Monday, November 17, 2008

It's the Economy, Stupid

Is George Osborne an idiot? Or does he just think that the voters are all fools?

Over the last few weeks, the Tories have been demanding tax cuts, saying that they are the best way to release cash into the hands of people and spur consumer spending and company investment to help take us out of recession.

Then at the weekend, Osborne was saying that we can't cut taxes because it would cause a run on the pound (which is is bit odd, because the currency rate is not directly related to the government's finances, it's to do with the value of the overall economy and predicted returns compared to other nations, and is more likely to be related to the interest rate).

It sounds to me like opposition for the sake of it. You can't credibly go around contradicting yourself in the space of a few days and expect people to think that you have a clue about how to run the economy. Of course, if your plan is to attack the government for political gain at a time of national uncertainty, it might just work - as long as people don't have those inconvenient memory things.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your premise is correct.

I particularly enjoyed "It sounds to me like opposition for the sake of it. You can't credibly go around contradicting yourself in the space of a few days and expect people to think that you have a clue......it might just work - as long as people don't have those inconvenient memory things"

Similar could of course apply to Labour when the Tories were in power and the comments they made concerning tuition fees. Remember [paraphrased] "We have no plans to introduce them". How long after they took power did they introduce them?

On the subject of memory can everyone who reads this please check there office/home where they are in case the Weapons of Mass Destruction have been left lying around and have been shipped out if Iraq?

The Weapons of Mass Destruction are still missing of course but for some unaccountable reason Labour bloggers tend to forget that inconvenient truth.

Danivon said...

Gordon, you digress a little. I never fully bought the WMDs thing, and am quite prepared (as a Labour blogger) to agree that the probably were very few that predate the 1991 war, and any that were left were probably unusable. I don't know if you recall, but I did not support the Iraq invasion.

On tuition fees, you've clearly picked a topic with which I agree with you on. I can still enter a 'full and frank' discussion with Laura Moffatt on that one.

But anyways, I saw today that the CBI are supporting 'pump prime' money from tax cuts and increased spending to get the economy moving. I wonder if they know anything about business that George Osborne doesn't?

Anonymous said...

I think the CBI have taken a lead from Vince Cable.

Ok, so you would expect me to say that. :-)))))

Danivon said...

And yet I don't recall the guy from the CBI mention the Lib Dems or Vince Cable at all. They were basically saying that the government were right to look at borrowing to stimulate recovery, and that the Tories were right to be concerned about too much borrowing.

Seemed like classic middle-of-the-road fence-sitting, although he did plump for pump-priming when pushed.