Pressenza Pressenza International Press Agency London, 1/28/12 Paul Flynn, MP reports in his blog:

“It not just the £million bonus. The bailed-out RBS [Royal Bank of Scotland] bank has spent over £2.5m of British taxpayers' money to influence politicians reforming US financial law. They handed over this fortune to American lobbyists. Both in-house and commercial lobbyists have been paid to influence American senators and congressmen reforming US finance law since the bank's collapse and government bail-out in October 2008.

The money has been handed over despite calls from ministers for RBS and other banks that have received taxpayers' handouts to refrain from hiring public affairs firms.

According to the documents, the bank spent $4.13m from October 2008 to December 2011 on lobbyists as it tried to influence three different areas of legislation”.

Almost five years after the bubble of the mythical neoliberal “success” burst, regulation of the financial system that caused the crash is as far away as it was then, but the real lives of real people are being strongly “regulated” by the same neoliberal orthodoxy. Reduction of public spending, privatisation of health and education, taking the welfare rug from under people’s feet, is all being applied ruthlessly whilst arms contracts soar and Banks reap their usual profits (often taken as indicators of a healthy economy) with complete disregard for the rest of humanity.

If there was ever any doubt that it is not a matter of patching up the system but seeking a real transformation we only need to look at Davos 2012 World Economic Forum. Crisis in the Eurozone? More austerity measures! They are getting a bit predictable…