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[Politics] Ethical Investment
Jan. 15th, 2007 09:47 amThe latest buzz term in investment is ethical investing. I first encountered this as a concept about fifteen years ago whilst talking to someone about their investment portfolio and having them tell me about how they wouldn't put thier money into things that they disagreed with, like weapons manufacturers and so forth. However, as time has gone on ethical investment has gone from being a personal decision like that was to being big business - I doubt any major financial institution now doesn't offer ethical investment opportunities, from Green Funds to full-on Ethical investment right through to the slightly off-centre Blue fund for US Democrats.
You might have seen the news the other day regarding the ongoing fallout of the recent 'cash for peerages' scandal-ette which is that whilst the Conservative Party appears to have had a bumper few months and cleared it's outstanding cashflow shortage though donations, the Labour Party is still some £12m in debt. As the Guardian noted on December 17th, "More than £20m in debt, if Labour were a company, the party would now be calling in the receivers."
Whilst an interesting question would be what the constitional implications are if the ruling party of the day were to declare bankruptcy, this won't happen - Labour will fight back out of it's financial black hole through a mix of donations and loans. The difference is that now loans must be declared and charged at commercial rates, and with the recent hike in interest rates, commercial rates are about 7.5%.
And it's this that gave me my latest cracking wheeze. With commercial interest rates of 7.5%, a £10,000 loan over a 5-year term will carry about £50-60 per month in interest as well as payments to reduce capital. With this in mind, I'll be setting up a fund whose investment strategy will be to lend money to the Labour party because, when you think about it, there's no more ethical investment you can make. Every £10,000 lent to Labour will take nigh £3-4000 out of their coffers which otherwise they would waste on haircuts for Cherie, pies for Prescott and fighting elections - none of which I think are things anyone would really want to encourage them to do.
Thus the more money I lend to Labour, the higher my return and the less money the Labour party has to actually spend. Indeed, if I lend the party enough money it will actually put them out of business altogether, and I doubt anyone can think of a more decent, ethical way of spending your money than the destruction of the Labour Party.
I'm planning on calling this the Bankrupt The Labour Party Mutual Benefical and Friendly Society and shall be seeking investors.
The BTLPMB&S. It's good for the planet, it's good for the country, and it's good for you. Who's in?
You might have seen the news the other day regarding the ongoing fallout of the recent 'cash for peerages' scandal-ette which is that whilst the Conservative Party appears to have had a bumper few months and cleared it's outstanding cashflow shortage though donations, the Labour Party is still some £12m in debt. As the Guardian noted on December 17th, "More than £20m in debt, if Labour were a company, the party would now be calling in the receivers."
Whilst an interesting question would be what the constitional implications are if the ruling party of the day were to declare bankruptcy, this won't happen - Labour will fight back out of it's financial black hole through a mix of donations and loans. The difference is that now loans must be declared and charged at commercial rates, and with the recent hike in interest rates, commercial rates are about 7.5%.
And it's this that gave me my latest cracking wheeze. With commercial interest rates of 7.5%, a £10,000 loan over a 5-year term will carry about £50-60 per month in interest as well as payments to reduce capital. With this in mind, I'll be setting up a fund whose investment strategy will be to lend money to the Labour party because, when you think about it, there's no more ethical investment you can make. Every £10,000 lent to Labour will take nigh £3-4000 out of their coffers which otherwise they would waste on haircuts for Cherie, pies for Prescott and fighting elections - none of which I think are things anyone would really want to encourage them to do.
Thus the more money I lend to Labour, the higher my return and the less money the Labour party has to actually spend. Indeed, if I lend the party enough money it will actually put them out of business altogether, and I doubt anyone can think of a more decent, ethical way of spending your money than the destruction of the Labour Party.
I'm planning on calling this the Bankrupt The Labour Party Mutual Benefical and Friendly Society and shall be seeking investors.
The BTLPMB&S. It's good for the planet, it's good for the country, and it's good for you. Who's in?
