Gordon’s got the glums, grab your chance, Dave

Even as his troubles snowballed at the height of winter, the prime minister was on bullish form over dinner when he turned to his favourite subject, the economy. Northern Rock was a trial, he admitted, and the international outlook was indeed bleak but in no way was he downcast. As chancellor, hadn’t he seen off the Asian crisis and the Russian debt disaster of 1998? His then Tory shadow, Francis Maude, had warned of a “downturn made in Downing Street” but it had turned out to be “a false dusk”. Under his stewardship again, the economy had rebounded after the bursting of the dotcom bubble of 2000 and the terror attacks of 9/11. True, there were dark clouds on the horizon for 2008 but sunshine would return. In a year’s time we’d all look back and put these difficulties into perspective. In his first inaugural address Franklin... [read full story]