Sharpe's Opinion
Wednesday, 19th Nov, 2008
Brown Predictions Plotted Against Reality
Dizzy has produced a rather excellent graph showing Gordon Brown’s debt predictions and how they plotted against reality, following on from his quotes from budget speeches yesterday. The quote that I just can’t get over is the 2004 budget, wherein borrowing has risen from £27bn in 2003 to £34bn in 2004. Brown says “borrowing for this year will fall to £34 billion.”
That’s a lie. It’s not falling, it rose. Why didn’t we hear about this at the time? Brown was misleading the house, and lied in his Budget Speech. Surely that’s not legal? Surely that shouldn’t be legal?
Comments
I don’t care what bloody small print there is, there’s no such thing as footnotes in a speech. Saying debt has fallen to £34bn when it’s risen from £27bn is lying. If Brown was the head of a public company and had said that in a communication with shareholders it would have been called fraud and he would have been put in prison.
Have we really become this cynical? What do you mean nothing can be done about it? Where’s the uproar? Where’s the interest, for Pete’s sake?
It’s pathetic, this. I want to move to America.
Do you think the US, or any other country, is different? Anyway, you’d hate the US.
The speech is a round-up, not the whole deal – remember he was too embarassed to announce the VAT reduction from 17.5% to 5% on tampons? There most definitely are footnotes.
And since when did anyone believe what the CEO told their shareholders? Just look at the quotes coming to and from Northern Rock (CEO: G Brown, et al). Total bollox. As for fraud, it’s one rule for Ministers of State running for Deputy PM and another for the rest of us.
The figures you have been given are comparing the expectations, a year in advance, plus a rounding up/down, plus a margin of error.
Damn it, I’ve got some homework for tomorrow. Doubt if I’ll get the truth but if you’re right then you’ll need a ladder to get on your horse.
Always read the small print with this guy.
If there had been an error it would have been jumped on immediately, thus you’d need to go back to the original speeches and stats to get the whole story. If I find myself with a quiet moment I’ll track it down.
ladytizzy
November 19, 2008 at 5:49 pm