Well they would say that wouldn’t they

Jackie Smith said:

her decision to claim "second home" expenses for her family home was "above board" and approved by the Commons authorities.

Which means that:

She knows that technically no rules have been broken.

Nicolas Sarkozy has:

praised Brown and said he played a"key role" in tackling the global downturn just days after criticising UK policies.  In a communique issued by his office, the president said that he deplored the way in which his earlier comments had been reported by the British media.

Which means that:

He given in to all the pressure to correct what he said last week.  If he has beaten Brown to the White House, does he care?

The bankers have:

apologised "profoundly and unreservedly" for their banks' failure

Andy Hornby, Former chief executive, HBOS said:

he is still being paid £60,000 a month by HBOS but the arrangement will only last another three months. Looking contrite, he insists he is not being rewarded for failure as he has lost money since the bank hit the buffers. He says he invested all his bonuses in the bank's shares.

Which means that:

We have made our money and still are.  Nobody can take this away from us.  This grilling by the Treasury Select Committee is a five minute wonder.  At the end of the day we managed our business inside Brown’s regulatory framework.  We apologise, will he?  The risk is now with the taxpayer.  We are beyond caring and fed up with the way the Government has behaved towards us.

Are you more enlightened after all this and in a better position to whether the worst recession for a 100 years?