From today’s editorial in the Courier Mail:

<<Cancers must be attacked swiftly and aggressively, otherwise they will most likely kill the host body. As such, David Gallop and the National Rugby League deserve the fullest praise for the quick and hardline response to the malignant tumour that was eating away at the code in the form of Melbourne Storm’s shameful rorting of the salary cap system.>>

I profoundly disagree!

The reaction has been enormously over the top. Gallop has virtually taken the Storm outside, put it up against the wall and had a firing squad despatch it.

Not only have the small number of guilty people been clobbered, but many innocent people as well.

It would have been pertinent for the NRL to determine exactly who is responsible or complicit first and then deal with those people directly, thus avoiding the easily avoidable enormous 'collateral damage’ that they have induced.

They also need to assess just how widespread deliberate salary cap rorting is before they single out one club and deal out punishment that is truly beyond the dizziest limit of harshness.

The NRL also needs to take some responsibility for insufficient auditing and control of the culture of salary cap breaches that many clubs have become embroiled in to some extent over the years and which we keep hearing about in the news all the time.

Sure, we’ve got to attack a cancer decisively. But it is often pertinent to be a little bit gentle about it rather than killing the whole cancerous organ or amputating a limb.

I couldn’t give a hoot about rugby league, but I care greatly about the rule of law in our society. The NRL’s action taken against the Melbourne Storm has greatly offended my sensibilities.

What do others think?

NRL is my game, Gallop is not my man.
Ludwig is quite right.
In not letting Melbourne keep this years point he has killed the team.
Bar, for life, any one who knew players too.
but if he ONLY would review his actions, get $700.000 back from this years players, but let them compete surely that is justice.
This is not, no crowing please from other codes, it is happening there too.
But far worse things happen in my game, refs seem to be free to ,,,well commit crimes or be very silly, I think cash may change hands as a result of betting on my game.
Linemen? asleep on their feet.
Yet wronged coaches are fined for what? telling it like it is!
I by the way am not a fan of the storm, in fact dislike them because of those tackles and bad blood between my team, Saints, if you insist Dragons.
But this treatment fines honest fans, players, officials, and My game.
Trot of Gallop please add my name to the growing list offended by you.

What Belly said, but in English.

They cheated. They paid more for players than anyone else which gave them an unfair advantage over any other team.

Stiff bikkies.

Within our democracy and legal system, even the most severe of crimes result in suspects being arrested and then tried in a court of law, where their alleged crimes are critically examined. Then they are sentenced.

But within the antidemocratic law-unto-itself NRL, the very first we hear about the whole issue in the media is that the Storm is being thumped with the most extraordinary penalties, the likes of which have never been meted out before.

There was no critical examination in the equivalent of a court of law first. More documentation has just being collected today for examination. So the extent of the salary cap breach and the parts played by various people is still very poorly analysed.

How on earth can the NRL dish out any penalties now, at what really is a very early point in the process of finding out just who is guilty??

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that David Gallop needs to be smartly put back into his box and the Storm’s penalties set aside completely until a full review has been conducted.

I don’t like the concept of trial by media, but I feel that in this case, appeal by media might not be a bad idea.

The media, the fans, sports analysts and the general public should be strongly condemning this fundamentally flawed dictatorial thumping dished out by the NRL.

the tip of the iceberg..they all play their games
its nothing compared to the scam that sees govt building huge stadiums..that investers buy lifetime seats in

or the olympic scams...where states like qld..build further odious debt to build stadiums..[little wonder greece/spain..even briton..being in huge sovereign debt..mainly via the cost of running these glabal scams

there will be a fight soon..as soon as people wake up to the jingo..paid for..on credit/bonds aranged by goldman/sax..and paid for by serfs/wage slaves// putting their next tax on their credit card..

its simply isnt suss-tainable..its playing games with others credit
look at the billions owed by uk soccar teams...the conivance of the tennis center..or the gifts toi the horse racing industry

its all on credit//govt gift and largess
..yet in the end they default...and you loose your super
and get a nice new tax..india rebelled a tax on salt
usa rebelled a tax on tea..you pay your tax on credit card

sleep you sheeple...your paying intrest on your tax
you just sleeping and havnt realised it...yet

its your super they play with

if you live beyond your means
sooner or later the dirt hits the fan
and sport is as dirty as it gets..

scum floats to the top
where the board scrapes off the cream..just like the days of rome..the same ursurors stealing your wealth..as amusment

The NRL has shown the same disregard for process over and over again, as you say Ludwig. I am in favour of a good salary cap and I am in favour of a vigorous and rigorous defence of that cap, but the way the NRL does it smacks a great deal of self-aggrandisement for Gallop.

I suspect much of the problem is that Gallop has never actually played the game or even had much to do with it until he got his foot in the door as legal advisor to the Super League fiasco. He thinks like a lawyer, not like a sportsman. ditto for much of the rest of the board and the whole shebang is wrapped up in the commercial aspirations of News Ltd anyway.

If only Rugby could manage to work out a comprehensible and workable set of rules and stick with them for more than 12 months.

I cannot find a reason to completely give the storm back all it lost.
Remember in some ways[ never thought I Would say it] OUG is close to right.
ARL/NRL went into the bag with Super league, a rich man and his toys wanted to control a game ,for TV rights.
That once Australian, his choice not to be, owns the Storm.
True real doubt exists about other teams, mine included.
And about results based on dreadful, unbelievable refs /linesmen/video ref rulings.
My game, televised sport in general may one day suffer much scandal.
However IF all NRL fans took Part in a poll, even those one eyed one club fools who only think of the clubs good not the games.
I feel confident penalty's would stand,but not the taking away of this years points.
Give those Storm fans and those who did no wrong hope, restore points and put Gallop in the sin bin, forever.

I was interested in Gerry Harvey's response. According to the interview, he was with half a dozen (or ten) of his peers at the time, and he and his friends were "amused... well, not amused; but yes a little bit amused... by all the fuss, it's just another sport scandal... life will go on" (quote from memory).
Is this a typical example of business as usual, in sports as well as everywhere else?
No moral issue; it's only bad if you get caught.
I thought sports was supposed to encourage sportsmanship; honour, integrity... not who wins or loses, but how you play the game.
This simply isn't cricket.

The way i see it they have been treated very leniently. The storm cheated the same as an athlete who takes steroids. They gained an unfair advantage over the other teams and they should have been banned. Kicked out of at least this years competition completely.

Rugby league is my passion also but if you expect fairness in our present world view you are on the wrong planet.

Despite the understandable defensiveness of Rugby League fans, what we have here is a serious case of sustained conspiracy and fraud that's apparently been going on for years, involving millions of dollars and Australia's largest media organisation. More heads should roll, and criminal charges should be laid if any laws have been broken.

Rugby League doesn't need Melbourne and Melbourne doesn't need Rugby League - particularly if the only way they can sustain interest in the game is by engaging in dishonest and fraudulent activity.

I have seen no defensiveness CJM.
In fact I put fears betting on the game may be behind much greater crimes against it and its fans.
Do not judge us on Gerry's view, he is a very big investor in horse racing, the sport of kings but oiled with workers cash.
And home of more wrongs than the NRL, every race day.
Melbourne storm is not the Mafia, not all even knew.
Those who did are grubs feeding on my game.
Richie ten, please if we wait for you and your God to change this world it will never change .
let storm live take away the wrongs but not with another wrong.
salary cap? are they mad?will it stop great sportsmen leaving for better money?
is the NRL to become a second grade competition?
raise the cap, get rid of Gallop and the blind fool who did not uncover this,but do not kill a team.

Like any high earning industry, it would have been far better to fully investigate the situation rather than take the knee jerk approach of the NRL.

There are many far reaching issues to be considered, such as undeclared incomes and tax cheating and, it would have had more of an impact on Melbourne and less of an impact on RL to punnish them at the end of the regular season by disqulifying them from the finals and, With the exception of the sharks, I doubt any clubs would be squeeky clean.

So what now.

If they play they do so without fear of loosing or gaining injury.

To simply lower the earnings of the players still means they have a better side than allowable within the rules.

I say they should be bannished from the comp for this season.

Salary cap, what a joke this is. What right do the NRL have to determine someones income?

It should be a points system, not a dollar system and credits should be allocated for loyal players who have come through the ranks as juniors.

The players.
Now if any player received 'black money' and banked it, I say they were inocent. However, if they did not declare their full income, then I say they knew about the scam and should be banned for life.

Ok, sports fans, here's a question.

You lose to Melbourne Storm in a Grand Final, because they have better players than you.

Fair enough. Life goes on.

You then discover that the only reason they had all that talent was because they cheated the salary cap. They did not abide by the rules (that's another way of saying "they cheated", by the way) of the competition that they won, by beating you in the Grand Final.

How do you feel a) about Melbourne Storm, b) about the NRL administration and c) about the fact that you, not they, should have been holding the trophy?

I'd be super annoyed, myself, and wonder whether my talents would not find a better home in another competition, or even another code.

But that's just a personal view. I'm sure that News Ltd. see it differently.

"Hey, everybody does it, so it's ok. What is all the fuss about?"

Belly are you so ignorant of the truth. Man has free will. It is your choice whose words you follow and I am sure you are not smart enough to pioneer the way you believe so you are a follower like the rest of us.

I am with Pericles on this one. I don't follow Rugby of any sort (Go West Coast Eagles!:), but I do believe in fair play.

If Melbourne Storm management lured players to their team with more money than they were supposed to offer, and the players agreed to the 'bribes' to play for Melbourne, then they are all cheats.

No better and no worse than any other sports cheats, but cheats all the same.
They deserve everything they get.

Oh what a surprise! The adamic nature at work in the AFL, golf, politics, science and now oh no the Rugby League. Come back Benny Elias all is forgiven.

If the stats are correct they did not cheat by much.$1.7 million over 5 yrs is $340,000 divided by say 20 players is just $17,000 per player p.a.

The pressure was on the Storm to perform since News LTD would sell far more papers upon their success.The Murdoch empire wanted the game to go national.So in reality there would have been enormous pressures on them to perform.

You cannot however replace tribal loyalities of decades with money and hype.People still have some self respect which Ruppert has yet to realise.

Life is wonderful, is it not?
In a thread about a known crime against a sport, much is already known, some who have zero information or understanding make wrong comments.
Evidence, NEVER, will be shown that every player got extra cash or goods.
It like every high profile sport is about bribing star players, to keep them in your team, 7 players are to be investigated.
4 are known to have shared $400.000 in over contract cash or goods so far this year.
A further $300.000 was to be spent, this year.
Fundamentalist Christian, gets involved further distancing his view of God from reality, and reminding us [well inferring] the answer is in praying, not preying.
And understand those of you who are in even the smallest sporting club, not every one knows every thing.
I have both played and contributed in cash to a club and seen it all gone over night, criminals hide truth.
Yesterday left me feeling I may take a bash at predicting the future.
Fans filled the stadium, players gave their all.
A determination to stay alive was born yesterday.
Maybe it has been planned but Gallop will let all fines stand and restore points.
Cynical? no realistic what great front page out of the ashes.
hey ,how can anyone doubt the guilt in general of this scandal however?

That's all well and good, Belly.

>>Fans filled the stadium, players gave their all.
A determination to stay alive was born yesterday.<<

It is fundamentally a sporting contest. And as you know, when you run out onto the park, you have only one objective in mind.

But tell me, how do you feel about the players who have been cheated out of their moment of glory? Do you have any sympathy for them at all?

Suze, you wrote:

<< They deserve everything they get.>>

But who’s ‘they’?

Is it the whole team and thousands of people associated with it or is it just the guilty people?

Apparently according to Gallop and the NRL it is the former. This is the great travesty of justice here. This is an enormous violation of the basic principle of fairness. It is a huge breach of trust perpetrated by the governing body that has been entrusted with the duty to be fair to all that it wields power or influence over.

Is it not absolutely essential that the NRL, or any authority with the power to mete out penalties, strive to target the guilty people and to minimise the effect on innocent people? How utterly basic is this principle?

I think that Premier Brumby or maybe PM Rudd needs to come out and say that the NRL has fundamentally stuffed up here with the most basic principle of law enforcement and needs to set all penalties aside ASAP, do a thorough analysis and then APPROPRIATELY allocate penalties.

While I live for my game and am not a fan of storm, few would think they got robbed by them in grand finals.
Yes they had an advantage, and it was by some one cheating , but I know of no player who would want to win by another's disqualification that way.
At most, about half , probably much less knew about this, fans never did.
Give Melbourne a break, give my game air, give back the points.

Ludwig, from what I have read and heard on TV, as well as from some of the people actually involved, I believe that all the players and management of Storm must have been aware of the money some of the 'stars' were getting.

They were all probably quite happy to turn a blind eye to the cheating aspect of it all in order to pursue the winning points, to win games and premierships.

By all the 'thousands' you say have been unfairly punished, I assume you mean the other staff and the fans? They should all certainly be upset with the Storm management and players who have now lost two premierships and any points for the games played this season because they cheated!

At the end of the day, this team still consists of all the top players they recruited with illegal pay cheques, at the expense of other rugby teams.
Thus, the Storm are a team gathered together by cheating and therefore should not be allowed to score on a level playing field like the other teams.
It all seems fair to me.

Ok Belly, I understand you live for the game.

But seriously.

You run onto the park and look at the other team, stuffed with talent that has been illegally purchased, and you think... what?

Do you think "I wish the management of my club had the guts to cheat the salary cap like those guys"

Or do you think "It makes me sick to think that they only have that talent playing against us because their management are a bunch of cheats"

And doesn't it also occur to you that the elite players in their squad must have known about the cheating, and just kept quiet. And smug, because they win and you lose?

That's not a game. That's business, and unethical business at that.

I've said my piece. I just know how I'd feel about it, that's all.

Pericles I understand but think differently, do the crime do the time.
But am against the death sentence in this case, give them the points back, a real chance exists they would beat my team in the finals, but fair go mate has meaning.
Suzeonline,you may not be right, I think not every one could know.
Now rumors power any sport,at the falling over of some who are charged with drug dealing I over heard this 4 way conversation.
The coach is behind this he has been a druggy all his life.
Bloke told me he gives it out after the game, end quote.
4 old fools, may not have been past pub door in 30 years spoke those words.
Noticed two of them a week and a bit ago saying just how good the same coach had them going.
No team, even in the workplace, truly knows what others get in kick backs.

This scandal has been running now for some time. It appears at least possible that the Storm will hve their points returned and the overpaid players allowed to continue at lower salaries that bring them within the cap. That is what occurred when the Bulldogs had a similar salary-cap issue.

ISTM that this is what should have happened all along, if the stupidly self-aggrandising Gallop had been more able to think in a nuanced manner, Sadly, I'm comimg to the conclusion that he's not especially good at thinking for himself, so takes a "zero tolerance" position on everything, thus neatly sidestepping any need to. This may be unfair on him; it may be a directive from his masters who don't want any latitude given to lackeys, but that's the impression I get.

There has been much demonisation of Waldron, but I can't see how this could have occurred over a long period without the coach and the Board fully in the loop. Leave the players alone - they were negotiating to their own benefit individually and separately. They are not usually even involved directly, but delegate to their agents. Management were deliberately setting out to cheat. Why has the board been quarantined from any fallout?

Anyway, it seems that some semse may yet prevail.

Is money really the only possible incentive, in recruitment?
I'm not talking about money substitutes, like free houses, or free hamburgers for life. I'm wondering -in the absence of an unrestricted cash auction- what else would make players want to play for any particular club.
Reputation would always be a winner in competitive circles, I imagine. Having the best coach, a reputation for winning... What about how clubs use all this surplus cash they're not spending on players? Investing in schools programs to encourage more kids to play Rugby might appeal to some players. I think being able to be genuinely proud of the club you play for would be of inestimable value to some players.
I don't believe the way sporting records are continually broken is proof of evolution in humans. I think it far more likely it's because more and more humans are able to compete; through and increase in standards of living and opportunity. There are still a hell of a lot of kids in our 'advanced' society who will never get a chance to play competitive sport.
I wonder if a club's reputation for helping kids like that would encourage players to want to play for that club?

Fair comment Belly.

>>Pericles I understand but think differently, do the crime do the time.<<

But I think we disagree on the nature of the crime in question.

You cannot undo what has been done. That is why no-one replaced the Storm as champions when those titles were taken away - as you say, no-one would want to "win" due to the other side being disqualified.

So those two Grand Finals were actually conducted under false pretences. One side took the field with an advantage over the other that they had bought, illegally. Tens of thousands of fans watched what was to all intents and purposes a rigged game.

Doesn't that come under the heading of obtaining money under false pretences? Not the prize money - the money the fans paid to watch?

Aha... such a lot of space given over to such pathetic angst.

See this game, and all the others, for what they are.

An 'industry', a money grubbing business enterprise that relies on hordes of people with either not much going on in their lives, or too un-empowered that they have to live vicariously through a bunch of boofs playing a game or two every week.

"While I live for my game", says Belly, and having watched Storm fans on TV last night, he is not alone in this empty purpose.
That this team, never mind the whole 'game' is owned by a news business tells us all that Belly and others are being taken for a massive ride.

If supporters owned the clubs, I might be less cynical.

If sports clubs were not about 'merchandise' and one-armed bandits, but about 'sport' then business would not bother with it.

This is not only a storm in a teacup, but very welcome too.

Perhaps we will no longer have to watch barely literate 'blokes' uttering their desire to 'work at this 110%', or have to suffer the coaches comments when their star thug has been 'sent to the Due-Dishery', or is that the 'Jew-Dishery'?

As for Gallup, I support his actions '110%' and look forward to all the other teams being exposed for exactly the same sin- getting caught.

It just shows that 'business' is not to be trusted to do anything honestly, even having to cheat at a 'game', and that those who 'live for the game' while, possibly, being totally unable to play it themselves, are mugs, and need to engage in something a little more worthwhile than living their lives around 'their' weekly 'game'.

Next stop looks like its going to be cricket and 2020, or whatever rubbish the Indians are into.

I have to agree with you Blue Cross. I lost interest in sport when it became the antithisis of sportsmanship. But then sportsmanship has lost its meaning too when winning is paramount at any cost, so cheating is practiced by most from drugs to sledging and everything in between.

Quite so snake... it is the commodification of everything under the sun, part of the cult of 'choice' we all have to suffer these days.

And this can also be seen in 'education' with all the angst of parents hoping their kiddie will do better than the one next door s/he plays with...hence all the rubbish we now endure with the NAPALM tests that drive schools today.

Competition, is the curse of today, not the solution.

I also hate horse racing, but a mte is an 'expert' in the field and assures me its just the same game there, with cheating everywhere and governments ripping off those in the industry.

Shame, because 'sport' is a happy endeavour we should all be engaged in as participants rather than observers, for as long as we can be.

I still think a better outcome would have been to let the season run it's course, then strip MS of their points, effectively removing them from the top eight.

This way there would have been less disruption to the overall game and max disruption to MS.

Either way, I think they should be kicked out for the reminder of season 2010 as they still have an unfair advantage and much more pride to play for now.

According to the news last night salary caps are often abused and there is nothing to stop 'sponsors' from making under the table payments to keep good players from leaving. These are hidden payments so who is to know just how rife this practice is?

Unfortunately as snake and TBC have already said, there is no sportsmanship. This level of sport has become big business first and foremost. The only way to stop it, is for the fans to turn away in droves.

I don't know much about the accountability of elite sport, but are the clubs and players audited on a regular basis?

I am now slavishly following the demise of this goons game as the News Corp people pretend they came from Barcelona and 'knew nossing'... or was that from the Howard cabinet years?

Seems News had six directors on the board, yet 'knew nothing'.

One wonders whether having a small incestuous cabal of directors in this country is serving shareholders very well, or are they all so blind that they have no idea what goes on in a 'game' (read 'industry') that they own lock,stock and barrel... no real need to check anything when it's a monopoly, is there?

How does Rupes manage to run his meeja empire with tossers like these working for his gain?

Of course, the other side to this is that Gallop is totally honest, which I tend to believe because he would never had kicked the Storm mob otherwise, and has been cuckolded by everyone else in his industry, which I am also moving towards.

The players seem to be mostly too stupid to know where their money comes from, or how much they earn. Too busy chasing 'models' and sticking their fingers up other players backsides, or working at 110% of human capacity, so fast the world just slips past..

Of course, all these sports teams have 'chaplains' these days.... what were they doing while Rome was burning, eh?

Where was the 'spiritual oversight' from these appendages... in fact, given there are so many 'chaplains' in sport, how come so many 'footy' players are so bereft of 'morals'?

Ludwig,(Welcome back, been bush huh?)

All,

The article is so far over the top it could be confused with Australia's outer space program.

Cancer = over payment..... isn't that the basis of capitalism?

Cancer = professional sport particularly football all codes Sounds about right to me.

Sack them all make the over paid yobs get a real job!

Instead of watching it and getting bitter and twisted over something that makes marginally more sense and about as a family first senator.

So this is where all the Aussies who don't watch sport hang out.
All four of us...

LOL Grim - make that five :)

I do pay slight attention to NRL news and results though, if only to be a socially literate male in a little country town. I even go in the tipping competition, but I rarely watch NRL games or any other 'sport'.

Mind you, I'll probably watch a bit of the real football World Cup that's coming up soon. I played soccer when I was young, so that adds interest I guess - and it's a better game to watch anyway, IMHO ;)

CJ,
You could get a job writing unscripted comments for Gordon Brown.

Xammy, yes I’ve been madly botanising as it is the best time of the year to do it – at the end of a really good wet season. I’m still right into it so OLO is taking a back seat.

GDay CJ. How’re they hangin?

I say phoowey to soccer. I used to be right into it. But I became completely disillusioned by the absurdly low rate of scoring where many games produce only a single goal, and by the utter absurdity of penalties, where a penalty very often decides a game and is very often based on a really dodgy umpiring decision, which means that many games are decided by a single bad call from the ump. This makes soccer a whole lot worse than thugby or Aussie rules, even though it is a better game to watch.

One of the big problems with the NRL salary cap business is the lack of adequate policing. This is a fundamental problem with all manner of laws across our society, for which the police force is just inadequate by a huge margin.

But there should have been no excuse in the NRL. The temptation to cheat is obviously huge, and the means of giving players payments outside of official means and hence outside of the formal salary cap rules are there to be exercised.

Money rules. All it really takes to bend the rules is the cooperation and trust of a small number of people. And so what if the rules ARE bent a little bit, especially if it is common practise?

continued

Then if one of the trusted group turns whistleblower, they are all in deep doo doo. But if there is no whistleblower there is no problem. Is this the current situation with some other NRL clubs…or all other clubs?

I am yet to be convinced that the Storm has done anything seriously outside of the accepted culture… and that there aren’t other clubs that have done similar things, if not quite to the same extent. Sure they broke the rules, but have they broken the unwritten rule of accepted practice?

I’m also yet to be convinced that the NRL ruling body is not culpable in this issue to a very significant extent for not properly policing the whole business or for possibly even leading clubs to think that some bending of the rules is acceptable and that the situation in the real world is somewhat different to the theoretical situation and that which is officially espoused as existing.

No punishment should have been heaped upon the Melbourne Storm until a thorough examination of the whole business had been conducted.

Ludwig is simply describing the real world of big business.

Anyone remember the Australian-Chinese fellow jailed for conducting normal business practices between China and its 'trading partners'?

Another casualty... meanwhile his employer has abandoned him, and our government shrugs its shoulders (our shoulders?) as if it/we had nothing to do with them either.

What did Ned say?

It should be borne in mind that illegal payments to sportsmen have a long and illustrious history.

"Boot money" goes back at least to ninetenth century England, and the emergence of competitive soccer under the auspices of the Football Association.

"By 1885... professional football was a stark reality, but the FA refused to acknowledge its existence, let alone sanction the practice. Consequently clubs continued to make payments routine - underhand payments to their players in the form of "boot money", where wads of cash would be placed in their boots before a game. Alternativey, players would be found employment with a sympathetic local employer - ideally the club chairman or a club director - who would not be perturbed if he failed to perform on the factory floor, so long as he performed on a Saturday afternoon"
'From boot money to Bosman: football, society and the law' David McArdle

Sounds remarkably familiar.

But it is the direction it is all heading that should be of concern to sports lovers.

The FA is the ruling body of the English Premier League, which is now 100% business, complete with Clubs listed on the Stock Exchange.

And carrying massive debt, too... US$5.3bn

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/124518

One FA club, Arsenal, is now famous for fielding entire sides without a single English (or even British) player. This is a fair example of what happens when you allow business to take the place of sport. It is certainly the death knell of the last remnants of the "local club". (Belly, take note.)

It's a slippery slope, people. Not only is it not a particularly enticing journey, it doesn't have a very satisfatory destination.

$5.3 billion?

What a waste... think of all the plasma screens people go into hock over just to watch these debtors on!

Still, it's only US dollars, so not quite so much really after all.

$5.3 billion... probably more than the cost of the UK NHS scheme, or their school funding... or replacement Landrovers in Iraq... or Belfast.

Almost enough to do something 'productive' with...

Shame no one has any ideas for 'productive use' when there is a 'market' to keep feeding... and mugs to keep feeding it.