Imprudent, and proud of it

oldtimer

It does look as though the die is cast. Sound money and responsibility on one side of the coin; debased money and irresponsibility on the other side.

Bill Rees

It strikes me that Gordon Brown is burdening our descendants with unimaginable debts simply in an effort to win the next election.
He did it with the tax cut earlier this year in an effort to win Crewe and Nantwich, and he's doing it again on a larger scale.
What I find interesting is that the BBC seems to be allowing him to get away with it, while John Humphreys grilled David Cameron this morning as though Cameron were proposing something outrageous and ridiculous.

TrevorsDen

Its been well documented that you cannot spend your way out of a recession. It will just end up worse or prolong it.
As the '16 economists' said, "It is inevitable that government expenditure and debt naturally rise in a recession but planned rises in government spending are misguided and discredited as a tool of economic management."

So why waste endangered pixels in balancing the equivalence of the two options. Brown is the one deluded yet you ignore an opportunity to point this out.

Keynesianism is much overblown and only being used by Brown as an excuse to buy votes. Yet you let this float off in the wind.
You might point out that the only person who advocated Keynsianism in the 30's was Sir Oswald Mosely. That it was Callaghan who said, 'We used to think you could spend your way out of recession by boosting government spending. 'I tell you, in all candour, that option no longer exists."

Just how thick are you? Probably as thick as the wittering nerds on these pages who profess to be worried angry conservatives.

My prediction BTW is that Brown will not announce a massive tax cut or sending plan. He will dress it up for all that he is worth but the reality is that it will be a modest bit of 'pork barrel' boost to his own supporters.

If I am wrong, watch the £ go south.

Nicholas

The man is quite mad and joins the likes of Robert Mugabe as an authoritarian bully who creates an alternative reality that everyone else must suffer under. The hubris he displays is vile. His overt animosity towards the Conservatives is repulsive. His manipulation, self-serving deceit and spin actually worse than Blair. That is not really surprising given that he spent 10 years plotting against Blair.

But we are stuck with him and with the unquestioning support of the BBC, most of the media and the ballooning civil service he continues to survive. There is one frantically spinning wheel on his wagon, but he's still rollin' along.

David Lindsay

Believe in Tory tax cuts when you see them.

The Tories have form, you know...

Peter Davis

Brown may have been saying that he was holding to fiscal principles while he was Chancellor but he certainly was not doing that - he was borrowing like there was no tomorrow. Tomorrow has now arrived; and will be with us for a very long time.

cuffleyburgers

"the [imagined] hallmarks of his decade in Number Eleven"

His decade in that office was characterised by stealth tax, bending the golden rules, off balance sheet accounting, incompetent regulation, shafting the pensions industry, selling gold reserves against the BoE's advice and at the bottom of the price curve, the whole confection leavened with the odd downright lie.

He talked the sound money talk but has never walked the walk.

Of course, he should actually walk the plank for what he has done to this country

TrevorsDen

The Times today says,
"UK unemployment is set to climb even further after a range of British businesses today announced over 5,000 job cuts in under 12 hours. "

Virgin points out that their job cuts "are expected to be pushed through between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the end of 2010."

The real cost of this recession is yet to be played out. Can Brown afford to wait until June 2010.

jennywren

It seems to me that the markets are already giving their verdict on Government policy...sterling dropping like a stone.

Ted Tedford

A perfect opportunity for a reassertion of the fundamental conservative belief in the contract between our ancestors, ourselves and our progeny. By contrast, McSnotty's reckless racking up of credit to save his worthless hide amounts to a mortgaging of my children's livelihood and is despicable. It reveals the fundamental short-termism (ten-year plans notwithstanding) of 'progressive' politics. The vaunted 'selfishness' of Thatcherism pales into insignificance with this stinker.

John F

...sterling dropping like a stone
All part of the Zanulabour plan,,a scorched earth policy, ruin the economy as much as possible and put the final touches to Broken Third World Britain.
Then into the Euro and the country submerged in the Euro Morass.
Mrs Thatcher was right, the socialists truly are the enemy within.
Zanulabour, Socialists, the BBC and Guradian,,, "Britains Axis of Evil"

I remember in the late 1960,s early 70,s the last time Britian was reduced to 3rd world status,, A few brave men,, Col David Sterling (SAS founder) Lord Mountbatten and some others planned a military takeover,,,, unfortunately it didn,t happen.
If there are other brave military men out there who are planning a take over,, they would have my fullest support (I can easily pull a trigger) because its long overdue time that Traitors like Brown, Blair etc were made to pay for there actions.
Its here in the UK we need our forces,, because our countries enemies are much closer to home,, in government, the BBC etc. not Afganistan.

Now this being the case,, can you stupid English tell me why in a recent poll (Populus) you put the Scots traitor Brown ahead of Cameron.
I,m Scots but I detest Brown and all he and stands for,,however I,m astonished at why you Engish dont, get up off your knees and fight,, because if you dont fight,,like our ancestors did in 2 world wars,, Britan (Engalnd, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) will be little more than counties,, with German, French etc police keeping us in check.

TGF UKIP

"What is not in doubt is that there is now a real and necessary ideological row ablaze." Oh, come, come Matthew, you don't really think you're going to get away with that do you?

After you and your acolytes on this website have devoted so many words to impressing upon us all the wisdom of Dave and his gang in not doing ideological or conservative conviction politics lest it "frighten the horses" or "deluge the voters with doubt" you now want us to believe that your Blue Labour boy really is a conviction conservative ideologue.

Sorry, matey, it just won't wash. We now have brutally, unscrupulously, combatively, professionally populist Gordon facing your boy whose idea of populism appears to be wearing a silly hat and riding a bike with his car in tow, all the while assisted by the deadest of dead parrots.

At 3 am don't you sometimes ask yourself, Matthew, how can the Official Opposition only have a single figure headline lead and an increasing polling deficit on economic matters against such an appalling government.

And don't you then break into a cold sweat over the dreadful mistake you and your co-conspirators made in 2005?