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Right Talks Up The Economy
Yesterday we noted that the fiercest critics of Alistair Darling's claim that Britain faces the worst economic outlook for the past sixty years came from the right.
Several conservative commentators railed against the Chancellor's bleak analysis. They've been joined by more today. The Telegraph describes his claim as simply "wrong" and "bizarre", arguing "all evidence indicates a painful downturn that will be far less severe than events in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s."
"It is not the job of a Chancellor to talk down the economy - be realistic by all means, but being gratuitously alarmist is unforgivable. When Britain's finance minister tells the world that the British economy is a basket case, the markets are entitled to take him at his word", the leader column adds. There is a suggestion that Darling made the claim to have a go at his boss, Gordon Brown, and then the conclusion that Darling is not up for the job and should go.
For its part, the Times (insofar as it can still be described as a conservative newspaper) wheels out a long line of business analysts who claim to be "baffled" by Darling's remarks.
The CBI said that he risked making the prophecy self-fulfilling, its director adding, "We are in for a tough time... But there are strengths in the UK economy and we need to remember that. It is going to be uncomfortable but it is not going to be the worst time for such a long time. Chancellors usually talk up the economy. It is quite a surprise to have it the other way round.”
Others said conditions are "nowhere near as bad" as the 1990s, never mind the early 80s or 70s. One expert said that Darling's claim was "surprising" and suggested that the Chancellor might introduce rationing in his pre-Budget report.
Why the ire from the right? Darling might be the first major government figure to promise dire times ahead, but both The Times and the Telegraph have regularly published columns prophesizing economic meltdown. Indeed, the Telegraph ran a series of blog posts by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, whose apocalyptic forecasts make Darling's look seeped in rose-tinted optimism.
Newspapers have talked up crash, and as Darling apparently admits, he gets most of his business news from the press. So who can blame him for repeating what he has read?
Would the Cameroons have anything to do with the opprobrium being heaped on the hapless Darling? The Conservatives hold a healthy lead in the polls, and Labour couldn't be more unpopular. However, with a bleak economic outlook ahead, the picture might change. Even Cameron's supporters worry he's a lightweight - potentially a decent PM for happier times, but not someone you'd want in office should things go tits-up. A 40 year old PR man holding the tiller as Britain faces prolonged recession, along with the rising crime, violence and community tensions the Home Office predicted would follow? It's not quite enough to make another term of Brown appealing - but it might be enough to take some of the shine off Cameron's well-polished image.
