Just as in 1976, it is also clear that Labour has left the nation bankrupt once again, only more so this time.
It took all of five days for the purblind Gordon Brown to realize he had lost the election. Another day throwing his mobile around No. 10, and the Westminster Fire Brigade would have had to have been sent for to loosen the grip of the one in denial.
At the outset of the election, this column said a result where the Lib-Dems had some cabinet places, especially Vince Cable, was an outcome devoutly to be wished. And so, courtesy of Cameron’s far-sightedness and political skill, it has indeed come to pass.
Just as in 1976, it is also clear that Labour has left the nation bankrupt once again, only more so this time. The coalition says it will achieve £6.0 billion of savings in the first year; that would reduce the deficit to £156.0 billion; there is another £60.0 billion, ten times more, to find in Year 1 alone; and another £60.0 billion on top of that over the next three years.
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This is a monstrous hill to climb: taxes must rise, services cut and at least 250,000 bureaucratic “jobs” cancelled, as unemployment soars towards 3.0 million and stays there. And there is no room to manoeuvre, or time to lose.
When the coalition gets stuck into the books, they might realize it is better to put the blame where it belongs, on the bigoted Mr. McDuffed-up Brown, and call in the IMF sooner rather than later. The position is almost beyond salvation, as the UK teeters on the edge of Third World status and bankruptcy.
Calling in the IMF now would be the smart thing to do for the coalition to survive, as after six months it could be General Election time again if the IMF has to intervene. And the coalition must ensure Labour comes last the next time the rest of us visit the polls, before the socialists have pumped up the tyres on some new Mini-Brand New Labour bogus bandwagon with false number-plates.
I am not suggesting a panic reaction call to Washington: just fixing up a standby facility at the IMF now, given the gathering global sovereign debt crisis and the febrile condition of Brown’s busted economy, and before other calls on the IMF means it runs out of money itself. Then, the drastic cuts to be made could be presented to the electorate as the true cost of Labour’s reckless squandering and have third party legitimacy from the real world.
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As I say, Lady Macbeth-like, if t’were done, t’were best done quickly. And before, God forbid, the man named after the colour brown oozes himself onto the global palette of jobs for dispossessed politicians, like his former boss, and himself joins the IMF and starts throwing his mobile around the lofty halls of Washington.
But I recall the delightful Miss Naomi Campbell was ordered to do 28 days community service for doing just that in New York, you know, cleaning out latrines, that sort of thing: come to think of it, that wouldn’t be an inappropriate punishment for our late but unlamented colour-blind leader.
