Londoner's Diary: Stephen Green’s belief in squaring God and Mammon

 
Christian values: Stephen Green
11 February 2015

The Londoner was dusting off the bookshelves when what should be unearthed but a book by Stephen Green, former chief executive of HSBC. It was written in 1996 and its title is Serving God? Serving Mammon? — rather a good question given the rumpus of the HSBC Suisse tax-avoidance issue.

Stephen Green, now Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint and trade minister, is also ordained, and this is a quasi-philosophical tome on how to reconcile being a banker with being a Christian. It has fallen out of print, perhaps suggesting the title was not as popular in the banking community as he might have liked.

Among the many subjects he challenges in it are how to deal with a conflict between Christian morality and the demands of the market. But Green also tries to explain how greed can be good. “Life in the markets is ambiguous, certainly ... but so is life in other fields. Trading depends on an instinct for competitive gain but that is true of all human commerce. The competitive instinct can become obsessive and unbalanced but it’s not intrinsically wrong any more than the desire to excel in, say, athletic competiton is wrong. It needs to be fettered by law and regulation where appropriate; and it needs to be developed within a shared moral framework which places public value on integrity in commercial practice and on care for the weak. Where these conditions prevail the competitive instinct is compatible with the basic commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves.”

I wonder if Green took his advice to heart when in Level 41 of the HSBC tower.

Antonia Fraser's big mistake

A “horrendous mistake” in the first print run of Antonia Fraser’s new memoir, My History. Page 286 reads: “It is tempting to conclude by merely adapting the immortal words of Charlotte Brontë at the start of Jane Eyre: ‘Reader, I wrote it’.”

The famous line, of course, actually comes from the end of the novel. “When I saw the mistake I had a heart attack,” Fraser told the Hidden Prologues audience at the Radisson Blu Edwardian, Bloomsbury Street Hotel, “but not one person has pointed it out!”

Comedy stars show they’ve got heart

War has been waged by many a celebrity over who gets top billing, but at LSO St Luke’s last night egos were absent. Clive Anderson hosted a party in aid of Harefield Hospital’s heart transplant unit, with Harry Enfield, Angus Deayton, Rowan Atkinson and John Lloyd all taking to the stage.

Rob Brydon appeared in a jumpsuit and performed an Elvis number before being upstaged by another tribute. Deayton, Philip Pope and Michael Fenton Stevens — otherwise known as the Hee Bee Gee Bees — stole the show with their Bee Gees parody, Meaningless Songs (in Very High Voices). Enough to lift the heaviest of hearts as Valentine’s Day approaches.

‘Regular guy’ is having a ball

James Middleton and his TV presenter girlfriend Donna Air were at The Park Lane Hotel last night for Roll Out The Red Ball, a British Heart Foundation fundraiser. Middleton, brother of The Duchess of Cambridge who runs a marshmallow company, is frustrated that he’s not taken seriously.

Serious guy: James Middleton and Donna Air (Picture: Dave Benett)

“I work very hard,” he said last week. “Just like every other person in business and work. And aside from the fact of — yes, I am the brother of someone very important — I am, at the end of the day, just James.”

Fish Tank causes a political rift

If you've already got election fatigue, take heart from Labour MP Jon Cruddas. His policy advice: “Rather than have these stale, endless conversations, why don’t we watch a film?”

The party’s policy co-ordinator was at the Policy Exchange think-tank in Westminster last night to talk about the importance of social housing, as portrayed in the bleak 2009 film Fish Tank, directed by Andrea Arnold. But really it was an excuse to slag off Ed Miliband’s taste in cinema (certainly, Cruddas evaded questions such as “What can a political candidate do to help?” and “What is the importance of housing?”, repeatedly stating “I’ve forgotten what the question is now”).

His opinion stems from when Cruddas gave Ed a copy of Fish Tank, a brutal portrayal of life on an east London sink estate, to watch about three years ago because Cruddas had found it “redemptive” and said it contained “the seeds of what Labour could do, in terms of a cultural reformation”. But apparently Ed is more of a romcom man. When Cruddas eagerly asked his opinion of the film at their next meeting, Ed informed him, “I started watching it but I found it so depressing that I turned it off.”

“To find it as bleak and depressing is to miss the point,” Cruddas growled. The Labour leader, presumably, is more a fan of the rose-tinted Made in Dagenham, which Cruddas sneered at as a “Billy Elliot sort of... thing”. We wonder where Ed stands on Fifty Shades of Grey?

Stewart's big news gets celebs tweeting

Floods of tributes on both sides of the pond at the news that liberal US satirist Jon Stewart is to step down from The Daily Show after more than 15 years. “Devastated …” tweeted actor and fellow comedian Hugh Laurie. “The thin comic line is breached and the barbarians are upon us.” Even JK Rowling got involved: “That’s major news to get over your morning tea. #BritishGrief”

Culture cram continues

The Londoner continues to stalk Sajid Javid — in a professional capacity only, of course. When he became Culture Secretary just under a year ago there were accusations that culture for him was limited to watching Star Trek. But on Tuesday we spotted him taking his seat at the Berlin Philharmonic’s Sibelius concert at the Barbican, conducted by Simon Rattle.

Javid was in good company: the BBC’s Tony Hall and the Arts Council’s Peter Bazalgette were seen hovering around, while the Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger and property developer Peter Palumbo were also there. Javid continues his assault on the arts scene — he has been seen at the Donmar, Festival Hall, RSC and Shakespeare’s Globe — and can claim to be more of a culture vulture than any recent holder of the post. The watch continues.

Literary confession of the day: Keeley Hawes admitted to being a “Shakespeare virgin” while rehearsing with Dame Judi Dench for the BBC’s upcoming Richard III.

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