30 days to go - In which Gideon learns his sums

07/04/15

Dear Claire,

I hope you had a good Easter, and managed to get some time off, in between touring the shires looking for photo opportunities.

Anyway, you may remember from the 4th April that I wrote about the Tory's oft-repeated mantra: "The mess we inherited", "The situation we inherited" and others. One of these catchphrases which I was unaware of, was "The country was on the brink of bankruptcy", a postulate your mentor, young Gideon Osborne, put forward frequently.

Indeed, at the Conservative conference in October 2010, Gideon stated: "The good news is that we are in government after 13 years of a disastrous Labour administration that brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy."

Now, whilst there were many jokes about Gideon's unsuitability to be chancellor of the exchequer, it's clear that he was perhaps a little lacking in experience. But, never letting lack of experience get in the way of a good sound-bite, Osborne was happy to spout the same rubbish on numerous occasions.

I say 'rubbish', because our inexperienced bean-counter has his inaccurate pronouncements well and truly kicked into touch by Robert Chote, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). I'm guessing that kissed Chote's chances of receiving an honour goodbye!

Chote said this: "In terms of thinking about whether the government's finances are sustainable, a key difference [between the UK and the euro-zone] is that we are in a position where we have our own currency and in that sense we have a greater degree of flexibility that means the notion of the danger of insolvency is a much different question for us."

In researching the facts behind today's letter, I came across the following comment on Osborne's pronouncement from a contributor to a political forum. The writer remained anonymous, but I couldn't have put it better myself, so I have plagiarised a couple of paragraphs from it:

"If we were to draw a parallel with the world of medicine, I cannot imagine any scenario that would allow a lay person to consult a patient on the risks and benefits of treatment. It is peculiar to me how individuals armed only with a fortunate lottery of birth could manipulate a rise to power, and in the absence of expertise, intellectual brilliance or evidence, impose upon the nation their own crass ideologies.

"Who is this Cabinet of misfits? What have they each achieved? Why should their power to impose maleficent policies be unfettered? And why must they get away with such incompetence? Until the political bubble in which they all exist is popped, and our politicians are elected on true merit rather than connections, then the UK shall collapse under the mountain of sh*t that the Westminster village nurtures."

What do you think? Pretty good isn't it. Makes it very clear about Osborne's (and others) lack of suitability for his post.

By the way, I see your election poster at the A4 entrance to Savernake Forest has been enhanced considerably! I took a snap and put it at the top of this page for you to see.

Kind regards

Polly