The deputy governor is favourite to succeed Mervyn King in the top job, so another parliamentary appearance needs to go well
Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, is odds-on favourite to get a promotion – and that's despite the Financial Times backing him to succeed Sir Mervyn King as boss.
The Pink 'Un did the same favour for Neil Kinnock just before the 1992 election, but despite what counts as a second setback to Tucker's campaign, the white smoke is still expected to be billowing out of Threadneedle Street to announce his ascension around the time of next month's autumn statement.
With that in mind, it may be worth staying awake longer than usual when tuning into this week's parliamentary commission on banking standards hearing, where Tucker will appear alongside King and the Bank's financial stability boffin, Andy Haldane. Tucker will hope for an easier ride than he got during his parliamentary grilling on the Libor crisis, although the odds suggest only a George Entwistle-style performance could fell him.
Still, while he may be way out in front, the 54-year-old is not the only horse still running. Lord Turner, bouffant-haired chairman of the Financial Services Authority, is giving evidence to the same hearing three days before his rival, when he'll be hoping to impress interviewers more than he has the bookies. Paddy Power now makes him joint third favourite (from four runners).
Troubled times at Homeserve
Homeserve is one of those companies that sells insurance to cover the cost of emergency plumbers turning up at your home. The company has been dealing with an emergency call of its own this year, having seen its value slump by a quarter after being hit by one of those Financial Services Authority mis-selling investigations that seem obligatory within the sector.
So the City will be looking forward to the group's interim results this week from boss Richard Harpin (who promises to be with you between 8am and 1pm, so expect him to arrive in time for tea).
Shareholders will be hoping that Harpin turns up with the right parts to fix their woes, although some wonder if he might soon be leaving, particularly if he's more concerned with telling gags. The best of those has been selflessly sending schools a copy of his book: A Mind for Business: The Secrets of how Award-Winning Entrepreneur Richard Harpin Built a £1bn Business – a tome rated by its one Amazon reviewer as the "least useful business book". That's an accolade equal to Harpin's Entrepreneur of the Year gong; useless business books are publishing's most competitive genre.
Double dose of eurozone bust-ups
This week promises not one crunch eurozone summit, but two – a brace of events that may yet rival our own election double-header last week (for police commissioners and a new Corby MP, if you recall) for raw excitement.
First off will be a meeting between finance ministers and IMF boss Christine Lagarde, who returns from her Asian tour early to tell Brussels exactly how they should be sorting out the Greek economy.
Lagarde reckons eurozone governments should absorb more of Greece's pain. Jean-Claude Juncker, the Eurogroup president, does not. "You know, it's not over until the fat lady sings," Lagarde told a press conference in Manila – in a virtuoso display of how to deploy an English cliche alongside a plausibly deniable dig at Angela Merkel.
Later in the week comes David Cameron's big chance to shine, by playing the role beloved by every Tory leader since Ted Heath and failing to get near the level of EU budget cuts that his backbenchers will applaud. Italian PM Mario Monti smirks: "Using British understatement, I would say our positions have points that are not completely aligned," – a line that might not please Cameron. Just like Lagarde, it sounds rather like Monti's taking the Mickey.
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.guardian.co.uk |