I enjoyed Daniel Hannan's description of last week's TV leaders debate:
Why did Gordon Brown spend the televised debate throwing himself at Nick Clegg, like a woman of a certain age making a fool of herself over a younger man?
A bit more kindly I thought of Gordon Brown as the Lois Lane of this election screaming out: "Only Superclegg can save me now." Either way Brown seem to have decided that he only hope of clinging on is with Lib Dem backing in a hung Parliament. Clegg is conscious that such indiscretions are unhelpful before the election. But he has not been able to silence his predecessor Lord Steel who has a letter in the Times this morning declaring what a success the Lib Lab pact was last time round 1977/78.
Lord Steel writes:
The last time we had a balanced Parliament was in March 1977 when the Callaghan government had gradually lost its majority. The facts speak for themselves: the very day that the Lib-Lab agreement between Mr Callaghan and myself was announced the pound and the share index both
rose. Inflation had started on a sharp upward trend in the last year of the Heath government and had reached the alarming rate of almost 20 per cent that month. During the 15 months of the so-called Lib-Lab pact it fell to under 9 per cent, only to climb again during the minority Labour period that followed, returning to 19 per cent in the first months of the Thatcher government.Mortgage interest fell from 12.25 per cent at the start of the pact to 8.5 per cent at its end only to start upwards again after it, reaching 15 per cent under Margaret Thatcher.
When he was Liberal leader he was known as the Boy David. Will someone please teach the lad some basic economics. There is a time lag between tightening monetary policy and reducing inflation. The relevant point was the IMF taking over Government policy in 1976.
As Margaret Thatcher told the 1977 Conservative Party Conference:
Mr. Healey blandly refers to "the horrors of 1974/75". But who was Chancellor of the Exchequer then? You've guessed it. They were Healey's horrors. After him the deluge? No. Because of him.
"The financial position has been reversed 180 degrees" says the Chancellor with a flourish. Quite so. Because his policies have been reversed 180 degrees—by order of the International Monetary Fund.
Twelve months ago the 4-Budget-A-Year man all but took the country over the cliff with him—until at the eleventh hour he turned back from Heathrow in a panic and headed for home—to take out the most massive mortgage in our history.
The prescription the IMF forced his government to swallow is the prescription we have long been advocating. A good, sound, sensible, Conservative prescription. So my message to Moses is this; keep taking the tablets.
And if Labour wants an Election slogan, I suggest—it's just a thought but one likes to be helpful—"You know IMF Government works".
Some of the commentators are saying that the Prime Minister is stealing our clothes. Well, it's true that he's lost his own, but he's going to look pretty ridiculous walking around in mine.
Does Nick Clegg agree that the Lib Lab Pact was a great success last time? Or would he like his predecessor to be shut away in an attic until May 7?
