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I used to be invited to the Spectator Awards every year while I was still alive. Not this year. But I didn`t miss the small attendance, Mathew D’Ancona’s unfunny speech, John Reid`s boring speech (though he didn’t head-butt anyone) or the singularly undistinguished (and mainly Tory) set of dull winners.
However, I was slightly amazed that little Liam was the Ministerial winner as “Minister to watch”. Was the message watch’im, or he’ll deport you.
The Bokharis, who he deported to Pakistan, have just written to say they’re living in fear, the father has gone into hiding because of the crack down on lawyers, and the kids are being badly treated. Watch Liam`s space.
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Miliband Major, the boy David, is a Euro-nerd. That`s the kind of affliction that hits idealist youths who’ve got nothing to do. He’s now urging an EU Defence force to build on the EU`s success in screwing up Yugoslavia, going into Kosovo only when Clinton forced them, falling apart on Iraq and leaving our lads to do all the fighting in Afghanistan.
Thank heavens Gordon pulled him back into line and reminded him that Euro defence is Tony talk. The rest of us support NATO.
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Gordon’s tumbled from the strong position he established up to the conferences. But the media chorus claiming he`s screwed up, dithering and indecisive is balls.
He’s not the master of Question Time as Tony was. But then Tony was much glibber and Gordon is attempting to give serious answers to questions, something no-one should ever do in Parliament.
Front benchers all disassociate and pretend it`s not happening but the rest of us will him on. And will him not to hate Cameron so much. Gordon thinks he`s a slick flibbertygibbet who doesn’t really believe in anything. He’s right. But he shouldn’t let it show.
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Nationalise the Rock. All the so-called rescuers want to grab the profitable bits and dump the rest on government. The existing management and directors, and the shareholders, have failed. They deserve nowt, which is all they’d get in real capitalism. So having put our money in the state should now take it over, run it and make a return on the taxpayers` money.
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Time to put Governor Merv out of our misery. Not because he`s screwed up big time on Northern Rock (though he has) but because he’s consistently kept interest rates and the exchange rate cripplingly high, underun the economy when we needed to go for growth and talked morality when he should have preached growth.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost. He should have poured out liquidity in August and reduced interest rates by l% and another half percent in September. Then the pound could fall with the dollar.
Instead he did nothing but now warns in the inflation report that the pound is overvalued (only by 25%), that there`ll be low growth next year and that interest rates may come down then.
Too late. He’s ever ready to anticipate inflation by putting interest rates up in advance of it but not prepared to do anything about the far more calamitous slow-down in the economy. Which would, of course, put inflation up.
Britain needs a Growth Governor to go for growth not retribution, and a Monetary Policy Committee which knows something about the real economy and what makes it grow not monetary theory.
Time to go, Merv. Time to go for growth.
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One thing Merv got right. He’s at last woken up to the gross overvaluation of sterling - 25% up on the mid-nineties and strangling British production, sucking in imports, repelling tourists and causing money to pour out on foreign holidays, villas and businesses while the going’s good.
As long as it remains at these levels the trade deficit will grow and there’ll be no health in us but Merv thinks he can talk it down. Balls. Only a substantial reduction of interest rates to undermine confidence can do that.
We must disassociate from Europe as the Euro goes up to crippling levels, and cleave to the Americans whose benign neglect is letting the dollar down. ”Down Boy”, as I said to Deaf Merve in my monthly letter of advice. Down Down where the Iguanas play. |
