Thursday 21 January 2010

Bank of England independence is a cause of immense frustration for Gordon Brown

Telegraph
"If there were any mobile phones, staplers or printers still intact in 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, it's a good bet they found themselves being hurled towards the nearest cowering staffer that afternoon. For it was then that Gordon Brown learned of the contents of a speech that the Governor of the Bank of England was about to read out that evening. Despite private remonstrations with the Bank, despite Mr Brown having thought he had secured Mervyn King's agreement to refrain from barbed economic comments until the election was over, the turbulent Governor had gone and done it again.

In the space of one relatively short speech, Mr King managed single-handedly to undermine almost every element of Labour's early-stage election campaign, warning homeowners that the next two years will be tainted with economic hardship, and ruling out any hopes for a Budget giveaway this spring.

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