U.S. Fury at BP Stirs Backlash Among British

reply to post by HunkaHunka


Yes it forms the foundation of the British economy and it is part British and as such is important to Britain.50 billion has been wiped off the share value it provides 12p in every £1 to pensions.But it is also important to the US this is a break down of the share holders.
www.bp.com...
As you can see the US has equal share in the company and also BP employs three times the number of US citizens than British.It is in no ones interest to bash BP before they can stop the spill and people find out what really caused the accident.They have agreed to pay right from the start already spending two billion dollars on the clean up.Luckily they have deep pockets.

If everyone would just take a breath and relax for a moment. It isn't
the citizens against citizens in this mess. None of us have a bit of control
over anything. If Americans in the Gulf are mad at BP, that is to be
expected. They are not mad at the Brits who are scratching by as the rest
of us here in the US are. The Brits have no need to be mad at the citizens of the US. I just hope that the oil doesn't come to their shores anytime soon. They might change their tune about BP then, but let's not argue among citizens.

Originally posted by endtimer
of us here in the US are. The Brits have no need to be mad at the citizens of the US. I just hope that the oil doesn't come to their shores anytime soon. They might change their tune about BP then, but let's not argue among citizens.

The reason there's no outroar, is because most citizens are too distracted or because our media doesn't show the intensity of the spill.

But as has been mentioned this is an arguement between rich, corrupt politicians and rich, corrupt corporates.

It's you and me my friend who will suffer - through damaged eco systems and shore lines and we'll both lose money as the fat cats argue with each other.

Sad but true.

Well if I may say. Here in Alabama, we are pissed at BP. Mainly because that is what the MSM constantly reports on. Our media has used tactics to go and place all the blame on BP instead of the other parties as well. I can see the British MSM blaming the disaster on poor American oversight right now in order to split us up. Unfortunately there are too many reasons this happened.

Shoulda blasted it closed on day one. Lots of blame for the politician that can't make executive decisions.

I agree mr lizard. We should direct our energies towards the fatcats
who are screwing us skinny cats. But the citizens of each country
should try to work together and stay in touch with each other, and
not be at each others throats, by arguing and placing blame.

reply to post by INQUISITION11



Who cares how much of an interest American or British stockholders have in the company? The stock market is a gamble. If the company you bet on screws up, you can lose.

Why are people pretending that the solution to this fact is to prevent the company you are gambling on from accepting the natural consequences of its actions, rather than the solution being to invest in companies who are more careful and behave more ethically?

If what happens here is every single penny BP has goes to the cleanup and the corporations is dissolved and the stockholders lose everything, so be it. Corporations are already a vehicle for the OWNERS, (the stockholders) to avoid personal liability. Which is already part of the problem, Because all they CAN lose is the stock, and not their homes etc, they dont maintain pressure on the company to behave decently.

What you seem to be suggesting is that we not only allow that little escape from liability for your actions or inactions clause, but that you add a new one in which we protect the company from the natural "death" (dissolution) that it may end up meriting.

The solution here is not that we need to protect these behemoths that we foolishly allowed ourselves to become utterly dependent on as nations, the solution here is that we need to pay the price for our foolishness, let them fall, and move forward understanding that "too big to fail" is too dangerous for nations.





[edit on 11-6-2010 by Illusionsaregrander]

We here in the states have more than enough to hate about our own incompetant government that we have no need to lash out against anyone outside of the country.


I have never, repeat never heard one single solitary US citizen have bad words against the UK, it's people, or even it's government. And I find it difficult to believe the average Brit is much outraged at Americans over the situation either.

We are all subject to the same manipulation at the hands of the same crooked corporatists. We are in the same exact boat.


This story is pure spin, or what us folks down south like to call "hogwash."

reply to post by MR BOB


Ignore him. Retseh is a troll. He likes nothing better to wind up Brits and brown nose Americans. Which is very, very odd.

Oh yes BP are a crappy company.

Originally posted by endtimer
I agree mr lizard. We should direct our energies towards the fatcats
who are screwing us skinny cats. But the citizens of each country
should try to work together and stay in touch with each other, and
not be at each others throats, by arguing and placing blame.

Amen my friend, wise words indeed.

Listen up USA... The real enemy are those that manipulate us.

If there is one thing good to come out of this disaster...it's that people are FINALLY starting to realize how insanely powerful these TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS are.

The Democratic party is nearly completely obedient to them.....and we all know that most of Republicans are.

A government with WEAK TARIFFS that doesn't enforce ANTI-TRUST LAWS is completely irrelevant....especially when the same powers with interests against individual governments OWN ALL THE DAMN MEDIA.

The people of Britain don't have a real voice...and we don't either.

Didn't you know? The important thing is not how we're going to clean up as smoothly as possible and reduce the effect it has on people's lives. The important thing is who to blame!

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


The gushing oil is a really bad problem, and just goes on and on and on.
I've noticed something else. The bildiburger spokesman was completely freaked out by this event. Which tells me that THERE not the ones running this operation. Also it shows for this event there not in charge and its scaring them.
To me there is an unseen person or persons runing this event. The objective in this is to get the allied countries of the US & UK to be at each other throats.
This way if something major happens to the UK the US won't be coming to lend a hand. Thus seperating the two countries from the international scene. This could open up all kinds of scenario's.
Someone is playing the two countries off against each other, for an unknown reason.

I wonder if anyone else has noticed this...

Hmmm...

reply to post by Eye of Horus


I don't know a single person that has ever said anything bad about Britain. NOT ONE. Many of us are immigrants from Britain. For the most part, they have stood with us through thick and thin.

I have nothing bad to say about the people of Britain.....and I know they would be just as angry if this happened on their coasts and I would stand by them if it was an AMERICAN TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION that did it.

reply to post by NewlyAwakened


You are right that blame shifting is something the media is attempting to do. They are trying to get the citizens of the US and the UK to point fingers at each other rather than squarely at the corporation and its leadership, and the lap dogs it owns in our own governments who have failed to enact policies that would have prevented this.


Blame does matter, however. Yes, it is important to clean up the mess and minimize the damage, but it IS important for the citizens of the world to come to the understanding that allowing corporations to rule the world via puppet governments is not in our best interests. We need to lay the blame squarely on the corporate dictum of "profit at all costs." We as citizens dont live that way. Its not what humans believe, except for those too superficial to think it through fully, and it is not how societies work. It is a sociopathic way of operating and it has consequences, and we need to understand that and make a conscious decision about whether or not we are going to continue to allow it.

WE get to choose that. We just dont realize there is a choice to be made, and that we are the ones who have the say. Not them.

Originally posted by INQUISITION11
It is in no ones interest to bash BP before they can stop the spill and people find out what really caused the accident.

Correction... It is in someone's interest to bash BP and continually use the term "British Petroleum" instead of BP. That person is President Obama and his administration. The more he can emphasize "British", the more it draws the public's eye away from the U.S. government's horrid regulation of the oil industry (and others).

I feel there are at least two entities to blame and they are BP and the regulators who were charged with regulating BP. They failed to do their jobs, even minimally.

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
reply to post by Retseh

 

LOL generalise much? I'm british and this is the first I've heard of such anger or backlash. lol

[edit on 11-6-2010 by _Phoenix_]

I can echo that statement. Yes BP scr**ed up, but so did the 2 companies that were running the rig and we dont hear of them do we?

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman

I feel there are at least two entities to blame and they are BP and the regulators who were charged with regulating BP. They failed to do their jobs, even minimally.

They were allowed to regulate themselves. it was all voluntary. Safeguards could have been forced to be put in place that could have prevented this from happening. It all goes back to the Bush administration. Yes, we can blame Obama for his slow response....but he DIDN'T CAUSE THE SPILL.

This is hugely damaging to his Presidency. Liberals are extremely angry at him and Conservatives are salivating at this whole monstrosity as they see more wins in Washington in November. Republicans will attack him no matter what position he takes.

He stands back and stays quiet....then they say, "This is the one time government should do something!!!!"

He ramps up his criticism of BP....they say, "He's just a Marxist and Communist craving more power! It's un-American. He wants to take over the oil companies. CAP AND TRADE HELLO. This is an act of war!!!"

They criticize him for not talking to BP's CEO..."How can he have a handle of the situation if he's not talking to BP's CEO?"

Then they criticize him for wanting a "conference" with BP's CEO after the criticism...claiming, " Obama SUMMONED BP's CEO to talk about the spill." LIke he's a GD dictator or something.

It's ALL BS. ALL OF IT.

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman

Correction... It is in someone's interest to bash BP and continually use the term "British Petroleum" instead of BP. That person is President Obama and his administration. The more he can emphasize "British", the more it draws the public's eye away from the U.S. government's horrid regulation of the oil industry (and others).

Bingo. Its blame shifting, but that doesnt mean there is no one who deserves the blame.

Its just an attempt by those who deserve the blame to deflect it by directing the justifiable outrage off in the wrong direction. Its the oldest trick in the book, get the people you are screwing to fight and blame one another while you make off like a bandit.

We need to stop falling for it.

And to chime in on the "I never heard any American talk bad about Britain" issue, I have to say I dont think thats so. I personally hold the British government is precisely the same contempt I hold my own leaders. And the only thing that annoys me about the Brits is the same thing that annoys me about Americans, we are all just too darn ready to be suckered. We need to take more responsibility, and stop being so easily distracted by celebrities, toys, petty bickering among ourselves, and our own greed.

We need to step up and demand better from our leaders, and that means we have to do better ourselves.

Tell you what, let BP set up a cleanup and relief fund of, say $25-30 billion to make sure money will be there for all the cleanup costs over the years, lost productivity and wages, evacuation costs, lawsuits, unemployment and other costs that will come up... and then I will be OK with them paying dividends out.

No problemo, pay them out tomorrow if you like, after that money is set aside first.

[edit on 11-6-2010 by Kharron]

i aint american but i believe the us should make bp pay for all the DAMAGE they have done to the environment, cleanup, fines...even if it means bp goes bust.

uk shareholders? tough. dont put all your eggs in 1 basket...

bp deciding to self insure? stupidity, false sense of invulnerability, arrogance!

the arguement betw bp and transocean before the blowup needs to be investigated for criminal liability. that bp exec needs to do some jail time!