Welcome to Earth

A lovely morning on Radio four. The crossword's not done, Kakuro unfinished.

"What planet is this hateful man (Sir Christopher Kelly) on?" asked the annonymous MP."I feel powerless and insulted"

Has he never thought of himself as an employee in the public sector? Most of us have had years of limited pay rises without the benefit of expenses and a bad press.

"We do live in the real world," said Stephen Hester, justifying the Royal Bank of Scotland.

But in which universe? It's not mine and it's not Pratchett's - Vetinari would talk to you about angels.

On Earth, in this universe: my bin men are on strike because it's the only way they can show their unwillingness to take a pay cut that they have no other power to refuse, radio 4 tells me that workers are out of work because their employers have gone bust because the banks won't lend and the interest on savings - ie. the money that the bonus paid bankers use and risk to make their bonuses and their savers' interest - has fallen by 4%. Are bonuses are limited to 2 1/2% of salary?

I can't understand why MPs think deciding thier own salary and conditions of service is fair. I can't understand why banks can be in the private sector and yet be granted immunity from the forces of that sector - 'too big to fail' ? outgrown their usefulness!