The Gordon and Alistair show
1:24pmIt was the Gordon and Alistair show today, rather than the Brown press conference. And Darling did far more than the intro. He jumped into answer questions, with his message – that HMS Britain was built by Labour to weather a world economic storm. He detailed meetings with world leaders, as if to try and hammer home his point that innocent Britain is caught in a world economic problem, not our fault guv, etc. Anyway, here are five thoughts on each of them…
DARLING
1) “Right across the world, this will be a difficult year”. But few face a UK-style slowdown. The average OECD economy grew by 2.7% last year and is forecast to do 2.3% this year. No major country is facing a growth deceleration as sharp as Britain - from 3.1% to 2.0%.
2) “We are better placed than most other countries…” We would be if we didn’t have the largest budget deficit in Western Europe.
3) “We have more people in work than ever before” Thanks to immigrants who took or created 80% of the jobs since 1997.
4) “Low mortgage rates” I take it Darling’s mortgage isn’t coming up for renewal this year. The Telegraph’s story - “cost of home loans highest in seven years” tells the story of what voters are experiencing.
5) “We have lowest unemployment since 1975” A slogan left over from the 2001 campaign – and it wasn’t even true then. Today unemployment is 5.3%, ahead of 4.2% in 1975 (and Nov79) and even Jul00. Unemployment is expected to hit 1.8m this year – a ten year high.
BROWN
1) Incapacity benefit. Brown responded not by trashing the Tories but saying he was tough too – on single parents, etc. Interestingly, little ideological difference in this battle.
2) Decent gag – about not following Sarko’s example and wedding a supermodel. Could have done with half a dozen more of them,
3) “We recognise that the problem in 97 was lack of jobs, the problem in 2007 was lack of skills.” This would be easier to believe if hundreds of unskilled immigrants were not arriving here each day and finding work.
4) “Where interest rate cuts happen, building societies have a duty to take that into account” – Yes but real problem is the old link between the BoE base rate and inter-bank borrowing rates has been broken. LIBOR is only now falling – but is still way north of the base rate. This, not profiteering from lenders, is the problem.
5) “What’s happened in Glasgow is that there has been a very large increase in employment and decrease in unemployment”. True. In May03, some 30% of Glasgow were on benefits – in May07 it’s 25.1%. The Pathways to Work programme was piloted here, and delivered results with private firms doing the placements. If it had been rolled out properly, Labour would not be so vulnerable to Cameron’s attack now.
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Peter Simpson
January 8th, 2008 3:28pm Report this commentSpineless cowardly bottler Broon and his 'crutch" aka fellow communist Raj member no mandate in England Darling.
TGF UKIP
January 8th, 2008 5:38pm Report this commentFraser, if only we had a conservative, right wing party leadership in this country that could skewer the Labour leadership as you do. Just think, if only you were English you could start such a Party with lots of Tory refugees to help get you going.
jimi hendrix
January 8th, 2008 7:35pm Report this commentMaybe the reason there isn't a right-wing headbangers' party of substance is that there aren't as many right-wing headbangers as you think/wish. :)
Bill P
January 8th, 2008 8:46pm Report this commentP Simpson at 328pm:- "Spineless cowardly bottler Broon and his 'crutch" aka fellow communist Raj member no mandate in England Darling." Thats right Mr Simpson-but until you and your other sassenachs get your act together and have the ability to govern yourselves, we, the Scots will have no other option but to continue governing over you poor deluded fools until you produce people who have the calibre of governance! Until then-go and lie down-think of England!
TGF UKIP
January 8th, 2008 9:52pm Report this commentjimi hendrix, enjoyed your riposte! All the same it is noteworthy how well right wing nostrums do poll when put to the test. Makes it all the more surprising that we don't have a major right wing party, just three SocDem ones.
Nicholas Millman
January 9th, 2008 10:28am Report this commentjimi hendrix I would suggest that the "right-wing headbangers' party of substance" is New Labour. Blair & Brown have so blurred the traditional concepts of left, right and centre by the triumph of their pernicious propaganda as to create a party, and government, that is redolent of an archaic, totalitarian regime such as the GDR. Their propaganda, spin and newspeak is relentless and blatent. The Conservatives are accused of no longer knowing what they stand for but the government, and Labour party, are even more shape-shifting in the muddled contradictions of their "policies". Emerging from the socialist Left they represent the greatest threat to public and individual freedom that this country has seen since the days of Oliver Cromwell. They are in effect right wing as the Nazi party (national socialists) were right wing; they are headbangers in the sense that much of their policy derives from barmy, minority pressure and focus groups, immature ministers or knee-jerk hysterical reaction to media crudities; they are a party of substance in that they have imposed incessant regulation and legislation that have impacted every member of our society and which criminalises or seeks to criminalise many. They are utterly corrupt. They are unaccountable and impervious when any attempt is made to bring them to account. They are pompous, patronising and arrogant in their dogma and cant. In the absence of effective opposition or a redefinition of political imperatives they will continue ad nauseum and beyond, to the wretched end of this once wonderful country.
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