Gordon Brown and my goat

May 30, 2008 RJH

Actually, I don’t have a goat, but if I did, Gordon Brown would be getting on it, riding its furry back all the way to electoral oblivion. I know it’s terribly fashionable to take catty swipes at our beleaguered prime minister at the moment, but there’s one thing about government economic spin that is sticking in my craw like the razor-edged fins of one of those fish that allegedly swim up your willy if you wee in the ocean.

I’m speaking of the lame excuse that because there’s a global slowdown, Britain’s current economic wobbles cannot be blamed on the government. This is true to an extent, but the implication of this bit of spin would also damn the government if we stopped to think about it for a moment.

Gordon Brown is constantly trumpeted as the chancellor who brilliantly brought an economic boom to Britain from 1997-2007. And yet, if the economy is so dependent on factors outside of domestic control, and if Gordon cannot be blamed for the current downturn, then there’s no reason to praise him for the good times. Gordon Brown is a cork bobbing on the sea. There are worse things to be, but bleh.