Pouring oil on untroubled waters

At at time when hundreds of British service men and women have died supporting America in Afghanistan, and more are tragically joining them every day, the increasingly strident comments coming out of America regarding the BP oil spill are not playing well here. There is a growing demand amongst politicians and the public that the Prime Minister should pick up the phone to Barack Obama and tell him to back off. A feeling that I am beginning to share.

This is, after all, not Bhopal. There are not thousands lying dead or dying due to corporate negligence. This is an oil spill. A disaster, certainly but the kind of accident that is inevitable when a nation explores for oil in deep water. It may be that BP has been at fault but it is probably no different to any other oil major in this regard and the time for recriminations is not now but after the emergency is past.

For my own part, I admire what Tony Hayward has done in coming down from the comfort and safety of Britannic House and going to America in person to take the rap. A lesser man would have left his American lieutenants to handle the situation. His good intentions have, unfortunately, backfired because he didn't take the trouble to adopt an American persona. When in America, I make a point of talking about curved balls coming in from left field and stepping up to the plate even though I have no idea what this means. But I do know that Americans are stumped by sticky wickets. Tony Hayward has said things in a very British way that make perfect sense to me but have upset Americans. He should have done better.

The American demands for a freeze on dividends is bizarre. BP has more than enough money to deal with this situation and it is showing absolutely no sign of wishing to duck its responsibilities. But the major beneficiaries of BP's dividends are not fat-cat tax-exiles but millions of British pensioners. An attack on dividends is an attack on their pensions and they are certainly not responsible for the oil spill. The American Attorney-General is talking about taking out an injunction. It is not clear what the grounds for such an injunction could be - not Specific Performance, surely and not Tort, I would have thought. Also, it is not clear to me how such an injunction, if granted, could affect a British company in Britain paying British shareholders. However, it must be possible to have an effect or the Attorney would not be considering it.

The worrying thing for me is the way the Britishness of BP seems to be an issue (see my entry on Sarah Palin). I don't remember anyone here mentioning that Occidental was American when Piper Alpha blew in the North Sea. Americans talk a lot about diversity and integration but they often see this only in terms of different stripes of American. When faced with an honest-to-god foreigner, they often seem to fall back on prejudice in a way that astonishes those of us in smaller countries who have to maintain good relations with neighbours who are in every way our equal.

I guess the sensible thing to do is just to grin and bear it and rely on the short memories of the public on both sides of the Atlantic. In six month's time, nobody will remember which oil company caused the problem. And it could have been worse. It could have been Total!