Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Embarrassment for the man who helped bring financial instability to the UK
Bank chief's 'great concerns' for David Cameron and George Osborne
'Mervyn King told the US ambassador to London, Louis Susman, earlier this year that he was worried about the Conservative leadership’s “lack of experienceâ€. The disclosures could test the relationship between Mr King and the Prime Minister and his Chancellor. Labour is sure to exploit the embarrassment at Prime Minister’s Questions later today.'
Posted by hpwatcher @ 08:28 AM (1350 views)
15 thoughts on “Embarrassment for the man who helped bring financial instability to the UK”
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uncle tom says:
This is a serious revelation as far as our Merv is concerned; not so much in respect of what he wrote, but to whom he conveyed it.
If the revelation features in PMQs today, and DC doesn’t rush to his defence; he might feel compelled to quit..
mark wadsworth says:
“Embarrassment for the man who helped bring financial instability to the UK”
That was my first thought. I’d sooner trust somebody with no experience of f***ing things up than somebody with a proven track record of f****ing things up and then lying it about it after the event.
taffee says:
lol….king presided over the moment disasterous policy decision making in history
all he needed to do was stop banks lending more that they had in deposits and keep interest rates around 5%
moron
jack c says:
I’d be much more interested in what was said at the meeting between Merv and the Queen back in March 2009
‘In the midst of the economic crisis yesterday, when news about the nation’s finances dominated every news bulletin, the Queen did something she had never done before; she held an audience with the Governor of the Bank of England, at Buckingham Palace, for the first time since she came to the throne 57 years ago. For half an hour she and Mervyn King were in a room alone as they discussed the state of the economy. No one else was there: no advisers, no officials, no one to take notes of what was said. And no one — not unless Mr King lets indiscretion get the better of him when he comes to write his memoirs — will ever know what they said to each other’
SOURCE http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article5970954.ece
drewster says:
I don’t see the issue. As with 99% of these cables, they’re all things that everyone knows but nobody dares say publicly. I think it’s fair to say the entire country was worried about Cameron’s lack of experience, but (as Mark Wadsworth says) we decided to vote in somebody who at least hadn’t screwed things up for the last 13 years.
“Mr King also said he had held private meetings with the Tory leader and Mr Osborne before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit.”
If Mervyn King is in charge of maintaining financial stability, then it seems like a necessary discussion. No doubt he had the same little chat with Brown & Darling. It’s hardly “veering into politics” to tell the future leaders of the country that the bond markets are fidgety and need soothing.
doomwatch says:
I don’t know how he could allegedly come to that conclusion. G.O. has had extensive experience. Looking at
this :
“Osborne’s first job was to provide data entry services to the National Health Service to record the names of people who had died in London.[13] He also briefly worked for Selfridges. He originally intended to pursue a career in journalism, but instead got a job at Conservative Central Office”
icarus says:
AS UT says. What did King imagine the Americans could do about it?
Icarus says:
Osborne may be OK after all:
“My dear child, they would have loved you if you had had two hundred thousand pounds,” George (Osborne) replied. “That is the way in which they have been brought up. Ours is a ready-money society. We live among bankers and City big-wigs, and be hanged to them, and every man, as he talks to you, is jingling his guineas in his pocket………. “Curse the whole pack of money-grubbing vulgarians! I fall asleep at their great heavy dinners”.
Thackeray, Vanity Fair Chap 20.
icarus says:
Maybe Osborne knows what he’s talking about:
My dear child, they would have loved you if you had had two hundred thousand pounds,” George (Osborne) replied. “That is the way in which they have been brought up. Ours is a ready-money society. We live among bankers and City big-wigs, and be hanged to them……….. “Curse the whole pack of money-grubbing vulgarians! I fall asleep at their great heavy dinners.
icarus says:
@8 – should have added that it’s from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair Chap 20.
growler says:
Would that be the same Danny Blanchflower that wanted to inject oodles of cash into the market a la money no object.
Sorry folks, Merv is a relief. Danny Blanchflower sits on the benches of the people that want to apply trillions of pounds to buy our way out of trouble and the expense of national debt.
It’s hardly surprising to see him crow about this.
the number cruncher says:
Gideon only got a 2:1 in modern history – I wouldn’t wipe my backside with it – and he is the chancellor – where doomed
a saver says:
Mark W @ 2 said ‘I’d sooner trust somebody with no experience of f***ing things up than somebody with a proven track record of f****ing things up and then lying it about it after the event.’
LOL, Mark! You could also have added ‘and continuing to do the same thing even though it’s obviously f****ing stupid.’
uncle tom says:
To be fair, our Merv’s role in f***ing things up was only marginal – the primary culprit (on this side of the pond) was Gordon Brown, the flawed systems he put in place, and his wanton spending.
However, telling the US Secretary of State that the people who were almost certain to form the next administration were not (in his opinion) up to the job, was totally inappropriate from someone in Merv’s position.
– Imagine the reaction in the US if it emerged that Bernanke had cabled London to say that Obama wasn’t up to the job..
Iguana says:
The very idea!
Suggesting that Camoron and Boy George are not up to the job, surely a life of privilege and fabulous wealth, insulated from reality and any concept of reward for effort is the perfect preparation governing a country and understanding the intricacies of the global economic crisis. I bet that was all that they talked about in the Bullingdon.