PB Week: It is not a fun time to be a politician
As the facts on the ground change hour by hour, our politicians are grappling with a crisis that nobody dared dream about, writes Andrew Tjaardstra, editor of Professional Broking , the monthly management magazine for insurance brokers.
Cameron, Osborne v Brown, Darling
The Conservative leader David Cameron this week decided to make a stand against Gordon Brown's latest attempt to avert us from a long and protracted recession. Although we don't know the full details, it appears certain that chancellor Alistair Darling will hand out billions in tax cuts in his pre-budget report on Monday. Cameron has had enough of Labour's borrowing splurge and wants to stop our children and our children's children having to pay for it. Therefore he is not committing to Labour's spending plans for the first time. The Conservatives answer to the downturn according to shadow Chancellor George Osborne is to "freeze council tax, cut taxes for employers who take on unemployed people, a cut in payroll taxes for the smallest firms and to allow small to medium sized companies to defer their VAT bills". Although good, sound practical measures, many are calling for more drastic action.
Labour says we need to spend now to make more later and help the economy recover as quickly as possible. Whoever is right, we will only find out about Gordon Brown's plan. Despite his undeniable role in helping create the crisis, you can't help feeling sorry for him. He trusted in the free market and in business leaders who were apparently at the top of their game to ensure their companies were sustainable, profitable and making money for the taxpayer. It is the failure of our business leaders in banking who are most to blame for this mess; let's hope some of them are just a little bit sorry for what they have done.
With the FTSE falling below 4000 today and talk of 3 million unemployed by 2010, we could all do with some cheering up, but with John Sargeant retiring from Strictly Come Dancing, the world became even less fun. Well, at least we beat the Germans last night.
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