The fictions have begun…

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman has just given the lobby a briefing – and repeating what Darling briefed the Cabinet. I hope Chancellor started his presentation with the words “once upon a time” because what followed was demonstrable fiction. Here are the main points:-

1) All the countries in the world are facing problems
2) Britain is well-placed to withstand these problems.
3) Inflation is low
4) Debt is low, by historical and international standards are low
5) Economic growth is resilient.

My response:

1) There is a global credit crunch, but Britain will be amongst the worst hit by it (see point 5)
2) We would be well-placed had a surplus been built up over the fat years. Instead these is a huge deficit. So we’re at the mercy of global economic problems.
3) As for the inflation con, does anyone paying any bills believe it? See the Brownie I did the other week.
4) Amongst the developed world, only Japan and Hungary have worst deficits (see Table