YOUR VIEWS

THE BAIL OUT THE OWNERS SCHEME

READING Ray Fleming's column on the boon that Labour may make available to football fans split my sides. Fans are to have the “opportunity” to invest in their favorite teams, especially those in financial straights. To me the scheme looks like a method for greedy owners to water the stock and offload securities to unsophisticated investors at inflated book prices. If implemented fraud will be rampant. Well meaning enthusiastic fans will be shorn like sheep.

Rule of thumb: Hold your billfold and run whenever a socialist thinks he understands the workings of the market. The pedigree of the scheme ought to be explored. My guess is that it involves near bankrupt owners and/or larceny minded owners, a substantial donation to the Labour Party, and a financially naive party organizer/fundraiser. The in place owners will retain complete control. The only difference will be that they will have even more of the fans' money. All the fan will have is a stock certificate that he will be able tack on the inner door of his loo whenever he's constipated. That way he'll be able to look at it, think of the money and, er, cure his constipation.

If a group, fan based or not, wants an insolvent team, the bankruptcy courts are the best agents to sort it out. If the team is viable, normal ways of raising funds are best used. There is nothing to stop an investors syndicate from casting a wide net that could include fans.

Harry Young, Dorset
DEAR SIR,

GESA

I OWN an apartment with 2 separate electricity fuse/power boxes, a hangover from the time when it was 2 separate apartments, thus I receive 2 separate bills. That's no problem to me.

I've never defaulted on a bill to GESA, and my consumption is as low as I can get it, with use of low energy bulbs and efficient appliances etc. Then I heard through the grapevine that all consumers needed to have their power boxes inspected and a special seal fitted. I made my way through the jungle of poor information about ICP's, made worse by the fact that although GESA have thousands of customers who are itinerant tourists who don't speak good Castilian or Catalan, absolutely no translation was available in literature, or on the telephone “help” line. Accurate information was impossible to find.

I booked a private electrician to do the initial work - this totalled 240 Euros because the older power box (which was working perfectly) had to be replaced to fulfil the new regulations. I was totally honest in my assessment of maximum potential, (each half of the apartment with a different “potencia”), although average consumption is massively lower. The electrician on my behalf then telephoned GESA with details of the work done. Then there was a later visit from GESA to inspect the work and to fit a seal on it. This took a matter of minutes.

I was outraged to discover on my latest bill that GESA have now taken, in addition to my electricity consumption of 36.11 Euros, an extra 259.81 Euros from my bank account with no warning whatsoever.

My consumption has increased not a jot. The power supply into my boxes is exactly the same as it was. This has nothing to do with saving the planet, and everything to do with GESA's profits. It is a scandal. Yet they clearly have cart-blanche to do this. I can ill-afford such needless imposed expenditure. I'd be interested to hear the experiences of other readers.

Steve Riches