Shropshire MP Philip Dunne today laid the blame of sterling’s fall at the feet of Gordon Brown.
Britons travelling to Europe or the US face at least a 25 per cent increase in their costs as a result of the pound’s continuing descent against the dollar and euro.
In a clash in the Commons this afternoon, Mr Dunne demanded the Prime Minister explain why the pound had lost more than a quarter of its value against the dollar in less than four months. “Does he still believe what he said in 1992, that ‘weak currency derives from a weak economy, which in turn is a weak government’?,” asked the Tory MP.
But Mr Brown hit back with a reference to Shadow Chancellor George Osborne’s gaffe over the exchange rate – and with a quote from former Tory Premier, Lady Thatcher.
“I would advise Conservative members not to talk down the pound,” he retaliated, referring to Mr Osborne’s remarks in a newspaper which sparked fears that the pound would plunge still further.
“And I would advise Conservative members to take the advice of Lady Thatcher, who said that trying to help the speculators and talk down sterling is the most unBritish way,” added the PM.
Mr Osborne has been criticised for talking down the pound. He had warned that Mr Brown was pushing sterling towards “collapse” after the pound sank to just 1.48 against the dollar and a 13-year low against other currencies.
But he defended his remarks, insisting it was his job to “tell the truth” about the economy.
24 Comments
get out of the kitchen mr dunne it is no place for novices or cant cook wont cook chefs
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“In a clash in the Commons this afternoon, Mr Dunne demanded the Prime Minister explain why the pound had lost more than a quarter of its value against the dollar in less than four months. “Does he still believe what he said in 1992, that ‘weak currency derives from a weak economy, which in turn is a weak government’?,” asked the Tory MP”
When the Euro came into being, it took one and a half of them to buy a £ Sterling. Irish and continental travel was dirt cheap at this rate and it hovered around this rate for many years. When Osbourne sounded his warning over plummeting exchange rates against the £ Sterling the £ was down to 1.16+ Euros, now, it is hardly worth the cost of travel to Ireland or the continent and it is going to go lower. Just one more symptom of 11 years of New Labour rule for which we are going to pay dearly when Brown “borrows” billions more money to give us all a tax reduction, which, in turn will lead to massive tax increases 2 years down the line.
You should pull-out now Tories, it is a “poison chalice” you will be taking over when you win the next election, Labour caused these problems, let them keep them by being given the next election on a plate and letting the country see what disasters Labour finally lead us into. Sit back on your haunches Tories and let Labour do it’s own thing by wrecking everything in sight, you only have one more election to give up and Labour will put itself into the wilderness for evermore.
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Bit desperate that - we don’t need a CONservate government who can only think locally when all the strange economic happenings are global - look out the window ‘mr’ Dunne, cheap stuff like this is making you look like children when the grown-ups are out there trying to DO-SOMETHING about it. The Osborne gaff is not something to follow!
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get out of the kitchen mr brown it is no place for novices or cant cook wont cook chefs
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Its becoming tiresome these Tory moaners who have no substance! and only vague polices but just look at their leader the silver spoon boy Cameron.
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thankfully it is comments by dunne and osborne and other tory spivs that will ensure decades of new labour!!
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decades of new labour - now that’s sad.
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Whoever you support (Stuart) in a storm you don’t need chancers like this prepared to talk down the country, its’ economy and our quality of living standard just to make short-term political points (which they failed to do, anyway). As ever they’re thinking of themselves, not who they represent.
The whim of the financial markets controls us at this time and they react to comments by those in front-line political positions. It’s equivalent of an economic war - do we really need enemies when we’ve friends like that.
Please shut up and let those who are trying to do something, do something. Jibe all you want when times are good, for now, please wind your necks in. Go watch your pension/investments shrinking in proportion to the Dunne/Osborne gaff machines output.
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You lot may not have noticed, but whilst you have been sleeping, Brown has “BORROWED” money up to his eyebrows and has put the country in hock for years and years to come. And, just in case you think he is going to give you a gift with a large Income tax reduction, make hay whilst the sun shines, the money he again borrows to do this irresponsible act has to be paid back - and you will be paying it back just before the next election when your taxes go through the roof.
After what Labour has done to this country with uncontrolled mass immigration, an illegal war, the biggest financial crisis since the big bang formed the world (and don’t give me the drivel that it is “global” - this is Labour propaganda), it say’s more about the people who support New Labour than it does about the party itself. I wonder how many of the above come from Telford?
Give it to them Tories, on a plate, you win the election, you will cop all the flack of 12 or so years of Labour misrule. Whoever wins the next election will be doomed for years afterwards. Let Labour keep it and see how they make a worse mess trying to get out of the mess and disaster that they have created.
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Devilschair, what on earth are you talking about, the lies from New Labour that parties do not comment on the economy in bad times is pure unadulterated propaganda. The £ had lost 25% of it’s value, the Euro getting on for losing 20%. This man - as was his right and DUTY was warning this disreputable Government of the consequences if they continued with their irresponsible policies. First Labour slated the Tories for not having a say on the economy, then, when Osbourne really hit the nail on the head, they slated him again. Who do they think they are kidding, who are the schoolkids. He should speak up more and tell it like it is.
Then we really get the bright eyed economic knowledge of the Labourites when you say,
“Go watch your pension/investments shrinking in proportion to the Dunne/Osborne gaff machines output”.
I personally have lost nothing because I saw the writing on the wall but my brother (a pensioner) has lost almost £10,000 of his small investment and on which he lived partly on the dividends. Tell him that that loss was down to the Tories, tell him - and others like him that George Osbourne’s comments over the pitiful state of Sterling was to blame for him having to rethink his whole future finances. From him, and I am sure most others, you should stand well back when he/they reply.
Those that have been hit in the pocket know full well were the blame lies, at the door of Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling. Political loyalties are fickle, particularly amongst the uninitiated, I wonder what some of you lot will be saying when your pockets are really hit hard or if you lose your jobs - you will say of course, don’t be daft, that can’t happen to me, wanna bet. Nobody is safe with this pair of economic clowns holding the purse strings and hold your breathe, after the tax giveaway next week, you won’t know what has hit your pocket in a few months time.
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have no fear stuart, my friend gordon and co will have 4 restored banks to sell off in the next 3 years which will reduce any gov. borrowing. why do you think peter mandelson has been brought back? the thing is if your diddy david why cameron and his bunch of spivs did not spend so much time talking the country and the £ down they might just sniff an election victory. sadly the electorate have long memories of tory underspending and cocking things up. in the meantime over say the next 30 years lie back and enjoy gentle socialism at work!!
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To be accurate our idiot Chancellor made a stupid and thoughtless admission about the British economy suffering it’s deepest recession in living memory, which resulted in the pound dropping from $1.97 to $1.60,all other comments pale into insignificance when compared.
Shame we don’t have a manufacturing industry to benefit from the cheap exports created by the weak pound !!!!!!
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yes go on talk your country down, talk yourself out of a decent pension, talk yourself into massive tax hikes and worst of all talk yourself into the ever open arms of nun diddy david cameron the novice, any one for tea?
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devon Salopian, if you believe Brown, Mandelson, Darling and Balls are the answer, it must have been a remarkably stupid question.
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“yes go on talk your country down, talk yourself out of a decent pension, talk yourself into massive tax hikes and worst of all talk yourself into the ever open arms of nun diddy david cameron the novice, any one for tea?”
Can we go down any further devon? we have almost hit rock bottom already. You will be aware of course being the great financial guru that you are that pension schemes are, in the main invested in stocks, shares and gilts etc etc. Have you been looking at the Footsie for the past few months, with his tax on pension scheme dividends, his massacre of the share market generally Brown has caused long term damage to pension schemes as those about to pick up their pensions well know.
Tax hikes, no devon, next week based on BORROWED MONEY, we are all given to think we will be getting some tax benefits. The tax hikes will necessarily have to come to pay all the borrowed money back after the next election - wait and see. That’s why I say to the Tories, give it em, it is a poisoned chalice, win the election and the Tories will catch all the flack of the years of Labour financial mayhem. You ain’t seen nuttin yet devon, you keep your hands in your pockets, your wallet tightly folded, your bank accounts bare and don’t invest anything or lend anything, if you think we have it rough now wait until Gordon really reaps the reward of his profligacy.
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Stuart,
Our public borrowing as a percentage of GDP is lower than many of our competitors. Most financial experts seem to believe that capital expenditure and investment, even if funded on borrowed cash (and now’s a cheap time to borrow don’t forget) will shorten the current recession.
Osborne has already indicated that the Conservatives will cut back on public spending, so if the Tories get back in we can look forward once again to the days of hospital closures, longer waiting lists and underfunded schools (except for the wealthy who can go private and will doubtless get further tax breaks to help them). It all sounds horribly familiar from the dark days of the ’80s. Furthermore, it’s a policy guaranteed to drive us further into recession.
It’s interesting that Osborne’s dithering and poor insight has shrunk the Tories’ opinion poll lead from a large one to a miniscule one. He’s beginning to look a bit of a liability.
The value of the pound was probably too high anyway - at least the lower pound will make life easier for our exporters.
Your brother’s unfortunate situation was brought about not by politicians of any flavour directly, but by greedy, risk-taking bankers and CEOs of corporations. And we all know which of the political parties is most likely to play to their tune…
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these banks that have been rescued by the government and we tax payers and still wont lend money should be fully nationalised and forced to loan before being sold off as a going concern.
on monday in spite of the tories billions of pounds will be given away in tax handouts for the less well off. this will have to be paid for and therefore alastair darling should reorganise the income tax rates from 10p up to 70p so that the burden may fall on those who can afford it. tax credits may be increased, winter fuel allowances for the elderly may be increased, income tax thresholds may be increased and vat possibly slashed. all of this can be underwritten by borrowing and repaying, and the gov. will have banks to sell off once fattened. i hope it works otherwise i will be the first to join the crofters on the outer hebrides!! this will either be gentle socialism at work or an almighty cockup, thankfull i put my trust in the former. spend spend spend
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There seems to be alot of intelligent people on here. Also some that arent!, Some people are so pro Labour its quite funny, and in the same way some are very anti. With an election coming up in the next 18 months, people have to be selfish,I have to decide who im goin to vote for. In my humble opinon, Im far worse off now than
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I was 10 years ago. That is a fact. Therefore I will vote for a change, I know the tories will spend the first 3 years blaming all their problems on Labour, but maybe just maybe things will pick up…
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“i hope it works otherwise i will be the first to join the crofters on the outer hebrides!! this will either be gentle socialism at work or an almighty cockup, thankfull i put my trust in the former. spend spend spend”.
It’s a long way to the Outer Hebrides from your place devon, get your car serviced, some warm cothing and some sea sick tablets, you are going to need them up there because if you are true to your word, that where your future lies.
As for Peter, well, it would need more than my fingers are prepared to type to give you the “real position” rather than the fantasy you put out. Our debt, by the time the cost of the bailed out banks, public service pensions and all the other add ons are totalled up is going to run into trillions. Don’t believe the left wing nonsence about the proportion of GDP taken up with debt is lower than our competitors. Brown demolished his own rule book to take it over the limit he imposed when he was spouting about “prudence”, what would he call it now.
As for opinion polls, I said once before, the people are fickle, see what it is after the benefit of the tax reduction has worn off and he has to increase it to pay our debts. We don’t see what is coming in 18 months to 2 years. As things stand, I personally hope the Labourites do win at an election because without some improvement in the financial state of the country, whoever form the next Government is going to pick up a total disaster and I just hope that isn’t the Tories. The people need to see what Labour has got them into and the consequences that they will have to suffer. I wouldn’t wish the present or future situation on my worst enemy - except New labour.
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George Osbourne is quite high on the list of my ‘most disliked’ politicians. However, he is absolutely right on this. Both Labour and the Tories are responsible for this mess. They have allowed decent paid jobs for British people to vanish without replacement, as well as destroying the manufacturing industry. We are a country that imports more than we export and we need to borrow to make up the shortfall. Therefore the national debt will continue to rise out of control. This country has sold out to big business for many years and whilst we keep electing the same parties, the bill will keep being paid by us, the taxpayer. Blair earns a lucrative salary from J.P Morgan. Brown will no doubt get an equally lucrative job with the bankers. Cameron and Osbourne will follow suit. It is easy to dismiss it as doom and gloom, but many currencies will not survive this. The Dollar will collapse also as the countries that hold large amounts of US debt are hostile and will offload it as their economies sink. Now is the time to have gold reserves, but Gordon sold it off to the bankers at a very cheap price. Only complete monetary reform can prevent this, but this will never happen because the people who employ politicians when they leave office will fiercely defend their right to exploit. We are all getting exactly what we deserve for placing our faith in traitors disguised as politicians.
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Well if you think its bad here, go to Iceland. Its like 1930’s Germany! All very well blaming people for this and that but we need to look at preventing another world war. This is far more serious than people realise!!
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Much sense in what you say there Dan, the only thing is, Brown had had eleven years to sort our economy out - he hasn’t done a single worthwhile thing apart from running up massive debts. His personal “discovery”, The Financial Services Authority (FSA) were emasculated within weeks of him starting it and giving their function to the Bank of England and the banks were allowed to run riot. Then he has the gall to blame everyone but himself.
We are now copping the cold from 11 years of Labour mismanagement and profligacy.
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Quite frankly Brown and his fellow Scots should stay in Scoland. You can see why the SNP want independance - they dont want Brown and his muppets wrecking the inward investment that Donald Trump in making.
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