pull yourself together, chaps

Here is Boris Johnson, not a stupid man, saying something very stupid:

“When you consider the huge exposure of British pension funds to BP and its share price, and the vital importance of BP, then I do think it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great UK company is being continually beaten up on the international airwaves. OK, it has presided over a catastrophic accident which it is trying to remedy but ultimately it cannot be faulted because it was an accident that took place.”

Let me distill that: OK, OK so they have just unleashed a catastrophe...but that's not their fault. Why not? Because it happened.

Maybe it sounds more logical in ancient Greek.

Although Johnson didn't quite have the balls to name Obama as the target of his criticism, he got the headlines he wanted, joining that rabid old fox Tebbit and several others in jumping on this "stop bashing Britain" bandwagon.

This really is the silly story of the week.

The fact that BP is being "beaten up" isn't what's causing the share price to crash - it's the bloody catastrophe that's doing that, and it really doesn't need much help. If British pensioners are losing money that's because their fund managers over-invested in BP and didn't properly account for the risk of a disaster like this one.

What does Obama's "anti-British rhetoric" amount to anyway? Unless you've seen something I haven't, it amounts to this: referring to BP as "British Petroleum". The swine. (Apparently they changed their name a few years ago to BP to avoid being seen to have anything to do with Britain or petroleum - exactly the kind of absurd PR fiddling that under other circumstances, these same critics would be fiercely deriding, and not exactly "patriotic").

Here's the thing: if Obama calling it "British" is such a problem, why are we proudly defending this "great UK company"?

It's not the crass opportunism that gets me down about this stuff, or the (faux-)stupidity, it's the chippiness. It makes us seem so insecure, always seeking out "slights" from abroad to get upset about. Whatever happened to those great British traits of effortless confidence and sang-froid (excuse my French)?

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Comments

[ejoch]

Didn't the price crash more when the Pres said he'd fire Hayward, given the opportunity?

Chippiness of any kind is offputting. Personally I find the 'bp are evil' stuff irritating but not because it's a british company.

[Gus]

Firing Hayward would be the best thing BP could do if it wanted to limit the fallout from this, especially in the US.

Using him as the PR face of BP has been disastrous--so many soundbites, not all of them out of context: the spill's a drop in the ocean; I want my life back etc. etc.

These might be a little more excusable if BP's containment attempts had any veneer of competence and if events hadn't proven him a complacent liar time and time again.

To have Johnson, Tebbitt et al. stirring the pot in a blatant attempt to force Cameron to publicly back BP versus the US, personalized in Obama, is unbelievable. Sectors of the British press seem to assume we don't read any of the coverage from America regarding how wilfully poorly BP's performing on the ground, never mind at the well site.

BP's brand is permanently tarnished already--and not for the first time. Keep this up, and the damage will be terminal.

[Thingumbob]

SYMPATHY FROM THE DEVIL
This just in:
In an exclusive interview with an inside source from the blazing inferno, Satan is letting it be known that he is in solidarity with the beleaguered executives of BP. He believes that the job that that are doing under the extreme duress of the crisis is in fact in his words "admirable."
More on this will be forthcoming in further interviews.

[ejoch]

Seems to me Hayward's problem is he was originally a geologist, not a PR flak or generic MBA-waver. I'd rather have someone running a company who actually understands their operations, rather one who knows how to spout media friendly drivel.
(and yes this is the Devil's Advocate speaking)

[Ian Leslie]

That's not the Devil's Advocate speaking, it's the voice of common sense: you're absolutely right. The emphasis on whether he can do a good interview is absurd; much better to have a guy in charge who understands how drills work.

[jtmccoy]

Uh, lest we forget--760 willful, egregious violations over the last five years. That's BP's record. The next energy company on Santa's bad list is Sunoco, with only 8 violations. That's why we hate BP. This oil eruption wasn't just a random, one-in-a-million accident. It was a tragedy a long time in the making, the result of a corporate culture in which the law was willfully and knowingly dismissed over and over again. Seriously, these idiotic British politicians need to get real. We couldn't care less that BP stands for "British Petroleum."

[rbryan]

You'd rather have the CEO know a lot about how drills work than how to give a good interview, because the CEO job involves a lot more working directly with drills than talking to people? Personally, I'd like a CEO who knows a lot about following safety regulations, and the recommendations of his own engineers. Who knows how to promote a corporate culture that does those things. Who cares to limit the risk, to his shareholders at the least, of massive catastrophic accidents. I think I'd fire this ass and start looking for a guy like that, pronto.

BP cut all kinds of safety corners to drill a hole they clearly had no good ability to plug. The fact they are British is regrettable for Britain, but is not any non-British persons fault. Nor is the stain on Britain's national reputation exactly high on my list of aspects to worry about. Yeah, sucks people are saying things about a British company; I'd cry for you, but I'm a little busy with this sea-floor-apocalypse thing, kay?

[bert]

It must be distressing for Americans to be exposed to the spectacle of pinhead rightwingers wagging the flag for ignorant applause. How fortunate that they are never forced to witness such displays from their own countrymen.

[DraneSpout]

@ bert Touché...and touchy.

[bert]

Not touchy, friend. Rather the opposite.
http://bloodandtreasure.typepad.com/blood_treasure/2010/06/sane-and-insane-britons-a-guide-for-americans.html
Sorry for your troubles.

[DraneSpout]

Touché again! And, clearly, insanity runs in the family.

-- Your American Cousin