Brief Banter By Ben

Brits are now getting seriously cheesed off with Mr Obama. His desperate attempts to gain ground in his ever diminishing ratings are apparently making him lash out at his partners in the "Special Relationship" which seems to be very much one way. Does he not realise that BP employ 10,000 people outside the USA, but 20,000 inside the USA , and that 39% of the share holding in BP is held by US investors !

This is a company that was granted licence's by the USA to drill in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico so that USA can get cheaper and more "secure" oil and gas instead of being dependant on the Middle East with its associated risks.

So come on America, FFS wake up! The best technology in the world is working 24/7 to solve this problem, Don't you think they know how bad it is? BP has made mistakes but the US govt did give the OK to drill there, a mile under water then another 1 to 2 miles into the sea bed. ..... and the rig was American owned and staffed.......

Oh by the way Mr Obama, in the cause of balance, when are you going to clean up Bhopal in India, only 2,000 people died... Thousands injured, and you ( the USA ) refused to make the accountable person(s) from Dow/Union Carbide available for court hearings, and the then CEO is now comfortably retired in the Hamptons, yet the ruined factory is still untouched after 24 years and associated land unusable because of the toxic fall out, and birth defects still increasing....

Just seen this article in "Private Eye"

"Adding anger in the U.S. over the catastrophe in the Gulf, is the fact that two of the firms most closely involved are based even further offshore than the Deepwater rig itself, mainly for tax reasons.

Transocean, the firm that operated the rig ( under contract ) for our own BP, moved from the US to the Cayman Islands in 1999, and then to Switzerland in 2008.

Halliburton, which was cementing the well before the blow-out, is regarded as a very American company, but actually started moving most of it's operations to Dubai in 2007.

Both Switzerland and Dubai has extremely attractive and opaque corporate tax regimes for overseas companies. I wonder why Mr. Obama is quiet on this, at least B.P. pays it's taxes in it's own country, the UK.

Buy British fuel - Don't go to American oil companies such as Texaco, Esso (Standard Oil) Amaco , etc