It’s tough for all leaders at the moment right around the western world because they’ve got things that are happening that, to be fair to them, is not really their individual fault… If you take the financial crisis or fuel prices, these are things that are being driven by world events. I said when I left I was going to be 100% supportive of Gordon and the government and that’s what I continue to be, totally and completely. Because I know it’s a difficult job.
Who else are we supposed to blame?
Gordon Brown has been Chancellor or Prime Minister for the past eleven years. He has been responsible, directly [as Chancellor] or indirectly [as PM], for the nations finances and economy for the entirety of the 21st century thus far.
The problems may not be his faultper se, since there is no denying the global issues that are driving them. But the general financial situation we find ourselves in is his fault. And his responsibility.
There is no-one else that we can blame but Gordon. Except for maybe you, Tony.
Can Gordo the Prime Minister fix the economy? His reply is, just like Bob the Builder’s, “yes I can“:
I can steer this economy through difficult times… I feel that I am in the right position to be able to sort out the problems that we have now… Good economic decisions can help people through difficult times.
But since he has been Chancellor or Prime Minister for the last eleven years, there is no-one except him who is responsible and can be blamed for any downturn or economic problems.
Any economic problems we have, he has caused with his supposedly “good economic decisions” of the last decade. And with Brown determined to stay on until at least the next election, there is no-one to blame but him for any economic problems.
The “nice decade” which existed despite (rather than because of) Gordon Brown is now over. There are 1,200 people expected to lose their job every day over the next 18 months - a time period which takes us very close to the latest that the next general election can be held - it seems increasingly likely that this government will just continue to haemorrage support.
To take your mind off the impending economic disasters, here’s the Bob the Builder song:
Gordon Brown has the economy as his “sole focus,” does he? Then he should just take over from Alastair Darling as Chancellor.
A Prime Minister is supposed to be an overall manager, without a “sole focus” on any particular area. That’s the job of the relevant Cabinet ministers. To be experts in their own area, providing the Prime Minister with advice on it.
If the economy really is Brown’s sole focus, then you have to ask why the hell he wanted to become PM - or bothered appointing a Chancellor when he did!
Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan.
In the last 7 days the famous Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and the Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.
Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song. Today shares in Kamikaze Bank was suspended after they nose-dived and 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop.
Analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that customers may get a raw deal. Note: This is a joke. Just in case you hadn’t realised yet.
Home owners could see 25 per cent wiped off the value of their properties within two years, a leading economist has warned… The prediction came as a property market survey found house prices were falling in more than a quarter of the post codes in the country… It is the sixth month in a row that house prices have fallen and they are now falling in 28.8 per cent of all postcodes across the country. (The Telegraph)
On an entirely selfish note, all I can say is: Perfect! 2010 is about when I am planning to enter the housing market, so the more house prices, all the better for me.
But raising it to £5.73 just when economic turmoil is predicted to about to strike is an exercise in sheer stupidity.
The a higher minimum wage will mean that those in work get paid a little bit more. But it doesn’t help those not in work get a job. In fact, the very opposite. After all, if your current workforce is costing you more without any increase in output or efficiency, you’re hardly going to increase it.
Raising the minimum wage won’t do what the Unison general secretary wants and “protect the poor from the constant price rises in essentials like fuel, food and housing” but the very opposite [yet again], and drive those very same people into problems with paying for essentials such as fuel and food. After all, who produces these things? Yes, those working on [or close to] minimum wage. And if the cost of their labour goes up, so will the price of their product.
So no benefits will be achieved from this raise, bar fewer recruitments and maybe some redundancies.
But this Clause 4 is the other kind of “moment”. The death knell for any claims they may have of economic competence. A Clause 4 in reverse.
They are in fact now changing the Clause 4 back to the old one, in practice if not in words.
From the meaningless:
The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few. Where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe. And where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.
Back to the unworkable:
To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.
After all, he’s spent the last decade trying to make his name on economic competence as Chancellor, yet Tony Blair is the one getting all the high-paid business jobs in the financial sector!
And to add insult to injury, according to the Telegraph “[v]oters pin [their] financial hopes on David Cameron”.
Two Labour donors who have given the party nearly £1.7m have withdrawn their support amid growing concerns about Gordon Brown’s handling of the economy. Sir Christopher Ondaatje, a Canadian publisher, and David Potter, chairman of Psion computers, are understood to be worried by the high levels of consumer debt and the recent “run on the bank” by customers of Northern Rock. Their decision comes as a further blow to Brown, who is struggling to regain credibility after his decision not to call a snap election. Labour is also significantly in the red, with net debts of £20m, including £14m of outstanding loans. (The Times)
Even though the Telegraph poll which gave the Conservatives a seven point lead over Labour still gives the Brown-Darling combo an eleven point lead over Cameron-Osborne partnership on the economy, this is a big drop from an earlier - though not directly comparable - poll result.
These now former Labour donors think that Brown is leading the country into an economic crisis. If he does, that will kill him in the country. He bases his entire reputation on the apparent stability of the economy over the last decade. We will soon see whether this was simply despite, rather than because of, him.
"I like the way he handles a broad range of subjects in an engaging and friendly manner. Definitely one of the good guys." - Croydonian
"Right-Wing blogging from a UK student. A fresh perspective on a plethora of events with a healthy interest in shelf-stacking to boot." - Cityunslicker
"One of the more depressing aspects of blogging and the modern world is seeing reams of text on a page. The Thunder Dragon's mixture of politics and fun posts, with good illustrations and quickly made points makes his blog an accessible and fun place to discuss and think about politics...
The Thunderdragon is one of the rising stars of conservative blogging" - Gracchi
"Already an A lister, technical whiz Thunder Dragon shows that not all A listers are stuck up stats groupies who’d sell their grandmothers for more traffic. And he’s on Iain Dale’s list for a reason – he’s simply a fine blogger, scoring highly on the ten point Dale criteria and with his finger always on the political pulse. He's also the technical brains behind Blogpower, along with Ian at Imagined Community." - James Higham
"The ThunderDragon consistently provides an interesting and enjoyable read - always entertaining and often insightful. His writing may even give us a foretaste of our political future. Stick with him. After all, time will cure his youth." - Tom Paine
"Thunder Dragon - Provocative and inventive, especially for this post about how to sort out the USA." - Matt Wardman
Can Gordo the Prime Minister fix the economy? His reply is, just like 
