- #1
The Dagda
- 252
- 0
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/11/20090114/tpl-brown-brands-conservatives-the-do-no-0a1c1a1_1.html"
So what should be done and do the libertarians/conservatives have it right in returning to a capitalist ideal not a socialist plan? If not what other options are there?
Brown brands Conservatives the 'do nothing' party
Gordon Brown has accused the Conservatives of being a "do nothing" party in their response to the economic downturn. The prime minister criticised the Opposition as being "out of touch with the rest of the world" with their policy of cutting public spending. He told MPs at prime minister's question time that Conservative leader David Cameron was "completely isolated" on the global stage. Brown also praised the government's package of support for businesses, which he said was "targeted", "focused" and "funded". "This is real help for business now," the prime minister stated. But Cameron accused the prime minister of creating a "pale" version of the Conservative loans guarantee scheme. He asked Brown to "be straight" on the economy and admit that he had been wrong with "boom and bust". "On boom and bust, doesn't the PM understand that if he cannot be frank about the past no one will believe him in the future," he said. Cameron claimed that this was one of the reasons why there was a lack of confidence in the economy. But Brown replied that it was a global financial crisis. He said that no other country was copying the Conservative Party economic policy. "No one except him is proposing to cut public spending," the prime minister said of Cameron. "You cannot fund support for business without the public expenditure to make it possible."But Cameron said that the prime minister was "achieving nothing". He claimed that the Labour 2.5 per cent VAT cut has been "ridiculed" and "condemned". The cut has added £12.5bn to the government debt and has become "an expensive failure", Cameron claimed. Brown retorted: "He [Cameron] may think that VAT is unimportant but a typical family has £5 extra in their pocket."He claimed: "The Conservatives are out of touch with the rest of the world."The prime minister told the Opposition benches that consumer spending helps business. "He [Cameron] may think it is irrelevant but people in my constituency think it is important," Brown said. "He is totally on the wrong side of the argument. "If he wants to be outside of the consensus for what needs to be done, let it be."Cameron accused the prime minister of "running round like a headless chicken announcing one bogus thing after another". He criticised the government for building up debt for Britain's children "in a vain attempt to save his own skin". Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg also accused the government of copying the Conservatives on the loans guarantee scheme. He queried why, under Lord Mandelson's initiative, banks should be asked again to do "what they should have done in the first place". "The prime minister is playing copycat with the Conservatives instead of hard ball with the banks," Clegg told the House. "He should stop telling banks to hoard and lend at the same time." Clegg suggested that the prime minister should use one state bank to lend to businesses. But Brown argued that the government was "doing things practically". Since November, 20,000 firms have benefited from government actions, the prime minister said. "I believe that the measures we are taking today will make a difference," he added.
So what should be done and do the libertarians/conservatives have it right in returning to a capitalist ideal not a socialist plan? If not what other options are there?
Last edited by a moderator: