[Edited: 'dead' video/image removed]
Also you may like to read what Gord had to say in the Guardian; I'm sure it's a joke - seriously, in it Brown says:
The sign off is what first made me think it must be a wind-up! There are about 350 comments so far and I am not exaggerating when I say that less than ten are pro New Labour or Gordon (I recall only ONE that was supportive plus a handful of "it would be the same under the Tories" etc.) More bad news elsewhere: Gordon Brown’s one-hour interview with Jeff Randall and the Sky News team on Friday is reported HERE in the Daily Telegraph and titled "The sub-prime minister has led us beyond boom and into bust""But let me be clear: this is not the moment to junk the economic policy framework that has secured sustained growth, high employment and low inflation over the past decade. The progressive British model that New Labour has pioneered has been successful
So while we respond to a world that is changing all around us, our values of fairness and social justice remain our guide. Everything we have done since 1997, and everything we do this week in Manchester, is driven by one thing: our united commitment to fair rules, fair chances, and a fair say for all.""Gordon Brown is the prime minister"
Oh, by the way...a little quote from the past: "I will not allow house prices to get out of control and put at risk the sustainability of the future." He said he was determined that the UK should not return to the "instability, speculation and negative equity" of the 1980s and 1990s....who said that? I know you could stitch up most politicians (in fact most anybody) by quoting what they've said in the past but Brown has lied and spun for over decade and many have been saying it for over a decade....and he's still at it. Do I need to go on?The speed of decline has been breathtaking…
There’s no contrition, no admission of fallibility, no recognition of blunders – and most certainly no apology. This isn’t clever. It insults the electorate’s intelligence…
...in this week's Spectator: Fraser Nelson and Peter Hoskin revealed the true extent of part of the nation's debt — and Brown’s scandalous manipulation of the Private Finance Initiative (GBP110+ billion)...and don't forget the GBP100 - 150 billion 'raid' on pensions; this isn't even the whole picture: "public borrowing for the first three months of the fiscal year 2008-09 rose to £24.4billion, almost £10billion higher than in the same period last year and the worst figure since records began in 1946." [DT] Gordon Brown, you are indeed, quaint."The great debt deceit: how Gordon Brown cooked the nation’s books"...
2 comments:
The Spectator article is good, thought provoking and has you shaking your head in disbelief, but it serves little purpose in the bigger scheme of things. I'm not denying what it says is correct or that it is indeed frightening what level of debt has been put 'off balance sheet' or postponed over a thirty year period.
The problem is how do you convert this into something that the electorate will understand? IFRIC12will mean as much to the man on the Clapham Omnibus as PFI or PPP -bugger all.
Even the figure of £26,100 per household - whilst in itself pretty horrific - means little when property prices are going down so rapidly.
The private sector 'indulges itself' in similar schemes where debt is concealed but that doesn't impact on all taxpayers. I have clients who owe huge amounts but you wouldn't find it in any accounts because businesses have been set-up as joint ventures. As the Spectator article points out there is a probability that IFRIC 12 will be a blunt instrument where ownership and debt are separated.
I spent part of last night reading through West Ham's annual financial statements, the group Balance Sheet looks healthy enough until you realise that debts have been converted into shares and properties revalued. This is exactly what the great unwashed population has been doing over the past 10 years, increasing personal debt based on the promise (or should that be premise?) that property prices will increase thereby increasing equity headroom.
The Spectator is right to draw people's attention to such matters but I feel, without being seen as a Brown supporter or guilty of shooting the messenger, that it is preaching to the converted. How many Sun or Mail readers buy the Spectator?
Span - I posted a link to the Spectator article (not via your blog) on 5Live today. I think the article deserves a wider readership. It's on the thread that has Darling pledge to economy (or similar).
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