It was Balls

so was he giving us an 'Ed's up' on whats going to happen or just making a..

At last a Government Minister speaks the truth!

Let's hope Ed's message isn't diluted and obscured by Brown's spin.

Is Mr Balls setting himself up for a challenge for the leadership?

Afterall any new leader will have to speak the truth (unlike Brown who won't/can't) to stand a chance of regaining the electorate's trust.

These comments are part of a much bigger poltical game...watch this space!

Tip to Ed: Don't eat bananas!

He probably said it so the Home (economics) Secretary housing expenses story could be pushed down the headlines.

Also the story of the two faced-ness of his wife (cooper) saying Bankers should not take bonuses (even if they are legally entitled to them) because it would be imoral and not help public confidence.

To see an MP grubbing up every penny of expenses that isn't illegal and telling bankers not to be greedy would habe been funny if they weren't both paracites bleeding me (as a taxpayer) and my family for every penny they can.

The secret's out, and the ranks are splitting.

There is going to be a very messy scramble within the Labour Party to distance themselves from responsibility ~ still they've all shown they excel at that skill if no other.

Truth will out! Even with this mendacious morally bankrupt Government.
However, THEY are OK aren't they?
They will retire with their golden pensions intact, no matter how many of us are left in penury

Now that's deep thinking. Worth at least a NVQ, if not a PhD - Brown's version.

Too near to the truth is the more likely explanation. Suprising how much that is today said by politicians that is later "explained"

I recall from the 'Blair' days of "not on message" and other similar phrases that seemed to indicate to me that it was a case of operating mouth before bain was .engaged

Why make such a profound statement for it later to be 'MODIFIED'?

What happened in 1909?
"It's a shame," proclaimed the Winchester News (Winchester, KY) in February 1909. According to the writer, a sudden sunny day sent the weather-sensitive groundhog back into his den and predicted another six weeks of winter!

Where do we go from here? Plato suggested anarchic tyranny.
When the Army faced such failure, it dismissed the officers at fault, reduced them to the ranks, and replaced them with dynamic youngsters with a case to prove. We can't afford to wait years while our competitors get every jump possible on us, particularly give the hole we're in. It's up to the Press, Nick, to tell the truth and that means telling Pepé and friends that their lack of practical leadership disqualifies them from public office forever. They shouldn't be blethering about contracts and such, they should be told that the salvation of their companies implied changes to their contracts and if they don't like it, ship out. Similarly, the banker who stated she was only getting 95k should be sent to work for 15k in Sketchley's industrial laundry in Little Hulton in the backstreets of Salford for a year to get a real sense of her proper values.

Tonights Times poll (www.timesonline.co.uk) shows the dead cat Brown bounce..........

As I said in post 2........now the challengers will come forward........

Balls is first...... who will be next?

I can't think of anyone who could lead Labour to victory over the next 10 years.

They are all as doomed as the economy...quite fitting really!

The excuse of global economics forces one to ask:
a) if the economic woes of the UK are globally created, then NuLabour cannot take credit for any of the previous 'good times'
) if the economic woes are not globally created, then NuLabour is clearly incompetent.
Either way, NuLabour is redundant.

For my money, what we are seeing here is typical of any Labour party. Its the same every time they're in power. And always everyone else to blame.

Does anyone else think that this is New Labour trying to "spin" release the real trouble that we are in?

Sorry to see ministers talking down the economy - didn't the visionary Scottish idiot complain bitterly more than once about Osborne doing that? Maybe he should match his actions to his words for once and sack Balls...

And Gordon Brown had the gall to say that DC and GO were talking down the economy. Another myth destroyed!

Well what did you expect from a Minister in this government - sense? Mr. Balls does have some cause for concern, however. After all the people for whom he is responsible - children - will be picking up the tab for decades to come. Mercifully for him, they can't vote yet.

you make it sound like the government are hiding something from us

maybe they are, but I don't know if you can hide a depression

Still another knock to the (non-existent) integrity of this government

OH WHOOPS ANOTHER SLIP OF THE SNOUT


YES ITS BAD VERY BAD BUT BALLS HAS NONE.


RATHER TOO MANY SLIPS GOSH A BANANA

TO SKID ON AND IT FELL OUT HIS MOUTH?


NU LABOUR MUST BE SO PROUD THEY HAVE

INVENTED AN ECONOMIC TIME MACHINE

BACK TO THE 30'S OR WILL IT BE THE DARK

AGES?



ANSWER GORDY?

These buffoons are totally clueless. The prospects for all of us are extremely depressing!

I know politicians love to throw around these wonderful generalisations, but the reality I gather from economist friends of mine is that you cannot actually compare the two at all.

The world is a completely different place, with the power balance being significantly different. The banking system is completely different, and our standard of life is unrecognisable, being stuffed to the gunnels with unnecessary rubbish that we chuck away every couple of years.

Ditch the comparisons, and just work out how to weather it out.

Please, why are postings 1-14 awaiting moderation, whereas #15 is already passed? It's a very good posting, but are all the others dodgy?

Nick,

I hope that you, and the other BBC reporters, will remind any Labour politician who accuses the Tories of "talking down the economy", that Ed Balls has talked it down far worse than any Conservative.

However, the BBC's institutional bias in favour of Labour is so entrenched that I suspect that we will see, in less than a week, the BBC claiming that a Tory made this quote.

Go on, Nick, demonstrate the much proclaimed (and little observed) BBC "impartiality", and stop repeating Labour propaganda.

So the list of things they say but don't really mean continues to grow:

1. Depression - no I meant recession

2. Worse than the 1930's recession - no he didn't mean it like that.

3. British Jobs for British Workers - no I meant British training schemes for British workers

4. No more boom and bust - no, I was talking about interest rates


Does this government really expect us to believe anything they say?!!

I feel your headline is somewhat discourteous and implies that Balls is talking, well nonsense.
In fact he's only saying publicly what ministers have known for a long time but for their own political survival have tried to play it down with first a downturn then a recession.
The worry has been that it could spread panic and anxiety, sap confidence and point the finger at Brown's past economic mistakes.
But the public are no fools and can see what is happening all around them.
The effect for Brown in particular has been to lose all credibility.
The slide towards a US-style Great Depression has been anticipated by some political and economic commentators, indeed I highlighted it here in January.

https://theorangepartyblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-recession-causes-ddepression.html

The Brown bounce has evaporated and the government's whole economic record is on the line.
As the Tory lead strengthens, Ed Balls is reflecting a change in strategy to reposition themselves as the only Party to save the country from a deep Depression.

Surely the reason posts #1-14 haven't been moderated ahead of #15 can't be due to the name of the minister in question? Is Ed's surname censured by a computer engine?

The heading says it all! There is no joined up thinking or singing from the same hymn sheet with our current leadrs. They are not sure what they mean, it was a slip of the tongue, it was misinterpreted, or whatever.

Why don't they try not saying anything. They are all so desperate to be noticed and all we can see is a dysfunctional group of people that have no idea how this whole scenario began, and although they talk of 'lessons have been learned' no one will take any responsibility for any of the mismanagement of our economy over the past 11yrs.

This is a group of people who talk about morality and then behave in a manner that is unaccecptable; because the rules allow it.

No one asked us if we are happy about there tax free alowances, and we are paying that bill.

Yes, this probably is the worst recession for 100 yrs. and it did not all come from overseas. We are in terrible shape and these people will walk away insulated and protected from the consequences and reality, by our money. Long after they have left the scene we will be paying, in every way.

the discourse increase's

we get closer and closer to truth.

"...he had not meant to say it"

Just like Brown had not meant to say "depression".

I'd say we are being softened up for a nasty surprise.

Mr Balls and Downing Street have tried to play down the significance of his remarks insisting that he was pointing out the unique nature of the global financial crisis and was not predicting that the impact on ordinary people would be worse than that in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In other words, they accept that he said what's being quoted but had not meant to say it.

===============================

Who knows what to believe when on one day Downing Street confirm what a government spokesman has said but then the next day say the statement wasn't meant?

Does this now mean Hansard is a pack of lies?

We've had this with Balls at the weekend, Boom and Bust, Depression, Green Shoots, Best Placed to Fight this Recession, Saving the World, WMD; the drivel and this pathetic party just goes on and on.

The government just doesn't know when the game is up.

I had a nightmare last night that GB, realising he couldn't win an general election in 2010, declared an emergency government for the next thousand years. When I woke up, I was even more nervous because such underhand methods have been typified by New Labour throughout their time in office.

For the sake of the people, put us out of our suffering now and go; the damage you and your party have caused our country is a national disgrace and an affront to our glorious past.

Nick,

Was it you who mentioned Sarkozy's denunciation of GB's VAT cut or did I read about it elsewhere?

Silly me; I answered my own question.

Be brave Nick, regime change will soon be with us. You really shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.

The cat is finally out of the bag.

Gordon calling it a r..depression last week, now his bag man saying this will be the worst recession for 100 years.

The game is up for NuLabour, they have been found wanting and haven't got a clue what to do.

I have never been a fan of Ed Balls but now, at least, he is prepared to admit what many of us know. We are indeed heading for a depression. The politicians must know this and they must also know that the only solution left for the UK is Quantative Easing. No doubt this will be denied because of the political consequences but this is not the time for politics. Get on and print some money before its too late!

What would Balls know anyway???

Mind you I guess him & Yvette are savvy enough to know just how to screw the maximum from the taxpayer through expenses.

nick,
what would be the result if all companies operating in the u.k reporting huge profits paid a one off payment to their employees rather than a massive bonus to just a few senior managers or executives.
would the wider economy benefit more or less?
someone needs to look at income distribution and quickly and someone with BALLS.

Drip, drip, drip, finally the government is changing its tune. We are being forwarned, prepared by government of the hardship that will come.

This looked like a depression months ago. Just because the official markers for such haven't been passed, doesn't mean it won't be a depression.

There will have to come a moment later on this year where the government will have to seriously reconsider it's obligations and stop handing cash out willy-nilly. No more bail-outs will be possible.

At that point all bets are off as to where things will end up. All I know is that we will have to be a different nation afterwards.

I wouldn't worry too much about pronouncements by Mr. Balls. After all if he really could see the future he would have got Chancellor Brown to change course wouldn't he?

On what ground do you consider him to be a sage Nick? You report his pronouncements as if they are important whereas his pronouncements are usually more likely to be a variation on his surname.

At last we are getting some idea's as too what is more near to the truth, for everyone as seen this writing upon the Wall's for month's now.

All that is, except Gordon Brown and a small number of his front bench team whom have repeatly slowly changed their mind's of opinion over this same period from a Short Recession, to a Medium Term Recession, and then onto a Long - Term Recession, and now right up to a state of Depression that will take heavens knows how long to recover from, for the one true thing for sure is, is that the Government don't have a clue what is going to happen in any direction's tomorrow never mind in the future.

But one thing is for sure, is that this Depressionary Cycle will take more than 10 Year's before we reach the Bottom, for as the old saying goe's, what goe's up, as in our long period of Boom Year's with past Growth, will now go down for the coming forseeable Bust Year's lasting at lease for the same amount of time.

Full mark's to Ed Ball's for at lease reading the writing that is on the Wall, and telling it like it currently is, for I wonder if Gordon is listening?

I think Ed Balls has been a little too frank - something for which he will no doubt be punished. Failing that the BBC will just get David Cameron back on the Today programme to harangue him about why the Tories are talking down the economy, to help deflect the blame from Labour.
Today the PM said we will only reward success and punish failure.
Well I for one would think being the Chancellor/PM who presided over the worst economic downturn since the Boer War was pretty much a sign of failure!
Why doesn't the Beeb ask him when HE will resign?

Of course it's more serious. Labour might be thrown out of office.

Could it be that this is the secret they've been trying to keep ?

Mr Balls knows how bad it really is, and Labour have just been trying to hide it until the next Government has the pay the bill for their excesses.

Alistair Darling has already made similar comments about this current predicament being the worst in 60 years.

He got flack for it, but the media et al came round to his pov.

"In other words, they accept that he said what's being quoted but had not meant to say it."

What - the truth?

Thank god government ministers are not talking down the economy ?????

They knew what was coming over 12 months ago,they are now drip feeding the press with leaks and mis quotes.....

not long now until the electorate have a say even if its Europe elections...we are still allowed to vote in that are we ???

How many seats do they reckon they will lose Nick,whats the grass roots chat around westminster or do they think they have convinced us Labour werent to blame for the depression we are facing.....

"...they accept that he said what's being quoted..."

So they have some scruples after all!

"...but had not meant to say it."

Nobody cares about this bit.

RE: 23
Apologies. The link to this comment should be

https://theorangepartyblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-recession-causes-depression.html

Dear Nick,

'In other words, they accept that he said what's being quoted but had not meant to say it.'

Balls, "we're all doomed...!"

No.10, " actually he said everything is okay donkey!"

Nick, so that's ok then by you?

Xxxx
ps
To really misquote somebloke famous but....

'Keep your friends close, but keep your prospective future leaders closer'.

2010!

Come on Labour MPs think of your country. We need to see a change of leadership now. Things are not let out of the bag by mistake twice in the same week. Things are gravely broken and Gordon is not up to it.

A vote of no confidence is needed and this country, that we all love, needs to see its' elected members have some courage and leadership to make the move.

The time to blame is over. Things need to change.

I've now read what Ed Balls has said and his words are substantially correct. This will be the worst recession for a century, which obviously means that its a depression.

He's a bit off with the timing: when we first went into this depression in the middle of last year, we were looking at 10 years of misery. Thanks to government meddling, we're now looking at nearer 12. I assume Ed Balls is hedging his bets with a figure of 15 years. Obviously more government well-intentioned, but ultimately fruitless meddling in the pipeline.

The next kicker in the UK groin is inflation. Last year petrol pushed prices (and therefore inflation) up, but it was balanced by cheaper imports from abroad. Sorry to say, the era of the cheap plasma is about to end. The pound has slumped, which means that not only oil, but ALL other imports (including food) will cost more to buy from international markets. So ironically just as the government begins to debate the only option open to them, printing more money (euphamistically called "quantative easing") its now just about the worst time to be doing it.

They need to raise interest rates to stimulate the pound, it won't harm the housing market, but it might perk the banks up.

However only one thing will restore confidence in this country.

Call an election.

Oh how apt that we turn to Downing Street for leadership...

Downing the economy....

Downing the language....

Downing politics....

Downing credibility...

May I suggest a rename to Drowning Street and offer a few candidates to present a public demonstration of the leadership's ability to live up to this street-wise name too

I Don’t dabble in politics frankly its a waste of my time.

This article caught my attention.

With browns slip and now this from ed balls, possibilities spring to mind that they are hiding the real truth and ed balls is setting himself up to challenge brown.

I can believe we are in big trouble as things are degenerating faster than they say.

Mistake or not the remarks are out in the public arena, and it will fuel further damaging speculation to the real state of the economy.

For once the charge the that Tories are talking things down wont stick, brown is in power and the tories are opposition, what brown and co say will have more of a impact as they are the ones in power and bearly attempting to deal with it.

gordon has been in denial and so have some of the great british public. but the signs are the there for all to see. this generation have no idea of the gravity of whats to befall them. god help us all we will need it!!!.

I think Ed Balls spoke the truth. I don't think it was an inevitable truth; but it has become true because of the government's appalling handling of it.

Spending your way into the start of a recession is just like trying to dig yourself out of a hole. The current estimate is that it will take 20 years to pay off the debts of Brown/Darling's recovery plan. That means we'll be heading into the next cyclic recession with hugely more debt than we entered this one.

Yet still they spend!

Dear Nick,

Is all this Balls stuff just another (Za)Nu(Improved)Labour smoke screen to hid the truth for you?

Just asking because....

....being reported today that 15 months after the (2)Homes Secretary admitted that 7,000 illegal immigrants had been cleared to work in the security industry - only 35 have subsequently been deported.

Xxxx
ps,
British illegal immigrants for British jobs!

Instead of all of these general comments I would like to see some facts. The chances of another great depression are very small and, to be honest, would probably require a total collapse of the US Dollar. People have said they don't understand the government spending during a recession, this is classic Keynesian policy (rather ironic from a party that large discounted it in 1997). The great depression was believed to be a liquidity problem due to being tied to the Gold Standard. This is not the case today. The very fact that this 'crisis' has moved into main street from wall street suggests to me this is very much a severe though completely normal recession. Everyone has just been so used to the good times lately and are now crying because time has come to pay the piper. This is a necessary correction (House prices are far too inflated they need to come down about another 20%....and probably will) and it will work its way through the the economy in time. The credit markets are showing signs of recovery and much of the research going on is currently focused on both regulation change (which is necessary) and how the government is going to unwind their position in the banks when the time comes. All of this says to me that no this will not turn into a depression and that politicians really should be more careful when they speak.

No surprise there.

Anyone who investigates what's really going on at the moment knows that we face an unprecedented economic and social hurricane. It will hit us with a vengeance this year.

Sadly, most citizens remain blissfully unaware of just how bad is this crisis and the extent to which it will savage our way of life here in the UK. A crisis on this scale takes time to unfold and, so, for its effects to be felt.

The point about all this is not that our economy and society are about to be changed for ever (we'll be smashed simultaneously by the end of mankind's era of cheap energy in the same timeframe), but that our political elite are (a) culpable and (b) guilty of deceiving us about just how bad is the situation, and what needs to be done to shield citizens from the worst effects.

We've had 10 years of Sofa Government, Spin and watching a group of people whose priimary aim has been to hold on to office for the benefits it brings them. Our parliament has been emasculated; the political process ruined; democracy undermined; our economy pillaged; our society fractured and weakened.

So, we shouldn't be surprised when one of the most awful and slimy characters involved in this mess - Ed Balls himself - let's slip a fact or two. I'm not shocked by what he says. I'm just horrified at the depth and rate of decline of political integrity that we have observed in this country over the last 10 years. Blair masterminded that.

History will show that the Blair/Brown Labour Party has been an utter disaster for our nation, with Gordon Brown carrying most of the responsibility for the breathtaking mess in which we now find ourselves. I remain amazed at how supine we've been throughout; perhaps that will change this year as we break through 3 million unemployed.

Hi Nick,

Enjoy your break?

I presume this puts an end to Gordon Brown's condemnation of Cameron, Osborne and others, for talking down the economy.

This seems to be an excellent way of dropping the value of Sterling like a stone, without actually having to officially devalue it (and suffer the political flak that would bring).

See you in the pub.

Britain produces little of economic value. It is stuffed full of non-jobs. It lives on credit. It has poor education content, tailored for social engineering rather than economic productivity. It is overpriced and underworked. Its banking system, civil service, social workforce, and other non-jobs are bloated beyond the taxpayers means to sustain. Private initiatives drown beneath masses of red-tape designed to keep the non-jobs occupied. Our leaders are immoral and corrupt. We are swamped with ethnic imports.

Let's hope America has some answers because our 'leaders' are quite incapable of producing anything outside of their failed, destructive mindset.

Dear Nick
This time Ed Balls is absolutely Correct, ITS going to be far worse than 1929, as the truth has not yet been told and the full extent of the crisis exposed.
THE AUTHORITIES AND GOVERNMENT are hiding the facts.
Ed Ball is not the only one to make this statement Gordon Browns slip of the tounge , "DEPRESSION" was NOT an error, both sit around the Cabinet Table so the truth is ----this is a Depression.
In the 1930s, we has HITLER, who is going to be the next Hitler, -- Iran --- that is a thought for the Future.--- Bear it in mind as the mass unemployment issue rears its Ugly Head, ---- who is rearming in todays world.???

Looks like Mr Balls is about to make a pitch for the top job ? his bosses ?

In actual fact Balls, Osbourne, Cable and Cameron are all correct and Gordon Brown is hiding the truth of the present Economic situation. His lame attempt to blame The Opposition for talking down the Economy can now be seen as a shambolic cover up to save his own skin by deflecting partial blame.

This could be just a cynical move by the awful Balls to prepare the public for the worst, and position himself as the man who knows what is going on when Brown does not. Maybe this is his bid to undermine Brown now the polls are dropping for Labour and make possibilities for himself. Balls never says or does anything without a motive.

The other possibility is that if Balls says how bad it is, when it turns out not to be as bad they will say we saved the public from armageddon. Who knows what goes on in the Labour spin machine.

We need a fresh start and a new Government would be the best way forward. At least then we would gain some confidence that someone in Government knows what is going on. Instead we get one message, one day and another another day its just nonsense.

Without trying to excuse NL.

Why is it that people always appear to be completely shocked when politicians turn out to be human (ie. saying things they shouldn't have and then attempting to cover it up)?

And why all this focus on how NL created this crisis, which is not only a slight bit UK-centric (though it is worse for the UK than for some other countries as so much of your economy revolves around the financial sector) but also a bit odd since millions of consumers and thousands of irresponsible bankers also did their fair share by being greedy and not thinking for themselves. So NL laid the path to greed, but most people seemed to be all too happy to walk on it while it was going well.

As an aside, I think that becoming a politician when your name is Ball probably takes some.. guts. So thanks for the morning funny, NR.

Could this be a public expression of pillow talk? Cooper obviously knows (or should) what is what and cannot divulge same: so let hubby do it.......

#12 Mark_W_Elliott

Exactly my thoughts when I heard this - if there's one thing that this government does well (and we're hardly spoiled for choice) is is the smoke and mirror tactics of spin.

Once the full extent of the chaos emerges I've no doubt that the apologists all re-write history to show that Gordon Brown was the first global leader to "take the brave step of admitting the extent of the depression in parliament".

Now with Balls as well, I'm sure it will be spun in a sense of this being "honest, open government" from "pretty straight kinda guys" who are all "pulling together working hard to solve a global problem" about which "the Tories would do nothing".

Meanwhile they all keep their snouts in the trough for another year before the long-suffering electorate finally get their chance to kick them out.

Brown and Balls have only let slip what any reasonably intelligent person living in the real world can see for themselves.

I think we've got the wrong people in charge. They seem to be trying to re-flate the balloon which has burst, having patched up the leaks with wet newspaper...

We need some intelligent leaders that will steer us away from the lend/borrow/spend culture which has failed us...

The Ed Balls stuff, while it may be true about the depth of recession his government has bequeathed us, was actually more dog-whistle politics about Labour's fear of the BNP. Those are the political consequences he was referring to. The rise of the 'right'. Ie the Tories and the BNP. He's just trying to frighten the Northern constituencies into coming back on-side by conflating the fascist movement with the Tories via the BNP.

It could of course be the pre-cursor to a crack-down on the BNP. Well, you know, history show us that when we foul up the economy so badly we get a rise in nationalism and that didn't end well last time so.... in the interests of democracy.. (because the BNP are nicking all the disgruntled Labour voters after we successfully poisoned our Northern electorate against a more cuddly right-wing party) .... outlawing the following organisations .... Nazi Party, BNP. Naturally no extreme left wing parties will outlawed for the greater good of democracy. Their hearts are in the right place d'you see.

That's what that speech was all about.

Minister Ball's comments state the patently obvious. Those many thousands who have lost their jobs and businesses do not need reminding. They want constructive action. So far this dithering Government has been stong on rhetoric but has absolutely failed to delive. Brown has not shown leadership because he believes in his own pathetic publicity as the man who falsly claimed to have 'saving the World'? Go further back in history and discover where Mr Brown obtained his ideas,

"Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more expensive goods and houses , pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until debt becomes unbearable.
The unpaid debt will lead to the bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to Communism. "

Karl Marx, 1867. DAS KAPITAL.


Brown has nearly achieved all the above by his reckless borrowing and spending without responsibility. He cannot deny he is the architect of our failed domestic economy and cannot balme all contagion on outside global influences. There is no longer any confidence in him to salvage the economy.He and his coterie of pathetic Ministers must resign and a General Election be called soonest.

"Worst recession ever" is surely a self-fulfilling prophecy, no?

Balls should have been fired immediately for this insanely negative statement. When are they going to realise we need a government that starts making POSITIVE noises about the economy instead of joining in on all the scaremongering!!

I honestly cannot believe Balls has come out and said this, let alone that the Prime Minister is going to let him get away with it.

Absolute disgrace.

28. andfinally:

"I had a nightmare last night that GB, realising he couldn't win an general election in 2010, declared an emergency government for the next thousand years".

Seems quite likely to me.

# 61 Susan-Croft

Hello Susan

I think I agree with you - this is all a bit of political game-playing.

In fact, could it be a desperate attempt at pre-electioneering?

New Labour have already seen themselves make gains on the Conservatives due in part to the electorate's reluctance to try a new government in the middle of a difficult recession.

This could be them trying it again. If so, I think they're flogging a dead horse.

Anyway, it's time for New Labour to be punished for the last 12 years - THEY'VE GOT TO GO.

Where is derekbarker when we need him? We need the truth about these outbursts from the Ball-Cooper camp! We need some compelling analysis about the coherent PR that Labour have going to prepare us for Tory rule for 30 years. Anything less than 500 words just will not be good enough!

Where's Derek when you need cheering up?I seem to recall a recent prediction of a NuLabour poll recovery.

Whoops-a-daisy!

Brown down, Balls up.

This is just another example of Government kite flying. If you expound enough theories over any given time scale something will prove right and it can be seized upon as "You were warned".

#54 Andy3233

With the US national debt going ballistic, dollar interest rates at virtually zero and the Federal Reserve about the start printing money, what makes you think that the dollar will not collapse in the near future?

Dear Nick

He , Gordon Brown will not like it, However his "Seal of Approval by Spin"
Encompasses EVERYTHING to do with this Crisis, "In his own words, i did not see it coming", Denial of the highest degree.
Of course he saw it coming thats why he wanted the whole world invoved, quickly so to cover up his tracks.
Supression and depression and spin.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I don't trust them. They have a master plan and what they say is all part of their psychological warfare on us the poor individuals in the street.

A lot of people I speak to of all backgrounds are simply not interested and so long as they are jogging along (and a lot say the recession has not so far affected them) they don't have the time or the inclination to look deeper.d c

They are sidelining us with this silly climate change and recycling chore. Ah, they say, that will keep 'em busy. Good strategy. Bad cause.

Recession, downturn, economic crisis, depression - what the hell is it actually?

Every statement made by the government these days now requires a "clarification" that what was said was actually not what was meant.

I wish they would stop treating us all like we are stupid.

I can't wondering how no 10 would have spun Jeremy Clarksons comments on Gordon Brown. Perhaps, - "A nique and focussed view of the world, recognising the importanceof the union, and the need for opportunities for all regardless of educational anomalies"

I don't trust them. They have a master plan and what they say is all part of their psychological warfare on us the poor individuals in the street.

A lot of people I speak to of all backgrounds are simply not interested and so long as they are jogging along (and a lot say the recession has not so far affected them) they don't have the time or the inclination to look deeper.

They are sidelining us with this silly climate change and recycling chore. Ah, they say, that will keep 'em busy. Good strategy. Bad cause.

Recession, downturn, economic crisis, depression - what the hell is it actually?

We are fast approaching the Geoffrey Howe moment for this government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1C2hieHKgA

Sorry, what's Balls ?

WMD in Iraq ?
No return to Boom and Bust ?
Prudence ?
British jobs for British workers ?
No sleaze under New Labour ?

..... ad infinitum

No Nick, your comment is balls.
This is just like someone inciting a fight in a pub and then standing back to watch the fun. Tee Hee! Oh what fun. Ouch yaroo and all that.
For heavens sake GROW UP!

Well they would talk it down wouldn't they. They have been in denial for the past 6 months. You only have to look at Darling's growth figures with one eye on the news to see that they are lying...as usual. I thought we were better placed to ride this !!. Ooops another little porkie......from our unelected leader.

On a serious note I suspect it is being talked down worse than it is. If you go back to the 30's I suspect that there was distinctly less world trade and more protectionism than there is now and moving goods around the world took longer. So my logic says given improved transportation bigger world demand for goods and services then it may not be as bad as balls up is trying to make it sound. Politics demands the masses thinking there are bogeymen out there that need soerting....but that's another story

Incidentally Nick, any danger of comment or even (shock horror) investigation of the scandal involving Jacqui Smith and her fraudulent expenses?

Or do you think she's acted perfectly reasonably?

Ed Balls isn't pessimistic enough. There two things. As a country we are taking on so much debt that my unborn grandchildren will still be paying it.
We as individuals are likely to become debt averse - and a good thing - but that simply means that the economy will settle at a lower level that 2006. Those days are never going to come back.
We will need to find ways back into manufacturing, and away from reliance on financial services, and that will change our society.
Good news? In 10 years it will be good! Just different - hence the political changes that Ed Balls expects.
On this occasion, the Conervatives are simply not keeping up.
That doesn't mean I like the other lot better.

I think that the Government has seen that the game is up from their latest tax receipt figures.

They will have to admit that the PBR was written by economic lightweights.

They will also have to admit that the debt mountain is entering outer space.

Basically we are stuffed and it's their fault.

This why we are getting r .. depression and worst recession in a hundred years plus BNP scares.

It's an attempt to move the populous from the last ZaNuLabour PBR spin that is now clearly cloud cuckoo land.


And here is a heads up about the next disaster on the horizon that the Labour idiots have set entrain.

"Labour Lawnmower taxes"

We are now going to have 4 -6 more quarters of negative growth than reported in the PBR.

That will have us coming out of negative growth with the green shoots of recovery pushing through at the same time when the Labour Lawnmower taxes come into effect and chop the tops off the green shoots.
This will be a massive economic set back at a time when we will need to see something positive.

Their handling of this Brown Depression could not be worse.

Don't vote for any Labour candidate

#3

To see an MP grubbing up every penny of expenses..............

~~~~~~~~~~

Ouch. Nice little earner not to mention the odd spliff

When Brown first said 'depression' I thought the freudian slip was regarding his own state of mind rather than the state of the economy.

The BBC reported how he is likely to behave when under pressure:-

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/7663563.stm

"he spends money that he hasn't got"

Well it was our money, and he has spent all of that and more... Its the end of the line.

Labour will need new blood to see them through the upcoming decades as the third party (the gang of four's dream comes to pass, and lib-dems will be the official opposition...) - balls could be that man.

Recession
Depression
Repression
Revolution?

Time for the "dream team" of Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper.

#67 BGarvie

Nice quote -- but Marx didn't know about the internet.

www.zopa.com

(as reviewed by the BBC and others...).

Zopa shows the future of lending and borrowing. We don't need 'bankers', the politicians are using our money to support the hand-spinners in the age of the spinning jenny.

Theres one thing that I'm surprised no one has picked up on so far... unless you all know it anyway and figure it not worth commenting on...

Ed Balls is to Brown as Cameron was to Norman Lamont, if I read it correctly. That is to say a Senior Economic Advisor to the Treasury..

Therefore, as a Senior Economic Advisor, one would have expected Mr Ed to have had some significant influence on economic policy during his tenure in that post (99-04, unelected, prior to being parachuted into the Labour stronghold of Normanton - a constituency that has been held by Labour longer than any other seat in the UK), would you not? Given that it was Mr Ed who first floated the idea of quasi independance for the Bank Of England via the Fabian society in 1992; which Brown quickly enacted when he became chancellor in 97.

Pardon the slightly strangled analogy, but if Brown is the one holding the knife, Mr Ed has just as much blood on his hands, where the sick patient of the UK economy is concerned.

I'd no more beleive a word he says than Gollum Brown. Clinging to power by any means possible in order to keep the snouts in the trough for as long as possible.

Oink.

I cannot abide Champagne socialists.... Against the wall with the lot of them! :-)

I am sick and tired of these Labour ministers talking down the economy.....

I'm off to bury my money in the back garden.

It's a recession, it's a depression, it's the worst for sixty years it's the worst for one hundred years; is it any wonder the public are well and truly sick of this government's endless micro management?

Here's a decisive action the government could copy; Ireland has cut public sector pay to reflect deciling private sector pay and lower government tax receipts. Perhap Gordon Brow could take a lesson out of the Irish book; if you want to keep all those precious front line jobs in health and education you will need to take a pay cut.

Germany did it four years ago and the positive impact later was immense. The Hartzz reforms pre Merkel are one of the great success stories of the pre Merkel era.

Gordon Brown needs to learn thsi lesson and cut public sector pay and pensions immediately.

or call an election.

Dream team of Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper. Not so sure now , my shares are still heading south , perhaps he could now talk UP the economy ?

you must have big ones to be a m.p.
if they get swollen you should see a doctor
you will lose them in the family court system
hitler only had one ....

I do hope the Tories are telling the BBC that when they win that the games up for the lefty BBC.
Either the BBC should be politically impartial,which I don't think it is,or the charter ,license fee etc will be up for review.
Nick is merely a conduit for Brown speak

I believe Ed Balls was talking about the global economy. To that extent I think he was too pessimistic. There are many more developed and developing countries than there were 100 years ago. Asian economies have large and increasingly educated workforces, and are not shackled by debt. They may eventually lead the world out of recession, though not yet.

I think he is right to be pessimistic about the UK economy though. So many commentators have been through the list before, but they include:
- unsustainable public and private debt
- an unproductive public sector
- an anti-enterprise liberal elite
- an anti-social benefit culture
- a lack of community and social cohesion
- a lack of personal responsibility and self-reliance
- a decline in stable family and community life
- a dumbed-down education system
- an anti-education culture
- class envy and class hatred
- alcohol and drug dependency
- a lack of integrity on the part of the rich and powerful

Some issues on this list are purely economic. They are difficult to solve, but should be capable of solution. I worry more about the social problems. After World War II the German and Japanese peoples were able to rebuild their economies. Do we have the strength to do the same?

Although some people become bored with lists of Labour failures it is, in my opinion, vitally important that they are fully understood. Only by understanding the past can we avoid repeating it. After Gordon has been toppled there should be a frank recantation of his policies by the rump of the Labour Party.

Nick,

Still no blog on the Home Secretary's expenses?

Yesterday on the radio you pronounced that Jacqui was in the clear; from the story as reported, no rules had been broken.

However, in June 2003, Tory MP Michael Trend was found guilty of abusing the allowances system and ordered to repay £90,277. He was also suspended from parliament and stood down in disgrace at the following election. His crime was to claim the same allowance as Jacqui has when he was staying with a friend in London. Trend claimed he "believed that I could properly continue to designate London as 'home' for the purposes of ACA, even though, in domestic terms, his consituency home, remained his "main residence".

In reviewing Michael Trend's case, the Standards Commissioner found it "difficult to understand" how Mr Trend had felt able to sign a certificate in 2000 saying his main home was a friend's house in London.

Now on the face of it - there seems to be a remarkable number of similarities between the two cases. So is Jacqui still in the clear?

Surely, this is worthy of investigation? Perahps you could check to see where Ms Smith pays her council tax - one one or both of her 'homes'. If both, where does she claim her 25% second home discount? These facts might shed some light on the case.

Hat-tip: Guido Fawkes & BBC report 14/2/03

Being a political novice I reckon there's a few ways to take this:

1. Mr B has made a monumental rick by thinking that comments he made in Yorkshire would either take days to reach civilisation or not be reported at all (and before any Tykes get on my case, I am a Yorkshireman), so being off message wouldn't really matter.

2. He has actually 'grown some', recognised that Gordon is a liability, has been approached by others in the party who can see the writing on the wall for their 'seat' and want to annoint him as the next 'great Leader' .....and this is the opening salvo of a leadership bid

3. He's just as big a clot as the rest of them and hasn't got the first idea what he's talking about.

or

4. He is actually very much on message and he is the dispensable messenger, sent out to do a bit of expectation setting. The idea being that in a year or so's time when things start to even out, the Govt will turn round and say 'Look, our poilicies have pulled us out of the worst economic conditions for a hundred years in only 18 months'.

Either way, what with Gordon's (I think) deliberate slip of the tongue, Jackboot's expenses, Sarkozy taking the 'mick' out of Gordon's policies and Ed's pronouncements.....PMQ's should be an absolute hoot today.