Thread: The letter sent by one of Britain's top business figures to President Barack Obama

This is the letter sent by one of Britain's top business figures to US President Barack Obama in protest against his criticism of BP and its CEO over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.



RSA boss John Napier said he wants the old Obama back. Pic: Home | RSA




Dear President Obama,


Please forgive this open letter but your comments towards BP and its CEO as reported here are coming across as somewhat prejudicial and personal.


There is no doubt that BP, as a UK PLC, is totally committed to do everything possible to contain the oil leak and meet all its obligations in the USA.


The existing CEO is the best person to deliver that effort and has made that personal commitment and made himself available in the USA.


In your words, "he has taken the heat" and not hidden in his office. The real response has been total. You could argue a poor PR performance, but BP are not alone in that.


There is a sense here that these attacks are being made because BP is British.


If you compare the damage inflicted on the economies of the western world by polluted securities from the irresponsible, unchecked greed and avarice of leading USA international banks, there has not been the same personalised response in or from countries beyond the US.


Perhaps a case of double standards? Deep sea oil exploration was pushed forward as part of a USA oil security strategy as have a number of foreign policy initiatives in key areas in the world where we are standing shoulder to shoulder.


Whilst we all recognise the seriousness of the situation there is a need to put some balance back into the situation.


Many of us applauded your promise of a new approach to politics, USA foreign policy and world leadership.


Both you and the CEO of BP are caught up in the resolution of issues dealing with the emerging risks of strategies that you did not necessarily determine.


The immediate issues are very challenging but are best solved working together in a more Statesman like way.


The leak may take time to fix, and it will be, but Afghanistan and Iraq will take much longer.


We can all agree that the first and absolute priority is to stem the leak. Perhaps the second one is to ensure the reputation of the Presidency outside the USA is seen as objective, balanced, able and capable of taking the heat when under pressure.


We liked the Obama we saw at your election, can we have more of it please.


Yours sincerely,


John Napier


:: Mr Napier is chairman of insurance group RSA.




BP CEO John Napier Letter To President Barack Obama Over The Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico | World News | Sky News

Well done!

Originally Posted by English Noodles

There is no doubt that BP, as a UK PLC, is totally committed to do everything possible to contain the oil leak and meet all its obligations in the USA.

But we will cover everything up, and not open anything up nor we will talk with the media.

Give me a break. East coast of England got wiped out you would be pretty pissed off too.

Personally, I care more about the damage being caused to the environment than to my county's reputation.

What I do enjoy seeing though is the fuckwittery being shown by the yanks, talk about enforcing stereotypes.

Originally Posted by Moonraker

What I do enjoy seeing though is the fuckwittery being shown by the yanks, talk about enforcing stereotypes.

expand please. Thanks.

And how fookin unprofessional can they be. When ever there is a fuck up the process is simple.

1) Fix the fuck up.

and then

2) Find out exactly what happened in order to ensure that the fuck up is not repeated in the future.

Blame comes last, blame achieves nothing.

Obama is in charge and yet he doesn't know the basics?

The first rule of management:

EVERYTHING is your fault. You are responsible for EVERYTHING.

If a staff member, process, associate, customer, /whatever fucks up under your jurisdiction then it is YOUR FAULT.

EVEN WHEN IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT.

Obama blaming others before the mess is even sorted shows arrogance, ignorance and most of all a lack of leadership skills.

He was really calm and copped a lot of shit from the American public, he too has been stone walled by BP and their executives.

Ya want action wait. Havent you ever seen an angry black man?

Think of this. Who fucked up and started the leak? Who lied and said it was less than half of what it was?
Who has tried three times to fix it and nothing has worked?

Who really has no idea when 100,000 barrels of raw crude is going to be capped?

When that shit is figured out then deal with the American reaction

Whose country is being fucked?
Whose country is not affected?

Again I ask what if the rig was in a position where right now the whole east coast of the British Isles were threated? Their fisherman in danger, cant really talk about the beaches.

I hate politics and normally stay out of this shit. But if ya cant take responsibility for what you have done and resort to asking politicians to help you out, you just might be in very very deep shit. Assets beside we are talking hundred of billion of pounds or dollars to rectify this problem.

It wont be over for months as BP has tried and failed to cap or control it. 100,00 barrels a day times 60 days.

You would have thought they would have had a plan to control a problem at the well. It aint Thailand pumping oil out there in the gulf of Mexico.

If Obama has been Britain bashing I agree, but I have not seen that goo. Could you give some quotes or links. Its BP alone.

Wern't Cheeneys an romsfields lot involved Aging one or has your senile dementure set in again

It was not long ago that Australia was affected by a stranded Chinese tanker.

What did we hear from the Aussies.

1) We are doing this to fix this mess

2) We are going to stop this from happening again.

3) Blame: We haven't heard it publicly, but I have no doubt that some serious discussions and finger pointing has gone on behind the scenes.

America get's a problem:

1) It was them, they did it. Get them

Did the Pres call them Ratfucks yet ?

The Rig was Contracted from Transocean, an American Major, The Cementing That failed was by Haliburton, an American Major Company, The BOP that failed came from Cameron an American Major company.

BP should maybe exclude all American companies from its bidders list.

The trouble with Obama is would appear like many Americans he has a big mouth and has consequently wiped thousands off of BP shares affecting pensions for thousands of UK citizens. Bit much when you consider the credit crunch started in America don't you think? Besides this was an accident, it won't be the last environmental catastrophe of that much you can be sure.

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

The trouble with Obama is would appear like many Americans he has a big mouth

He's behaving more like an ambulance chasing lawyer, than a world leader. Do the American public not ask for better than this from a president?

Originally Posted by aging one

If Obama has been Britain bashing I agree, but I have not seen that goo. Could you give some quotes or links. Its BP alone.

Well, we will start with the subtle change of calling the company 'BP' at the start, to about a week ago when it changed to 'British Petroleum' in all WH communications. Weird that, innit?

The other nationalistic stance is the difference in the actions taken against the other companies involved. The British listing of BP is always mentioned in WH communiques, whilst the other comapnies, of which there are 3 (I think)barely rate a mention, and certainly their provinence is certainly not mentioned.

Don't even start me on the CNN coverage. Rampant nationalism and character assasinations are the order of the day. The fuckwit Blitzer and retard Cooper are gutter journalists of teh highest order. They are just satisying the American lust for sensationalism and do not give a damn about facts. Editorial battle lines were drawn up weeks ago and are being played out to a true nationalistic tune.

Again, thisis a tradgedy, yes, BP haven't acted excellently, but other companies are involved and BP ain't a country. Gutter politics and gutter journalism. I expected more from the 'yes we can' brigade.

The rig was built by Americans, inspected by Americans & given American safety certificates.

This is all their fault in the first place.

Originally Posted by zygote1

if the share price falls

It's fallen 49%.

reminds me of a letter I wrote to the previous PM of great britain it read "Gordon, your a prick, turn it in. Cheers SiLeakHunt" I never posted it though !

Originally Posted by English Noodles

The Rig was Contracted from Transocean, an American Major, The Cementing That failed was by Haliburton, an American Major Company, The BOP that failed came from Cameron an American Major company.

BP should maybe exclude all American companies from its bidders list.

Time for a bit of fact-check there noodles...

Transocean is a Swiss company... Before they moved their corporate resolution, TO was a registered in the Cayman Islands... Of the 26,000 employees, less than 15% are US citizens...

Halliburton is registered in Dubai... Again, not a US company...

Cameron is in fact a US based company...

1 out of 3 for a geordie ain't bad though... Keep trying...

^
Its not to long ago that Haliburton moved to Dubai, they were an American major oil support company prior to their move which was for for tax purposes I believe.

Maybe need to ask Dick Cheney the ex CEO why he was working for a UAE based company.

The jury is still out on Transocean, I have to make a phone call!!