Oh Gord, this is bad
James Forsyth 9:00am
Charlie Whelan takes to the Telegraph today to defend his old boss but only ends up emphasising how bad his current situation is. Whelan writes, “[Brown] also knows that there are two things that really matter. First, there is not one person in this country whose circumstances suffered in any way because there was no early election.
This was no Black Wednesday, after which millions of people really suffered as a result of Tory economic incompetence. In the current volatile political climate, the polls will go up and down regularly, but, when people go to put their cross on the ballot paper, what was essentially a Westminster story will not matter a jot. Not for the first time, the Westminster village will be seen to be completely out of touch with reality.” This may be true but it certainly cannot be said of this current crisis. As 25 million people check their bank accouts this morning, they will—rightly or wrongly—be blaming the government. Anyone who finds their identity compromsied because of this is unlikely to look kindly on Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling.
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Mike
November 21st, 2007 9:23am Report this comment"There is not one person in this country whose circumstances suffered in any way because there was no early election.". Er, No. We've all suffered because we had the opportunity to remove this totally incompetent government from office removed from us because there was no early election"
Francis
November 21st, 2007 9:31am Report this commentAlastair Darling is focusing on the junior official concerned who disobeyed procedures. This totally misses the point. Imagine the same argument with nuclear weapons - "I'm so sorry we blew up Russia. It is totally unacceptable and shouldn't happened but the person who pressed the button wasn't following correct procedures." The crucial point is that no official should have been able to download this data without going through the most stringent checks and safeguards. That these checks and safeguards weren't in place is the responsibility of HMCR's senior management and, ultimately, the Chancellor.
James Campbell
November 21st, 2007 9:44am Report this commentYou can tell how bad this is by the fact they have to trawl back fifteen years to find something to compare it with. And anyway how exactly did people 'really suffer' as a result of Black Wednesday? The collapse of the ERM was a godsend to the British economy as any fule kno.
Tommy Judd
November 21st, 2007 9:49am Report this commentWhelan's fundamental problem as a spokesman always was that he failed to marshall facts to his spin. Nobody "suffered" from Black Wednesday; quite the opposite, it laid the ground for a long period of economic growth. That wasn't the point. At a stroke, the Major government looked clueless and incompetent and nothing they ever did afterwards could alter this view. The comparison with the non-election is sound. And I'm no Tory.
Bruce
November 21st, 2007 10:15am Report this comment"the Westminster village will be seen to be completely out of touch with reality." Isn't Whelan one of the villagers?
Max Kaye
November 21st, 2007 11:04am Report this commentCharlie Whelan... Wasn't he that 'has been' who never really 'was'? (Sorry for being so bitchy - but he really deserves a roasting for being, in his own words, 'completely of touch with reality').
Praguetory
November 21st, 2007 11:35am Report this comment"the Westminster village will be seen to be completely out of touch with reality". Does this make him the village idiot?
pat
November 21st, 2007 11:35am Report this commentEvery month, millions of people will check their bank and credit details and be reminded of the sheer incompetence of this Government. You couldn't make it up. And whose fingerprints are all over this? Why the Great Trembling Hand thats who.
EyeSee
November 21st, 2007 1:09pm Report this commentWell it really takes some doing, but stand up Gordon Brown as the Idiot of Westminster Village.
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