The latest from Alistair Darling is just sums the man up, he just hasn’t got a clue.
The most important things, really the only things, the state should do for the economy are stability and predictability; this creates confidence. Darling can provide neither. His statement yesterday that the UK economy was at its worst for 60 years in the G has removed the last remnants of confidence that the market had.
If the Chancellor thinks it’s this bad, what the hell is everyone else to make of it? It’s a signal to pull out, shut up shop and leave, ‘it’s going to get rough lads and I can’t help you’.
There is of course the angle that he was actually having a pop at Gordon Brown, because it’s his policies and his, in effect, economy. He created this mess and Darling disagrees with him on how to solve it.
The issue of course is that they can’t do what they need to do to solve the problems: tax cuts. Money needs to be put back into people’s pockets, money that can be spent to get the economy going and money that will ease the burden of higher fuel prices. But they can’t, because they have spent it all.
I’ve said here before, the idea that Brown was prudent is the greatest scam so far this century. A lie, a clear distortion of the truth that the media swallowed whole.
We can only hope that Darling has finished there. Destroying economic confidence, admitting his predecessor messed it all up, that his party’s policies have bled the country dry and having a good poke at the ability of his boss are not enough.
Darling presents himself as a genuine man, a nice person who is refreshingly pragmatic. This is also a problem though, he is almost too pragmatic, too high minded. His response to the question about stamp duty should have been a no comment or a rebuttal. It wasn’t, he couldn’t see why he should have to lie about the issue.
The market nearly went under.
He also contradicts himself on a worryingly consistent basis. One moment it’s all about getting on with it, pushing ahead and solving the issues at hand, the next it is all ‘when I’m ready’. Well what is it? Now or next year? As a minister this is fine, as a cal and collected, pragmatic person wishing to make sure the time is right, fine. But a Chancellor is a General. A Leader, a decider. If you are being attacked and need to order your troops into action, you need to make a decision. Retreat, attack, counter, dig in, go here, there, somewhere anywhere. Just tell them what to do. Alistair darling would go into his tent and have a good ponder, weigh up the options and several hours return to issue the amazing tactic to a burnt out blood bath of bodies.
Basically, he is simply not of the right character to do the job. He is not reassuring, he is not decisive. Most importantly he cannot understand that every noise he makes causes a blip in the market. If he wears a blue tie the market goes up, if he wears a purple one it goes down.
His total inability to understand what his job actually requires, as evidenced by his constant foot in mouth episodes, requires him to be removed. Of course he won’t be, because his boss is nearly as bad.
How many times will Darling put his foot in it?
The latest from Alistair Darling is just sums the man up, he just hasn’t got a clue.
The most important things, really the only things, the state should do for the economy are stability and predictability; this creates confidence. Darling can provide neither. His statement yesterday that the UK economy was at its worst for 60 years in the G has removed the last remnants of confidence that the market had.
If the Chancellor thinks it’s this bad, what the hell is everyone else to make of it? It’s a signal to pull out, shut up shop and leave, ‘it’s going to get rough lads and I can’t help you’.
There is of course the angle that he was actually having a pop at Gordon Brown, because it’s his policies and his, in effect, economy. He created this mess and Darling disagrees with him on how to solve it.
The issue of course is that they can’t do what they need to do to solve the problems: tax cuts. Money needs to be put back into people’s pockets, money that can be spent to get the economy going and money that will ease the burden of higher fuel prices. But they can’t, because they have spent it all.
I’ve said here before, the idea that Brown was prudent is the greatest scam so far this century. A lie, a clear distortion of the truth that the media swallowed whole.
We can only hope that Darling has finished there. Destroying economic confidence, admitting his predecessor messed it all up, that his party’s policies have bled the country dry and having a good poke at the ability of his boss are not enough.
Darling presents himself as a genuine man, a nice person who is refreshingly pragmatic. This is also a problem though, he is almost too pragmatic, too high minded. His response to the question about stamp duty should have been a no comment or a rebuttal. It wasn’t, he couldn’t see why he should have to lie about the issue.
The market nearly went under.
He also contradicts himself on a worryingly consistent basis. One moment it’s all about getting on with it, pushing ahead and solving the issues at hand, the next it is all ‘when I’m ready’. Well what is it? Now or next year? As a minister this is fine, as a cal and collected, pragmatic person wishing to make sure the time is right, fine. But a Chancellor is a General. A Leader, a decider. If you are being attacked and need to order your troops into action, you need to make a decision. Retreat, attack, counter, dig in, go here, there, somewhere anywhere. Just tell them what to do. Alistair darling would go into his tent and have a good ponder, weigh up the options and several hours return to issue the amazing tactic to a burnt out blood bath of bodies.
Basically, he is simply not of the right character to do the job. He is not reassuring, he is not decisive. Most importantly he cannot understand that every noise he makes causes a blip in the market. If he wears a blue tie the market goes up, if he wears a purple one it goes down.
His total inability to understand what his job actually requires, as evidenced by his constant foot in mouth episodes, requires him to be removed. Of course he won’t be, because his boss is nearly as bad.
Filed under: 1, In The News..., Political Comment, Politics and Current Affairs: Lucky Dip | Tagged: alistair darling, britain, chancellor, darling interview, economics, media, News, politics, uk, uk economy