There may be damp squibs ahead
Peter Hoskin 4:30pm
Just to follow up Fraser's and Daniel's posts, Clive Crook's column in the FT today contains a striking example of just how few waves this G20 summit created:
"You might have thought that an emergency gathering of leaders from the world’s 20 main rich and emerging economies, with the global economy poised for its worst slump since the Great Depression, would have aroused some interest. The event was deemed unworthy of the main section of Saturday’s New York Times. (Room was found on the front page for a story about how...
Rarely has a summit been so hastily organised, hyped so much, yet achieved as little as last week’s G20 meeting called by President George W. Bush to deal with the world’s financial crisis. World leaders did agree on a confidence-boosting package of economic assistance, but put off sorting out any detailed plans on overhauling financial management and regulation, or revising the problematic global currency trade and settlement regime until their next summit, scheduled on April 30, when the United States will be steered by President Barack Obama.
One of Gordon Brown’s favourite tricks is claiming he’s pursuing a particular agenda at the behest of a person/organisation above party politics. Hence those endless reviews: Stern on climate change, Wanless on health, Barker on housing – all with parameters set so tight that they were programmed to come out with what Brown thought. I’ll wager that in the Pre-Budget Report next Monday, we’ll hear the same – that this huge deficit (prob £60bn this year and £85bn for 09/10) will somehow be at the behest of the IMF and the world. So...
I know this will be anathema to most Coffee Housers, but I can’t help wondering if Peter Mandelson will become a much-loved figure once he leaves the political stage. Tony Benn proves that even the most controversial political figures can work their way into the nation’s affections once they are out of power. 
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