It's the real economy, stupid
- 15 Oct 08, 09:48 AM
An MP who'd just been canvassing in the Glenrothes by-election told me that just one person had raised the financial crisis with him. It's a reminder that the financial crisis that has been gripping the attention of the political and media classes must seem not just baffling but also remote to many people.
If you're not employed in a bank; if savings are what you can muster for a decent night out on Saturday rather than diversify into Icelandic banks; if you're more likely to be found watching Ant and Dec than Peston or Robinson (yes, such people really do exist) then you'll be much more worried by yesterday's high inflation rate and today's big rise in unemployment than the movement of the Libor rate.
The stories that will emerge in the days to come will not be about bank rescue plans but plans to cut jobs and to cut government programmes to pay for the rising costs of inflation and unemployment (see today's Times front page, for example).
Gordon Brown has been presented by many as a Churchill figure in the war to save global capitalism. Quicker than he might wish, politics will now turn to dealing with aftermath. The prime minister, I'm told, wants to create a mood of national unity and solidarity to help us all cope with the trial ahead. He's hoping to create a spirit of the economic Blitz. His opponents believe that we're more likely to see anger and frustration in a period of economic rationing.
UPDATE, 10:00 AM: The Ministry of Justice say that the Times story refers to old plans to limit government spending in their and other departments, and does not result from the credit crunch or economic slowdown.
