Britannia Radio

Bonkers Brown
The mind boggles at the facile optimism of the man. He’s pinning his
hopes on some oil deal - but wait a moment. There’s plenty of oil
on the North Sea and with the price of oil at its (rising again ) new
levels it would be economic to get it up now, were it not for the
fact that Gordon Brown is siphoning the very profits from the oil
companies which would make this profitable. So they push off and
work in Ruritania instead.

The man’s bonkers

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TELEGRAPH 22.8.08 4.27pm
Gordon Brown expects swift economic recovery for Britain
Gordon Brown has defied expert forecasts, the Bank of England and
even his own Treasury to predict privately that the economy will
start recovering within the next few months.
By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent

The Prime Minister believes an economic recovery is key to his future
political success. He is understood to have conceded that Labour is
unlikely to win an election during the current economic turmoil but
has told friends he is optimistic that the worst may soon be over.

His views have emerged as new official statistics showed that the
British economy has now stopped growing for the first time in more
than a decade. Most independent experts and the Bank of England do
not share Mr Brown's optimistic outlook. Leading investment banks
have warned that Britain faces the prospect of a severe recession.

The Bank has slashed its growth forecast to zero for next year and
recently warned that it will be "painful". It means the reasons
behind Mr Brown's optimism are not clear. The Treasury is also
thought to be growing increasingly pessimistic about the country's
economic prospects and is expected to cut its forecasts in the autumn.

The Prime Minister is said to be resigned to the fact that the public
will remain "angry" with the Government while fuel costs, petrol
prices and supermarket bills are high. Inflation currently stands at
more than 4 per cent.

However, Mr Brown believes that all these problems can be resolved if
a deal can be agreed on oil. He now sees talks - due to be held in
December with the oil-producing nations - as increasingly critical
both to the future health of the economy and the survival of his
government.

There is a certain amount of frustration within No 10 that Mr Brown
and his party are being blamed by voters for problems which he feels
he is not responsible for, and which he insists lie with the global
economic picture. He also believes that the public have quickly
forgotten the economic gains of the past decade. [He is entirely
responsible for it was he that lost control of domestic credit, spent
all the reserves - futiely , and has reached the limit of his ability
to borrow -cs]

But he has told aides that he is resigned to the public's disquiet -
telling colleagues: "That's life."

Mr Brown, who is currently in Beijing for the closing ceremony of the
Olympics, disclosed earlier this week that he is working on plans to
help people with mortgages and fuel bills. The economic package is
expected to be unveiled next month and will form the centrepiece of
his planned fight-back strategy.

The Treasury is considering plans to pump billions of pounds into the
mortgage market and Mr Brown also hopes that an international
mortgage deal - similar to that being discussed on oil - could be
agreed to help improve the situation.

Figures released yesterday showed that conditions for homeowners
seeking mortgages may already finally be improving. The cost of two-
year fixed rate mortgages is back at the level it was in August last
year when the credit crunch first began to bite.

The average fixed rate is now 6.59 per cent, only fractionally above
an average of 6.56 per cent in August last year, and well down on a
level of 7.08 per cent in early July, according to financial
information group Moneyfacts.co.uk. However, borrowers still face
high arrangement fees and may have to put down large deposits to
qualify for competitive deals.