Brown’s Fiscal Fetish
Gordon Brown is a fiscal fetishist. It doesn’t take mucn intelligence to work this out. In an interview with Andrew Marr this morning, he spent virtually the whole time droning on about inflation. On the one hand, he quite properly warned MPs not to vote themselves pay increases above what was being offered to public sector workers. On the other, he made it absolutely clear that there was a definite ceiling of 2% on pay settlements for those public sector workers.
He’s clearly not worried by the massive anger this will cause among public sector workers. He’s clearly not worried by the distinct possibility of a police rebellion over the way the Home Office backtracked on their pay settlement. He’s clearly not worried that he’s putting national security at risk for the sake of a negligible rise in inflation, and the irrational fear of a slippery slope.
Instead, his primary concern is the economy. Always, his primary concern is the economy. This is a, “decisive year for the economy,” we are told. The, “right long-term choices,” need to be made - presumably because he’s so bad at making short-term ones that he won’t have any results to offer voters come election time. There is very little rational argument, or consideration of factors outside narrow economic considerations, or even reasoning as to why the economy is his primary concern. It’s just the same old mantra of, “golden-rule,” and, “keeping inflation down,” and, “our prosperity is our strength.”
Because, of course, we’re all going to enjoying that prosperity when the nurses, teachers and police go on strike.
Above all, this economic obsession shows one thing - that Brown still thinks like a Chancellor. In making the economy his concern above all other issues of national concern, he demonstrates that he’s not thinking beyond the confines of his previous role. He can’t worry about sparking wide-scale strikes and walkouts that’ll please no-one - he’s got his economic theory to watch.
That, I fear, isn’t the way for a successful Prime Minister to behave. He should be able to keep everything in mind, leaving details down to individual ministers. The economy is very important - but so is keeping public-sector workers happy, from the government’s point of view at least. He needs to keep both in mind. And yet Brown insists on economic management of a sort which surely must impinge on the Chancellor’s own brief.
Brown may live in Number 10 now, but he’s still the Chancellor.