No wonder Russell Brand looked nervous on Question Time the other week. Since expressing some forthright views about the way our current system penalises the poor for being poor and rewards the rich for being greedy, he has been: criticised by The Sun because of his landlord's tax affairs; criticised on Question Time for having the temerity to express anti-establishment views without putting himself forward for political office (the man in the audience who shouted him down was later identified as being the brother of a UKIP councillor), and has generally drawn the wrath of many people, including Johnny Rotten (the rebel who then went on to make butter advertisements).
Now, we have "Jo from Northern Ireland" who, following the incident at RBS, decided to send an open letter to RB, because he was angry that he couldn't get back into his office and his lunch had got cold.
"Jo" wrote that he didn't speak for RBS and that he was not an RBS employee but that he was currently working at RBS. He has apparently now identified himself as Joseph Kynaston Reeves and in LinkedIn he is described as being a "business analyst at First Derivatives for RBS".
It must have taken quite some time, effort and research to compose what followed, which initially masqueraded as friendly ("I like you - but") humour but soon became a character assassination, and a right wing diatribe.
There is a reference to RB having been fired for broadcasting hardcore pornography whilst under the influence of crack. I don't know how true that is but even if there is truth in that statement, a large chunk of our media - newspapers and TV channels - are owned by Richard Desmond whose core business was and still is pornography. Presumably he doesn't even have the excuse of being off his head on drugs. Nevertheless, he is thought respectable enough to have been accepted to run the Health Lottery.
RB is also criticised for his connection to Hollywood studios because "Jo" alleges it is well known that they "cook the books". Surely American actors and actresses who are given positions as "Goodwill Ambassadors", "Peace Envoys", etc., have or have had much closer connections to Hollywood - should they also be expected to hang their heads in shame?
"Jo" then lambasts RB for going on Question Time (it being part of the "establishment") and also takes the opportunity to have a pop at the BBC at the same time: "Although I can't help but notice that you have no qualms about appearing on the BBC in return for money raised through one of the most regressive taxes in the country, a tax which leads to crippling fines and even jail time for thousands of poor people and zero rich people." I think this is pretty rich coming from someone working at RBS which was bailed out by the British public to the tune of £46 billion.
There then follows a justification for bankers' bonuses on the grounds that they are "conditional" and don't have to be given (though it appears they always are paid out, however atrociously the bankers behave and perform). He then says he knows nothing about the recent FX trading scandal or PPI or any of that "shit". Perhaps he preferred not to dwell on that subject in too much depth - or perhaps he really just doesn't get it.
RB is then labelled a "bully" for, from the brief footage I've seen, engaging him in discussion.
This is Russell Brand's reply: www.russellbrand.com/2014/12/8164/
Just as a footnote, I noticed in "The I" today a column in the Business Section entitled "RBS sells loss-making Irish loans for £1.1 billion". RBS is said to have "offloaded" these "risky" assets to an American private equity firm. One wonders why a private equity firm would want to purchase an asset which has apparently made an £800 million loss in the last year. I seem to recall that the financial meltdown happened because toxic loans were "smuggled" into seemingly "sound" financial products. It seems nothing much has changed - and that is what RB is trying to say.
