Uitdagende Bruin verdedigt zijn economisch verslag
Door Andrew Porter, Robert Winnett en Myra Butterworth
Gordon Brown is geweest gedwongen om zijn premiershi te verdedigenp en in het bijzonder zijn economisch verslag aangezien hij opzettende kritiek over de kredietcrisis onder ogen zag.
Aangezien de grootste de hypotheekgeldschieters van Groot-Brittannië zijn vraag afstootten om de kosten te snijden om te lenen, gaf de Eerste Minister een reeks gesprekken om aan te dringen hij de slechts baan „begon“.
Amid kritiek van oppositiepolitici en bedrijfsleiders over zijn behandeling van de economie, onthulde M. Brown dat hij aan zijn voorganger, Tony Blair, voor raad op had gedraaid hoe te rond zijn premiership te draaien.
De eerste Minister sprak uit na een Verslaande top van de Straat met stafmedewerkers van de hoogste banken van Groot-Brittannië voor een bezoek aan New York.
Zijn commentaren kwamen op een dag toen het verdere bewijsmateriaal van het verergeren economische condions onder ogen ziend gezinshoofden te voorschijn kwam:
De zorg groeit ook dat de werkloosheidscijfers die op Woensdag moeten worden gepubliceerd een verhoging van werkloze arbeiders in vorige maand kunnen openbaren.
M. Brown zag wijdverspreide politieke kritiek over de kredietcrisis onder ogen.
David Cameron beschuldigde de Eerste Minister van arrogant het zijn en uit aanraking en zei hij openbaar geld op „gargantueske schaal“ had verspild.
Het hoofd van CBI, Richard Lambert, lanceerde een persoonlijke aanval op M. Brown die hem beschuldigt van het in gevaar brengen van de ondernemerscultuur van het land.
David Blunkett, de eerder loyale vroegere Minister van Binnenlandse Zaken, waarschuwde M. Brown dat het afdanken van het 10p tarief van inkomstenbelasting „cruciaal“ lagere verdieners zou beïnvloeden.
En Lord Jones, de handelssecretaresse die om vóór de volgende verkiezing wordt verondersteld af te treden werd, gedwongen om zijn steun aan de Eerste Minister ertoe te verbinden.
Ook op Dinsdag, gaf de Bank van Engeland een andere £15 miljard van belastingbetaler-gesteunde leningen voor Britse banken vrij in een poging om de kredietcrisis te verlichten.
And ahead of his trip to America - where it is feared he may be overshadowed by a visit from the Pope - the Prime Minister repeatedly tried to show that he was capable of pulling Britain through the economic crisis.
His comments followed a series of poor poll ratings and unrest from some Labour backbenchers about his ability to show clear leadership.
In one interview, he insisted: “I’m starting a job that I mean to continue.”
In another he even admitted that he had spoken to Mr Blair about the problems. He said: “I have worked with Tony for years and we’re very good friends. We talk often about some of these things. I think after ten years of one party in government, you’ve obviously got to be able.”
Following criticism that he was increasingly out of touch with the economic concerns of ordinary people, Mr Brown also used the media appearances to empathise with voters.
He said: “I wake up in the morning thinking what can we do to help homeowners, to help those people who have got small businesses, people looking for jobs, people wanting opportunities so they can have better jobs for the future.”
He added: “And we will do everything in our power to make sure we’re on the side of ordinary hard-working families who need a government on their side, that we will take the action necessary.”
Mr Brown insisted he “recognised” the financial difficulties facing families. But he said he was prepared to risk unpopularity in order to make the right “long-term” decisions for the country.
“What people would not thank me for is taking the wrong long-term decisions,” he said. “The right long-term decisions are to keep inflation low and keep interest rates low.”
The Prime Minister’s comments have been attacked by both his own backbenchers and opposition politicians as they were not accompanied by firm policy initiatives.
Banks, building societies and leading City institutions were summoned to a meeting at Downing Street with Gordon Brown to discuss ways of easing the credit crunch. Mr Brown and Alistair Darling, the chancellor who leaves for China later this week, have called on banks to cut interest rates in a bid to help hard-pressed homeowners.
However, following the meeting, Halifax, the country’s biggest mortgage lender, announced it will increase the cost of its two-year fixed rate mortgages. Abbey will also increase some of its rates.
Melanie Bien, director of independent mortgage broker Savills Private Finance, said ‘The decision by the two biggest lenders to edge up the rates on some of their most popular mortgages less than a week after a reduction in base rate illustrates the pressure on competitive deals. It suggests the two lenders have been inundated with applications. Putting up rates is a way of deterring borrowers while further enhancing their margins.”
At the Downing Street meeting, the Prime Minister was told by the banks that they wanted the Bank of England to offer more assistance and to accept mortgages as collateral for state-backed loans.
The Bank is understood to be considering the request, but the Conservatives accused Mr Brown of failing to adequately address the crisis.
George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, said: “In typical Gordon Brown style, the only concrete decision that came out of his meeting with bankers was the promise of another meeting - this time with his understudy, Alistair Darling.
“With more gloomy news on housing it is time for the government to stop dithering. We need to unfreeze the mortgage market. That way we can help thousands of families facing higher mortgage bills as a result of the credit crunch.”
See More:Money UK NewsHave Your Say: Defiant Brown defends his economic record
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 11:17 pm and is filed under Breaking News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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