Ladies and gentlemen,
We had a very pleasant, well-attended lunch last month, with a short debate on the BBC World Service radio, proposed by yours truly after the fashion of Mark Anthony at Caesar’s funeral. After a spirited rebuttal by Allan Poot based on the ecological benefits of closing the transmitters, the result was pretty much a 50/50 vote on the motion. So there it rests, with no mandate for further action. We were joined by the BBC Awards sponsors GNE, and their President Abel Rasterhoff, who gave us excellent insight on the current affairs disasters resulting from the cucumber genocide earlier in the year. If only the police force of London had been present, they might have better understood what was about to be visited on them! Ilse van den Meijdenberg, the new Chair of the IoD in The Netherlands, was also present, and has offered to tell us a little more of her organisation at a future lunch.
CADS Cricket Clinic
This month we have a most timely outing to the Amsterdamsebos to revisit the International Cricket Ground. As you may know, English men and women everywhere can hold their heads high at the moment when cricket is mentioned, having just regained the position of the best cricket team in the world. John Richardson has organized the outing, and we will enjoy a cricket clinic, followed by an excellent pavilion lunch.
CADS golf
Next month we have the first ‘formal’ lunch of the autumn term, and the CADS golf day. The golf will be held at Haarlemmermeersche on Friday the 16th September, starting at 1230 for the golf and 1800 for the dinner. Costs are roughly 50 Euros for the golf, and 35 Euros for the dinner with wine. Please let me have your entries by 5th September, together with your handicap if you are golfing.
Comps & Robbers
Recently we have had dreadful events on the streets of London and Manchester, with looting and violence by some young gang members and the criminals who incite them. Lost amid the media storm was a report from Income Data Services, that directors in Britain’s top 100 companies have accumulated final salary retirement pots worth £2.8m each on average, widening the gap between pensions awarded to boardroom executives and the shop floor. Whilst over 75% of final salary schemes have closed to new workers over the past 10 years, only 3% of the directors’ schemes have closed in the same period. And some company directors have awarded themselves pension pot contributions of up to 29 times salary over the past year! All well and good if the company belonged to them, but when they rob other stakeholders to enrich themselves, it is as much a crime as looting the local store. And these are the top 100 companies – all of them publicly quoted. Is it any wonder that the public is revolting…