An intriguing little story in the FT about the worsening relations between Gordon Brown and Mervyn King. Apparently, our Dear Leader doesn’t like the downbeat rhetoric that the Governor of the Bank of England is deploying:
“There is growing irritation in Downing Street and the Treasury towards Mr King. The prime minister and Alistair Darling, chancellor, have been left fuming by the governor’s interventions, most notably after his downbeat assessment this month of the economic outlook, a viewpoint pounced on by the Conservatives.
Although Mr King’s forecasts were broadly similar to those set out by Mr Darling in last month’s Budget, the governor’s gloom-laden press conference at the launch of the central bank’s latest quarterly inflation report was watched with dismay in government circles.
‘If you’d watched Mervyn on the news you’d have thought the world was a terrible place,’ said one official in the Brown administration.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in