When will this failed government make up its mind on the economy?
While Baroness Vadera sees "green shoots" of recovery and Tony McNulty sees 'light at the end of the tunnel', Ed Balls now says "this is the worst recession for over 100 years" and Alistair Darling has said we are "seeing the most difficult economic conditions for generations."
How can these conflicting views be reconciled?
And what about our Dear Leader? He seems in denial about the state of the economy and attacks anyone who points out the bloody obvious as "talking down the economy." Very convenient device that for shutting down debate and reducing his accountability!
The PM still ridiculously claims that Britain is "best placed" to deal with the downturn while the IMF, EC and the fate of Sterling tell us otherwise.
But even Brown seems confused. One minute he is telling us he has "saved the world" the next he is telling us we are in a "depression."
Brown seems to be hedging his bets and as a result is ending up in a right old mess. He wants us to believe that the recession and financial crisis is solely down to global forces. One might think therefore that he would be candid about the true state of the economy.
The problem, however, is that Brown refuses to risk all on his "global recession" narrative in case the electorate (rightly) pins some of the blame at his door. So Brown tries to cover himself by giving false optimism about the economy in an attempt to convince voters that his action will make the economy shorter and shallower.
It is a fudged strategy which shows that he lacks the courage of his convictions. The government, Brown included, are sending out too many mixed messages - worst crisis for a hundred years yet we are best placed, our leader is saving the world, government action will mean economy will start growing in third quarter of this year and green shoots and light at the end of the tunnel can be seen.
The government is all at sea on the economy!
2 comments:
Hi,
Do the quotations from various members of the Labour party not indicate a variety of personal opinions? Is this not the debate which you say is being stifled? I'm sure Brown would be capable of demanding a single unified message from the majority of the party if he chose. Whilst the mixed messages may be confusing, is that not simply because its a complex situation the world finds itself in, a global recession of levels possibly never seen before? Also, whilst surely some of blame must lie with the current government, international factors are surely very important. In todays economy, is it really possible for a government to make there economy immune to problems else where in the world? It seems the prevailing economic ideologies of the past 20 years are the most responsible for the current situation. It seems to me your attempts to lay the blame purely at the door of no. 10 says more about your personal political convictions rather than looking for an underlying cause for this current problem. Anyway, keep up the thought provoking posts and I'll try to keep up the ill thought out, naive responses :)
A government can only give a strong, confident lead which inspires faith in its policies and actions if it speaks with one voice. That is why there is the principle of 'collective responsibility' within the Cabinet.
When ministers start giving contradictory opinions, not only is the government and the Prime Minister damaged by stories of disunity etc but confidence in the govt/PM is also undermined.
As for whether "Brown would be capable of demanding a single unified message from the majority of the party if he chose" i'd dispute that. During the summer, Brown was losing control of his party and dissent was common place. That is not what is going on here though. The problem is that Brown is not giving a strong enough lead. On the whole he wants to be optimistic and some of his ministers have followed his lead. But others, including his close ally Ed balls, clearly feel the government ought to be more candid about the economy.
This mixed messages are problematic but as i've argued before in an earlier post, Brown is being too optimistic. He needs to be more honest with people.
Finally, as for pinning all the blame on Brown, i'd disagree with that. Clearly the bankers are very culpable and in our inter-dependent global economic system, the recession is affecting all. The recession is clearly global.
What i take issue with, however, is Brown's boasts to have "abolished boom and bust," saying we are "best placed" to weather the recession, and his strategy of blaming everything on America and not taking any responsibility for his actions over the past 11 years.
It was not America that gave us the biggest Budget deficit in the world. It was not America that made us the most indebted country in the world. It was not an American who designed our regulatory system that failed; it was Gordon Brown.
Brown failed to curb the excesses of our financial services sector in the boom years and this is what lies at the root of our particular troubles. The liabilities of our stricken banking sector are more than four times the size of our national output. That is why the value of the pound has slumped so dramatically on international currency exchanges. Foreign investors increasingly doubt the ability of British taxpayers to meet those liabilities if called upon to do so.
Consequently, without an admission of guilt, without an apology, this blog and others will try and hold Brown to account.
Post a Comment