Sarkozy Kicks Brown's Butt !!
by Don Clark & Craig Chapman - 07:31 on 09 February 2009
A bitter diplomatic row has erupted after French President Nicolas Sarkozy rubbished Gordon Brown's plans to rescue the UK economy.
In an extraordinary outburst, he said he would 'not be repeating Gordon Brown's mistakes' when drawing up his own recovery plans, claiming the Prime Minister's flagship £12 billion VAT cut 'has absolutely not worked'.
It was the third time that a European government has broken with diplomatic convention to attack on Mr Brown's economic handling after similar interventions from the Germans and the Dutch.
The savage criticism left officials in London and Paris scrambling to save their relationship from serious damage.
Downing Street telephoned the Elysee Palace demanding an explanation.
In his interview , Mr Sarkozy said: 'Cutting VAT by two points doesn't incite people to buy if they are terrified about their futures. That will bring them nothing. If anything, consumption in Britain has gone down. 'The reason is simple - because it's in people's heads. If the consumer no longer consumes, he won't change just because we add or subtract one VAT point, it's because he's scared for his future, he's scared for his job and says to himself: "I must save, because bad times are coming".'
In another broadside, he said that the Government was running up such debts in Britain that it could 'ruin the country' because the borrowed money was not being invested in assets but in 'operating costs'.
He even went on to claim that the UK manufacturing industry was effectively dead and that Britain was 'paying the price' for its reliance on financial services to boost the economy.
The French President is proposing a £26billion investment in state infrastructure rather than trying to boost consumer spending with tax cuts, as in Britain.
He also added :'In France, we chose investment because when we put France into debt by taking money to invest, in return we have assets, infrastructure. When you put your country into debt to pay for operating costs, you have nothing in return for your debt and you ruin the country.'The English abandoned their industries 25 years ago, and now they are regretting it. Meanwhile the City and their financial sector looked towards the United States, so now London is paying the price.'
Mr Sarkozy's views will be particularly painful for Mr Brown because he has made international cooperation the centrepiece of his global efforts to limit the damage of the recession.
The apparently concerted attempt to belittle him also risks making a mockery of his claim to be leading the global fight against recession.
Although the Prime Minister's spokesman suggested that the French President's words had been intended for domestic consumption, he gave an intriguing insight into the annoyance the comments have caused.
He said sarcastically: 'The Elysee has been in contact this morning to assure us that these remarks were not meant as a critique of UK economic policy - which is nice.'
Such comments highlight the deep divisions between the two countries over how to tackle the economic crisis.
In December, one of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's economic advisers branded Britain's soaring debt levels a 'complete failure of Labour policy', while her finance minister, accused Mr Brown of 'crass Keynesianism' in his approach to the crisis and derided the cut in VAT as 'breathtaking'.
Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos told the Financial Times that the VAT cut was 'not a very wise thing to do', adding: 'I don't believe it will contribute to a recovery of the economy.'
Meanwhile, the President of Petrolheads, Sir Jeremy of Clarkson is awarded a Poppy, the newly founded Popular Alliance merit of honour for his comments regarding Gordon Brown. "OK, I apologise about him being Scottish, and one-eyed, but he's still an idiot !!" Brilliant....
To appease the politically squeamish chappies and chappesses out there, is there anyone with a protective urge towards the puffer fish population ? We just thought we would check before launching into a new range of suitable insults for our beleaguered Prime Minister. Kick them when they're down ? In his case, most definately !!
Popular Alliance Comment:
You will not see us often praising EU politicians but we have to say “Well done Mr Sarkozy” You have hit the nail on the head and that is why it hurts Mr Brown so much.
We would be far better using the VAT savings to put towards investing in infrastructure such as renewable energy power plants, rail and road.
There are many balloons ready to burst in the future and we must control them now.
We want jobs, we want energy independence, we want greener energy and we want a superb rail and road network. Let’s invest now.
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