Politics

13 December 2008

Fraser Nelson reviews the week in politics

Those who can will swap providers, but there are 200,000 too poor to be able to do so: the ones who, to use the words of the FSA report, ‘probably represent a worse-the-average credit risk’. They are being deliberately overcharged, says the FSA report, so Northern Rock can ‘focus on repaying its government loan’.

This is a new approach for a Labour government: squeezing the poor until the pips squeak. All done while Mr Brown makes public demands that banks like Northern Rock lower their mortgage rates. The Council of Mortgage Lenders was being generous when it called his policy ‘incoherent’. The Prime Minister is playing a perfectly coherent double game.

The truth is not politically acceptable. Britain borrowed too much, and will have to repay. We cannot borrow our way out of debt, and we may not be able to anyway. Serious politicians like Frank Field are raising the prospect of a cross-party national government to persuade foreigners to keep lending. Serious businessmen are putting as much of their savings as they can into euros, believing the currency collapse has far to go.

Many political leaders would buckle under such strain. Jim Callaghan, a lapsed Methodist, took up prayer again when he entered the Treasury. Mr Brown manages not only to look confident, but to smile almost as if he is enjoying the crisis. At moments like these, the Labour party must be perversely glad it did not get rid of him in 2008. It is hard to imagine a Prime Minister who could so cheerfully conceal just how close to the edge Britain really is.

Previous page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

More articles from: Fraser Nelson | this section

Print this article | Email to a friend | Permalink | Comments (2)

Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Post comment

michael clarke

December 14th, 2008 3:41pm Report this comment

The Unitary Authority for Corwall which 80% of the people did not vote for or want!!the costs of which have spiralled up from £19million to a stagerring £60million and I think it should be stopped as we are in a recession!!anuther of Labours quangos!how pathetic!!