Oh our PR could be alot worse
Oh our PR could be alot worse. We could of got RIM to organise it for us.
John Stuart Mill described the British Empire as "outdoor relief for the middle classes". The phrase "indoor relief", at the time, referred to the state-sponsored workhouse programme, which invented jobs for the poor to prevent them being idle. Mill was implying that the Empire was a gigantic job creation scheme. But in the …
CYNIC, n.
A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision. [ Devil's dictionary ]
Since most western countries have passed laws making bribery of officials illegal (sidenote: I wonder how many palms were greased to get those laws through?) You can't just bung a wad of dosh at a purchasing manager and hope for the best. No, you have to make it all look official, above board and thoroughly respectable. What could be more respectable than a government backed scheme to tell the russians how to use their oil reserves more efficiently?
Obviously it's not an inducement, as it's all out in the open - or at least it is now. And if the russians, or the indians or the chinese or anyone else was to just happen to decide to award some "consultancy" contracts to british firms? Well that just goes to show how effective government "grants" can be.
Corrupt? Moi?
Purpose: Create a framework document that will serve as the basis for future schemes offsetting carbon emissions against growth in renewable energy means. Ensure it is of sufficient complexity to permit extensive graft opportunities when implemented.
Cost: My G&T fund, £38,000 - plus first dibs on implementation, cushy directorships in strategic roles with little oversight, you know the sort of thing old boy...
These people aren't been payed to try to persuade the Russians, or any other country or government, to change their policy. These people are being paid because they're mates with someone who has access to our tax money.
This is nothing but blatent theft of tax money.
The average energy-poor (and, generally, poor) foreigner is aware of only one relevant thing. The rich West has energy; he doesn't. He doesn't want "advice", he wants energy because he's seen how it lifts a society out of poverty. Give the Gov a few more years to screw up our energy infrastructure, and we'll start re-learning that lesson ourselves.