What Fleet Street made of Osborne's speech
David Blackburn 9:21am
The abiding image of this conference may be the sight of Steve Hilton apparently
shepherding the turbulent Andrew Tyrie into a booth, from which Tyrie emerged singing George Osborne's praises. "A huge step forward…you can some
consistencies," he said, which was an endorsement of sorts. What did everyone else make of it? As you can see, David Cameron looked morose at times, but the mood in the hall oscillated
between sobriety and quiet optimism, matching Osborne's blend of austerity and promise for the future. Fleet Street is similarly conflicted: no paper gives him an unqualified endorsement, but no
paper entirely rubbishes him either.
The Times concludes (£), as Tyrie did on Saturday, that Osborne is strong on austerity and weaker on growth. "What is missing, though, is a vision for Britain’s economic future. If Mr Osborne wants to preside over something more than his country's relative decline in the world, the re-engineering of Britain will require more than piecemeal support for scientific enterprise. There is an opportunity now to reshape the landscape of the British economy."
The Guardian is, obviously, tepid about fiscal conservatism, but its economics editor, Larry Elliott, is intrigued by credit easing. He says it is "a tacit acceptance that monetary policy is not working”. Elliott argues that CE and a further round of QE are designed to "compensate for the Treasury's fiscal austerity". He worries, though, that those measures will not address the "real problem in the economy": the squeeze on real incomes. In fact, they may deepen that crisis by ramping up inflation.
The Independent is generally positive about what it terms "Osborne's delicate balancing act" of mixing gloom with cautious optimism. But economics gurus David Prosser and Sean O'Grady say the chancellor might have gone much further. They suggest he might have increased capital investment and announced changes to capital gains relief on principal residential homes to divert funds into industry. Osborne has more to do on growth, the paper surmises.
The FT's Matthew Engel is the least impressed of Fleet Street's commentators. He concedes that Osborne's "speech felt like a triumph", but laments that its content was "tawdry". His criticism verges on incandescence at times: "If the government has a plan to save the country from recession, no one seems able to explain it coherently, including Mr Osborne… (whose) self-confidence shades into smugness, and we have all become wary of smug chancellors".
Today, Osborne will travel to the European finance ministers' summit in Luxembourg to discuss the fate of the Euro, which is, of course, linked with his own — and ours.
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Jez
October 4th, 2011 9:28am Report this comment.... i think i read something about this Amanda Knox liking it or something?
Not sure.
In2minds
October 4th, 2011 9:56am Report this commentOh dear! Is that our Dave in tears? Cheer up son, it's just a political conference and not the end of the world. It will all be over soon
Pot Head
October 4th, 2011 10:01am Report this commentOsborne says "we have restored market faith in the UK " as FTSE plunges below 5000. Who cares what some teenage scribbler wrote on a blog, it's the markets that count
Hugo Chav
October 4th, 2011 10:03am Report this comment"For the past 60 years, most governments in the developed world pursued variants of the same economic strategy: trying to minimize the cost of capital for the corporate sector by subsidizing the financial sector and using the taxes on the higher profits to fund ever more generous spending promises. The result was to turn the state into a giant insurance operation, underwriting tail-risks across the economy, protecting people from the consequences of economic mistakes or social misfortune."
Simon Nixon
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Ozzy and Dave are doing their best to keep the ponzi from crashing, but mathematics will catch up with the country in the end.
We need radical revolutionary economic solutions. This will not happen until the Mega Crash. The econo-politico elite and public will only respond in an emergency when the harsh reality breaks through the Denial of the ponzi.
Andy H
October 4th, 2011 10:16am Report this commentThe only way that sufficient change can occur to put this country in a place where we can grow is for there to be a sufficient reduction in the majorities living standards such that the argument of whether we want to live beyond our means, or maintain sound money is etched into the consciousness.
This is what happened in the 70's, and a generation of people realized the socialist menace.
Until we have collectively had the pain, then there will not be the incentive to head down the right path away from the destructive ideology that we can afford to pay 8 million people to not work, and provide free healthcare to anyone that wants to travel to this country, whilst stifling business with over regulation, taxes and litigation.
Nick
October 4th, 2011 10:34am Report this comment"He says it is "a tacit acceptance that monetary policy is not working”."
What a stupid way of looking at it. Monetary policy is clearly having a positive influence (imagine what the economic situation would be if base rates were 5%) but that doesn't mean that further measures can't do more.
Sir Everard Digby
October 4th, 2011 10:53am Report this commentAndy H @ 10.16.
Quite agree. The trouble is the political classes are mis-managing this problem.They see it as a political issue only,so will never take the logical steps to resolve it.
The laws of cause and effect no longer apply to certain sections of society,so applying pain to them will reduce a politicians popularity.
Pretending to solve a problem will avoid such issues. and that is all that matters.
Let's find someone to pay for it;if we can't print some money.
The gamblers are about to run out of money - what then?
michael
October 4th, 2011 10:55am Report this commentThe markets like both the retail sales data and the manufacturing data. GO's lack of triumphalism wrt this hints that finally someone has taken a grip of the tiller, although the direction is still a smidge finger in the wind.
Sean
October 4th, 2011 11:23am Report this commentAs always crap reporting does as crap reporting is. Believe it or not the BBC actually got this one right on Newsnight!
Tyrie actually collared Hilton before they walked out, NOT the other way around. Why do lazy reporters have to cultivate a myth?
If you get the small details wrong then how can we have any faith in the bigger pictures you comment on?
Dennis Churchill
October 4th, 2011 11:50am Report this commentThe constraints that membership of the EU has imposed on us mean there is little scope to reshape the British economy rather than the Times view that:
“There is an opportunity now to reshape the landscape of the British economy."
Our employment laws are subject to EU regulations, our immigration laws are subject to EU legislation and increasingly our taxation laws will be subject to EU legislation.
So far the worst gaff Cameron has made is to confirm the Conservative party, under his leadership, is committed to keeping us in the EU and not allowing a referendum on our membership. That is the statement that will haunt him.
Andy H
October 4th, 2011 12:59pm Report this comment@ Dennis Churchill
You are quite correct.
There is only one answer to the way forward, and that is with our elected representatives to have hold of the real economic levers of power.
Until we have the right for self determination then we will never get out of this mess.
My point is though that there will not be enough political motivation for change until the pain has been felt, as every other esy answer will be tried first - with no effect and at high cost.
MarryMeFraser
October 4th, 2011 5:43pm Report this commentAnd the Daily Mail says
"Osborne’s offer of credit to thousands of small businesses will make Britain the first conservative-led communist state when the loans are inevitably defaulted and the government ends up owning and running everything."
Cynic
October 4th, 2011 8:46pm Report this comment"As you can see, David Cameron looked morose at times" Morose? He looked as though he was wiping away a tear. D Churchill has it correct - while the EU is loading us with regulatory burdens, recovery is not under our control. Perhaps someone had told Dave just before that photograph was taken that his arrogance in denying us voters the referendum on the EU that we want is going to cost him a majority again.
Bill Brinsmead
October 5th, 2011 12:38am Report this commentSean - October 4th, 2011 11:23am - is spot on.
I am here at the Conference and what I see reported on BBC News and Newsnight bears no relation to what I experience. The 18 or so fringe groups meetings I attended on Monday/Tuesday were lively, full of positive, intelligent and engaged Tories.
The 2010 intake is, with only a few exceptions, impressive - socially liberal, fiscally conservative but above all alert to and aware of issues and how to approach them. Mostly good communicators too.
Reservations? The Freedom Zone was a bit flat when the Euro sceptics were on show and there are far too many NGO folk - I was the only delegate at one fringe meeting. Why are they here?
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