RSS
Gordon's Governance by Polling
Posted by Ben Archibald (@benarchibald)
Tuesday, 26th January 2010
I wanted my first missive on House of Twits to be amusing. Followers of my blog may consider that to have been a long shot, but it was my aim in any case. Unfortunately, there is very little amusing about the return of the UK to growth; the 0.1% quoted, hopefully, anxiously, by the statistics wonks desperate for a pat on the back instead of a slap upside the head is well within the margin of error for such calculations, and is wiped out in any case by the distinctly keynesian Car Scrappage Scheme.
On the other hand, it's certainly better to have growth (or even a completely flat economy) rather than economic contraction. The fall-off in investment confidence caused by Labour's prolonged recession has caused serious tensions for those in this country hoping to do business overseas, and there will be relief that the UK is not now a place where investments go to lose value. It could be just a brief breather though, as unsettling indications are that we're heading for a double-dip, some time in April.
But what I want to concentrate on in this piece is the way in which the government has failed to take the action needed to handle the recession sooner, with an eye to the opinion polls.
It is not naive to hope that a politician would put the interests of the nation they love ahead of their own political career. Experience under Gordon Brown, however, has shown that nothing is so important to him as the title on his letterbox, and it's in that spirit that he has sought to govern ever since the onset of economic collapse.
We saw it again and again, that Gordon would sooner pay more after a general election than less beginning now. The tory contention is that, if we begin to make cuts more quickly, and begin those cuts right now, we have a chance of stabilising our markets, showing the international investment community we're serious about tackling our deficits and that we deserve a AAA rating for effective and prudent management of the national accounts. Tories argue, I think correctly, that the current round of increased spending adds to the deficits and contributes to a serious undermining of future plans for growth.
Imagine if one was not dealing with the Prime Minister of a country, but with, say, some teenager racking up debts on his parents' credit card. Would his parents likely accept the argument that he should defer repaying the debt until some unspecified future time, and that, in addition, they should give him a few quid to help out a mate buy a new car?
If you buy the argument that Gordon Brown would sooner wait until after the election to begin paying back the debt, then you must agree that his assessment is either:
a) I will win the election, which is better for the whole country, and I can sort it all out then
b) I will lose the election, and it'll be their mess to deal with
I suspect that, even in the Fuehrerbunker, Brown has realised that the endgame for his premiership is upon us, and he's preparing to salt the earth in preparation for a torrid time for his successor.
Greater love hath no man, than he lay down his country to save himself.
