Brown's Highway to Hell
Fraser Nelson 10:43am
As Brown left Argentina, he might have thought "at least nothing else can go wrong now." After all, Dan Hannan had started a Mexican wave of derision with his now-famous speech in Strasbourg; then Brown was introduced in New York as a man who became PM in 2007 "and it was all downhill ever since"; then to Brazil where he was snubbed by Pele and ribbed by the president; then to Chile to be given lessons in Keynsian economics. Then, finally, he learns Cameron will have 60 minutes with Obama - just 5 less than he is due. Thus the scene is set for a farcical G20 next week, and I lay all this out in my News of the World column today.
Set aside the personalities, and there is a rift in how to deal with the probem: is more debt-fuelled spending a good thing? Obama thinks so and so does Brown - but Darling doesn't and neither does Mervyn King. France and Germany are also sceptical, wanting regulation instead. And the current EU president is Mirek Topolanek, the Czech PM, who has referred to a debt-funded stimulus as the "road to hell," as it would sink countries further into debt without achieving much. He says the anaology was inspired by the AC/DC track Highway to Hell - and it may as well be the motif to Brown's next 15 months. The G20 will be a humiliation, the April budget a disaster, the June elections a bloodbath for Labour, and then we're on to another summer of his being dead in the water and getting challenged by banana-wielding members of the Cabinet.
In fairness to Brown, he is dying again because he came back from the dead last October against all the odds. Then, he thought he'd be an economic Churchill, fighting his own war against recession. It was not to be. As Churchill said: war is not like politics. In war, you can die only once. In politics: many times.
P.S. Graphic courtesy of News of the World
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kinglear
March 29th, 2009 11:12am Report this commentMuch to my astonishment, a senior civil servant recently said that he couldn't understand the venom and hate that people seem to have for ministers.I suggested he only had to look at how they behaved and how they were clearly going against the wishes of vast swathes of the population. He suggested that was irrelevant - they were there to govern. I left him to his illusions
THX1138
March 29th, 2009 11:37am Report this commentYour Czech PM is no music fan Road to Hell is a Chris Rea song
and contains the prescient lyrics
"And all the roads jam up with credit
and there's nothing you can do
It's all just bits of paper flying away from you.
Look out world
take a good look what comes down here"
http://tinyurl.com/5664x2
Or The Road to Nowhere by the magnificent Talking Heads
http://tinyurl.com/cqq5oh
Reading your NofW writing style makes me laugh - in a good way.
Alf Tupper
March 29th, 2009 11:48am Report this commentDon't think AC-DC will take kindly to this photoshoppery.
Rex Burr
March 29th, 2009 12:39pm Report this commentTHX1138 - Fraser's article says that the inspiration was 'Highway To Hell'.
Wikipedia:-
"Highway to Hell" is a song by the hard rock band AC/DC. It is the opening track of the group's 1979 album Highway to Hell and the twelfth track on AC/DC Live.
Long the UK
March 29th, 2009 12:52pm Report this commentFirst is was Fred the Shred who was attacked by vandals, next it will be the politicians who will be in the firing line. Riots and anarchy are the future as unemployment goes toward 4 million. The House of Commons and the elite had better get their act together as this country is heading into the teeth of a hurricane.
I feel particularly angry at the Financial Times who have consistenlty backed Gordon Brown as he wrecked the British economy. This paper is a disgrace to Britain, the editoral board should be ashamed and begging for forgiveness.
Paul L
March 29th, 2009 1:28pm Report this commentRe your smouldering photograph on the NOW site? Which boy band were you in when it was taken?
THX1138
March 29th, 2009 1:37pm Report this commentRex B Fraser also wrote-
"The Czech premier, currently European Union president, described the idea of a new stimulus as a “road to hell”."
So we're both right.
Fraser Nelson
March 29th, 2009 4:14pm Report this commentTHX1138 - thanks, because that's the aim!
Paul L - I used to work at The Times where I was briefly doing the daily stock market report. For some reason the NOTW online team use that picture for the internet byline, it must still be in News International database.
Rex Burr - AC/DC were playing in Prague recently, and heavy metal has a huge following. That's what made him think of the phrase. It wasn't scripted, but he's just lost his majority and is in a "what the hell" mode. This is great as it not only slows down Lisbon ratification but shows the flaw in the concept of joint EU action - demonstrating that different countries have different approaches to different problems. As it should be. As Canning said when the Congress system imploded, "Things are returning to a wholesome state - each nation for itself and God for us all!"
TGF UKIP
March 29th, 2009 7:51pm Report this commentBrilliant piece in the NoW today, Fraser, which, with the size of the Now circulation, further confirms you as the de facto Leader of the Opposition.
All it needs now is for Rupert to give you a parallel column in the Sun and it should be bye bye Dave.
THX1138
March 29th, 2009 8:15pm Report this commentPerhaps the more appropriate track is
The End - The Doors from the Intro credits for Apocalypse Now
http://tinyurl.com/djk3x7
This also links into the Wheeler story - sort of.
During the LDN Mayoral Election I ended up at a high value Tory fund raiser at a smart Chelsea hotel. - Don't ask. Wheeler was there as were loads of old Skool rich Tory types & a smattering of young brash City, Investment banker & hedgies . I Admit the crowd did put me off voting Tory for awhile in Rod Liddle Countryside allowance kinda way but the nibbles & Champagne were top draw and the meeter's & greeters were lovely Tory Totty.
Boris bounded in worked the room griping & grinning away & then stood on a soap box and gave a little speech comparing himself to Capt Willard & Ken to Col Kutrz, (even the jungle wanted him dead scene). Actually I thought it was a pretty good analogy but the reaction of 90% of audience was hilarious, they had no idea what he was going on about and you could see they were think why are we backing this guy he's nuts. Boris to his credit read the situation pretty quickly and went back to his stump speech but it was a funny moment
At the end the Tory Totty went round with those little pledge cards I put myself down for £50 for politeness sake , but no ever came back to me to collect , with all the serious money in the room they probably thought it wasn't worth the effort of sending me an e-mail. At the end of the evening a young male management consultant full of too much "Bolly" tried to pull me all in all it was fun night & a real eye opener.
RayD
March 30th, 2009 6:07am Report this comment@kinglear
There is a perfectly good response to the senior civil servant and it goes like this: as long as ministers leave the electorate alone they are free to do as they wish, but if they insist in poking their noses into every possible aspect of our lives, they can hardly complain if we return the favour.
hadrian
March 30th, 2009 11:01pm Report this commentNice one, RayD !!
TXH- If this is how Tories behave then they won't last long in office. Call me an old fashioned puritanical sort of Tory but such venality as described at that meeting is precisely what revolts many of us as the same old sleaze. High public office demands the highest standards of conduct and the most selfless of motives. If all that sounds unbearably priggish, then we should be asking ourselves how we can at all expect our political class to be rehabilitated in public esteem.
Tories beware!
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