Gordon Brown: Caught between the devil and the deep sea |
|
|
|
Published
:
Mon, 03 Oct 2005 09:05
|
LONDON - The sharp economic slowdown has once again brought the focus back on Chancellor Gordon Brown, whose policies have come under heavy criticism from friends and foes alike.
The tardy economic growth has been hit hard by recession in all sectors and was compounded by the MG Rover fold up in April. The fact that he is being seen as a successor to Tony Blair when he abdicates has meant that Brown has been under pressure to deliver on his promises. However, the slowdown in consumer spending and profits warnings by many High Street retailers have not helped him in any way. Also the economy has grown by only 1.5 percent in the year to the second quarter of 2005. This is way below Brown's projections of a 2.5 percent growth.
The Chancellor has turned all the blame for the slowdown on the oil price spike. It is indeed a valid reason, but reasons are something that we do not expect from Brown whose economic track record until now has been impeccable. Last week's Labour conference highlighted the dilemma which Brown finds himself in.
He spoke of a New Labour at Brighton, but his chief Tony Blair only passively looked on. Blair has made no secret of the fact that he will go when he is good and ready. The problem for Brown is that he has to be good and ready at that time. Bad economic data reflects poorly on his skills and this problem has been compounded by his blaming the 'Global slowdown' for UK's troubles. In fact there is no noticeable slowdown in the world's major economies. It is here that Brown appears to have been checkmated.
The mixed data forced Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee to scale down the interest rates, but the data has not shown any significant improvement in the two months since that happened in August. The pensions issue has also muddied the waters. Add to that the council tax woes and you have an unpalatable mix. Gordon Brown, at the moment is behind the nine-ball, whether he delivers or not is another story altogether.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
