The "useless Tories", Peter Hitchen's favourite description, have already missed one chance to drive a stake through the heart of 'Monster Broon' by allowing his version of economic events to become the received wisdom, that is, that prosperous, prudent Britain under the careful leadership of its canny Scots steward was unexpectedly and unfairly infected with Mad American Disease, and that the only piece of luck for the British people was to have this immensely wise and capable financial specialist at their bedside to see them through the fever of the night. The truth is, of course, that as the last of the truly humungous great spenders, Brown has not only been profligate but monumentally incompetent, as well. Billions of borrowed money poured down the drains that are our nationalised health and education services without any discernable improvement, and trillions more promised to state employees for pensions that are now impossible for the private sector to enjoy. Brown's claim that Britain is better placed to withstand the current financial calamity than others has been flatly contradicted by the IMF; it is a despicable, downright lie, to go along with all the other lies that this incorrigible lying liar spews forth.
So where are Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition? Why are they not using every chance, every outlet, all media ways and means, to ram this lie back down 'Broon's' throat? Because they're useless, that's why! Sorry to bore on but I have said it before and I will repeat it again, Cameron and Osborne have no philosophy, no ideology, no coherently thought-out world view beyond doing and saying whatever it takes to get their arses into the ministerial chairs. They failed to shout a warning as the grossly over-loaded gravy train carrying the British economy groaned its way towards the cliff edge partly because they didn't have the guts to spoil the voters' party but also because they lacked, not just the courage of their convictions, but any convictions at all. They promised to spend just as much as 'Broon', the drunken sailor, had spent. What a dire and damning comparison to the late '90s when 'Broon' was compelled in the first two or three years to promise that he would not exceed very tight Conservative spending plans put in by Clark. Now, bemused and bewildered by the catastrophe, saddled with a shadow Chancellor who has demonstrated, post-Corfu, what we all suspected, that he is a light-weight with no discernment or even commonsense, too 'frit' (I use the word for obvious reasons) to advocate a real policy of free market capitalism and small government, they are about to be caught out again, not once , but twice.
First, Brown is already hinting that he will follow the 'il-Lib-non-Dems' and advocate tax cuts, thus leaving the Tories wallowing in his wake. Of course, they won't be real tax cuts but some version of forcing people to jump through bureaucratic hoops in order, hopefully, to claim back some of the money already ripped off them by the government. Second, he might, just might, screw up the remnants of his courage and go for a Spring election on the shrewd assessment that his swaggering display of command and control, which has already had some positive effect in the Glenrothes by-election, might give him a least-bad result nationally compared to what might be after 18 moths of lay-offs, repossessions and bankruptcies.
The Tories need to wake up and smell their own decay!
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