I imagine CCHQ will have a ‘headless chicken’ folder, containing examples of where Brown’s numerous schemes to bolster the economy aren’t having the desired effect. If so, it should certainly include a copy of the FT’s study into the Government’s loan guarantee scheme for small businesses. Here’s how the FT introduces it:
“Only about £12m has been lent to companies under the government’s £1bn loan guarantee scheme for small business, a month after it was launched, according to analysis by the Financial Times.
Leading business organisations on Sunday attacked the ‘trickle’ of funding from the banks, warning that government attempts to kick-start corporate lending simply were not working.”
Stories like this are damaging on two levels for Brown – they undermine his claim to be the best to steer us through the recession, and they bolster the Tories’ more fiscally responsible message.
P.S. The Tories would also do well to remember that Mike
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