ethanol creates more NOX than gas, and is what the EPA is hammering away at the car manufactures about (And as an aside, NOX is mainly a manufacture/power plant pollutant and shouldn't even be considered when the EPA will not address the main source of it) Cars are a very small source, but by the numbers they get hammered for it. Also, I've (and others) have seen more problems with O2 sensor contamination/malfunction since the Ethanol mix was instituted (we don't have a choice in MA). It could be argued that the risk of a number of malfunctioning emissions in autos from this would offset any gain from the mix (not to mention the cost to owners). The switch to Air/fuel sensors has solved this, but that is still a small majority of auto manufactures (mostly Asian). This isn't a big problem in the North-East (where you lost cars to attrition from the environment/rust) but in Southern-Western states (and states where there are no Emission testing) where cars can be driven for longer periods of years this can be a big contributor to HC emissions....