Who is the best ‘pilot’…Brown or Cameron?
Following a highly controversial and frank interview given to a national newspaper by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, with regards to the state of the economy earlier this week, the Justice Secretary Jack Straw has now spoken out to BBC reporters about his take on the situation. In relation to the interview that Darling gave, Mr Straw stated that he did not think that Darling had spoken out of turn when he gave the interview, but he added that the chancellor had, in fact, been referring to the global economic situation and not specifically to the economic crisis facing Britain.
Straw also told the BBC that whilst there was no doubt that the country was experiencing economic problems, the Labour government was well placed to see the nation through the rough period and get it back on the straight and narrow. He also denied claims that had been made by opposition party MPs with regards to their being a challenge for leadership in the Labour party.
When asked if he ruled himself out of any leadership challenge, Mr Straw said: “Yes. There won’t be a leadership challenge from me or from anybody else.”
Referring to the Darling interview Straw added: “We talk to each other all the time, each of us talks for the other. I’m sorry about this, but we’re not clones of each other, and we sometimes use different adverbs and adjectives. The message from Gordon, from Alistair, from colleagues like myself, has been the same: we’ve had a very good period of economic management and economic success which has, for sure, provided us with a really serious platform to weather these storms.”
Mr Straw also spoke about his take on the economic crisis, and he said that the situation was a little like an aircraft passing through a turbulent patch. He said: “The question for the country is who is better to take us through this turbulent period? Is it an experienced pilot and co-pilot in Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, who have had the experience… or is it two people in David Cameron and George Osborne, who have had no experience of flying a large plane whatsoever.”
The shadow chancellor, George Osborne, has not held back when talking about the mixed message that recent events have given.
He said: “Who is telling the truth at the top of government? The prime minister says the economic situation isn’t as bad people think and that Britain is well placed to weather the economic storm but the chancellor says we are at a 60-year low.”
He added: “Gordon Brown has briefed out stories that he has an economic recovery plan all worked out, meanwhile the chancellor says the downturn will be more profound and long-lasting than people thought. It’s not clear whether Alistair Darling meant to tell us the truth about the mess 10 years of a Labour government has left our economy in, but he has certainly let the cat out of the bag.”
Tags: david cameron, global economic situation, interview, chancellor, whilst, economic management, gordon brown, prime minister
