Financial Times rejects Brown's misuse of George Osborne quotation

In his conference speech today, Gordon Brown attacked George Osborne for words he used in response to events of recent weeks in the financial markets:

In the week that banks were collapsing the man who wants to run our economy not only said: this is not a problem caused by the financial markets but went on to say and, I quote, "that it's a function of financial markets that people make loads of money out of the misery of others."

Jim Pickard of The Financial Times, which also reported the supposed quotation, has described Brown as twisting the words Osborne in fact used:

Gordon Brown twists the words of the shadow chancellor

True, George Osborne didn’t sound desperately sympathetic to the plight of credit crunch victims when he said on Newsnight last week: “Well look, no one takes pleasure from people making money out of the misery of others, but that is a function of capitalist markets.”

But that is NOT the same as the quote attributed to him by the prime minister just now:

“That it’s a function of financial markets that people make loads of money out of the misery of others.”

The attack on Osborne was preceded by claims that Labour had given women and working men the vote in the face of Conservative opposition. ConservativeHome noted that in fact it was a Conservative government under Benjamin Disraeli which extended the vote to working men in 1867 - decades before the Labour Party was formed. It was also a Liberal/Conservative National Government that gave women over the age of 30 the vote in 1918 and a Conservative government under Stanley Baldwin that in 1928 established an equal voting age of 21 for men and women.

Peter Cuthbertson

Comments

[Andrew Woodman]

Wonder if they'll be any apology for these mistruths, then again I doubt he'll change the habit of a lifetime.

[Malcolm Dunn]

I watched the first twenty minutes and then got bored. I know I'm biased but in those twenty minutes he didn't make any tangible promises at all. It was all 'we are the party of fairness' or 'we are the party of the family'. Sorry I've heard it all before and delivered better by Blair.
If this was the speech that was supposed to save Brown's career then I'd be amazed if it suceeded. But then, I'm biased.

[bill]

George Osborne does not impress me when he opines on matters economic and financial. It is a shame the Tories do not have someone with more experience.

[Sally Roberts]

Well done Tim getting on to this so quickly - it was a bare faced lie and I hope we will be tearing into it on the Conference Platform next week!!!

[bill]

I would not have chosen the words Osborne did.

[Tim Montgomerie]

I agree bill but Brown still twisted George Osborne's words.

[Norm Brainer]

I watched the first twenty minutes and then got bored. I know I'm biased but in those twenty minutes he didn't make any tangible promises at all.

I did and thought the same for the middle 20mins.
It was all waffle, but not even delivered in a way to even sell it.

[Letters From A Tory]

David Cameron should have a field day with Brown's speech. It was full to the brim of half-truths, distortions and outright lies.

[Bill]

Brown's speech almost made me feel ill.

[Jimbob]

Bill,
I think you're wrong. Osborne is excellent.

[James Burdett]

David Cameron needs to largely ignore Brown, let his attack dogs rip him apart next week. Cameron needs to make a statesmanlike speech. He needs to do what Brown failed to do which is to provide some sense of deep context. Brown appears to have scattered gimmicky intiatives galore all around. The Conservative conference next week needs to be centred around one or two weighty, substantial ideas. Let Duncan, Hague, Osborne and others beat up the government and then Cameron can behave as a PM in waiting.

[Biodun]

Reading through James Burdett's list of heavyweights at 16:31, am I the only one here wishing that David Davis was still Shadow Home Secretary?

**sigh**

[Norm Brainer]

David Cameron needs to largely ignore Brown,

I agree with that - When Brown was hammering on about what the conservatives did/didn't do it was pathetic and a sign that he thinks they are better than him.

Labour don't deserve to get talked about.

[Walter West]

Thankfully I missed the speech because I was in a meeting - and i'm glad I did!

Re: Bill @ 16:15 - we do have people wit more experience, but I can't see Ken Clarke being given a job as Chancellor ... nor Sir Malcolm Rifkind. It is a shame, but it is going to be George Osborne unless we end up in a coalition with the Lib-Dems in which case we'd probably have to give it to Vince Cable as part of any deal.

[Nigel]

Good comment James - I hope the high command read it. Hague would definately be the best to tear him apart and DC needs to do the big picture stuff. people need a bit of inspiration

[Andrew Lilico]

Editors,

Could we please have the whole exchange? I suspect that the "that" in Osborne's reply referred to something raised by the questioner (Paxman?).

For example, suppose that the exchange had gone:

"Are you really prepared to sit there and defend people who make money by forcing prices down on the release of any old piece of bad news?"

and Osborne had replied

"Well look, no one takes pleasure from people making money out of the misery of others, but that [forcing prices down on the release of...bad news] is a function of capitalist markets."

How confident are we that Osborne's words were even infelicitous at all?

[Nigel]

walter - I do hope not!!!!! Vince has a great line in wit, but his economic credentials are about as valid as Gordon's - he has been great at convincing the Biased Broadcasting Corp that he is an economics wiz, but his actual record is somewhat suspect

[Man in a Shed]

In this speech Brown has shown himself to be dishonest, badly advised (at best) and just plain spiteful.

There is no way that a man such as that should be allowed to continue in office for another day - let alone a man who grabbed power without a vote thanks to a supine Labour party.

[Walter West]

I agree Nigel - but I think if we did need to get the Lib-Dems on board for a coalition that might be one of their conditions.

[Jake]

Conservative party conferences were applauding Votes For Women most years from the 1870's.

Disreali spoke in favour of women's suffrage in 1866

Labour finally got around to approving the idea in 1912 ( and then none too keen )

[Norm Brainer]

Yes, he may have come across spiteful, but the speech wasn't to normal people, it was to his core party to make sure that he stays leader, and to union leaders to make sure they keep giving money.
All of whom are seemingly spiteful by definition.

[GB£.com]

Politicians are often deliberately misquoted, but that is the nature of politics.

It's the nature of politics that politicians often get deliberately misquoted.

Um, which one did Osborne say again...

[Nigel]

norm - and let's hope he is successful in staying leader. I think neil Kinnock would have had more appeal to middle Britain!

[Todd W.]

Osborne doesn't have any experience that qualifies him to be the Chancellor. Surely the public would find plenty of other Tories far more reassuring. How about somebody who has actually done something?

[martin sewell]

I was struck by the comment that people should not take out of the public pot more than they put in -if that was not really bad news for the poorest sector of the community it shows a poor attention to detail in a 'make or break" speech.

[johnC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/video/7623260.stm

See above for the recording of Osborne's interview. What he was saying (and admittedly could have put better) was that you can't end financial speculation as it is an inevitable part of the way in which financial markets work. As Andrew Lilico correctly points out, the 'that' in Osborne's sentence was market speculation, not 'making money out of the misery of others', which Osborne agreed could be one unfortunate outcome of speculation. No-one can deny that if anyone enters into a contract on the assumption that a share or currency will fall, they will gain while others lose. But their gain is the reward for their risk; they might have lost.

Gordon Brown completely twisted Osborne's words in his speech in order to make a cheap debating point, and should apologise.

[Conand]

The re-writing of history is among the most appalling aspects of Labour.

I can't wait to get to our conference and help show what we're really about and what we want to do.

[Bill]

The use of the word "misery" in was maladroit.

[Sally Roberts]

"Brown's speech almost made me feel ill."

Only "almost", Bill? I had the greatest trouble not saying a big Hello Again to my lunch...!

[Norm Brainer]

The re-writing of history is among the most appalling aspects of Labour.

What's worse is that people believe them and they get away with it, so they see no reason not to.
I assume that the Conservatives are staying quite quiet this week out of politeness for the labour conference, and I wonder if browne will disrespect that next week like he did last year.

[M Dowding]

One of Labours' constants is that anyone who is not Labour does not count. I therefore find the banging on about "fairness" as hypocritical as you can get given the millions of voters that have voted Conservative and the vast army of members and activists.

[David Sergeant]

"The re-writing of history is among the most appalling aspects of Labour.

What's worse is that people believe them and they get away with it,"

This has been going on for years Westminster village Tories really should understand that people believe all sorts of rubbish because no one says otherwise.

Next week I hope Ms. Rowling gets a good kicking. Giving £mil to Labour because the Tories are going "to give perks to married couples" borders on sick.

[Doug]

Is anyone at ConHome talented with making YouTube videos because in the last week there has been plenty of material from Brown to show up his bare faced lies.

[Matthew]

Brown is desperate he will do anything to try and de-mote the party that will soon be in governmnet.

[Tom FD]

This gives the Tories a lot of material to work with next week.

[Ramsay McBaldwin]

Conservative party conferences were applauding Votes For Women most years from the 1870's.

Were you at any Tory party conferences in the 1870s? I know there are some oldies in the party but this is ridiculous. It must have been galling for you when Balfour made that crack about taking more notice of his valet.

Anyway, to the subject in hand - the leadership of the Conservative party was always well behind the curve on votes for women, as with most progressive measures.

In fact when votes for women was proposed by Asquith's government prior to WWI it was in the teeth of mainstream Conservative opposition.

The extension of the franchise in 1927-28 to equalise the ages between men and women was rammed through by a progressive minority within the party against strong internal opposition.

I assume that the Conservatives are staying quite quiet this week out of politeness for the labour conference

No, I suspect the Conservatives are keeping quite quiet this week because they have nothing useful to contribute at this time of serious economic disturbance (or at least the official Treasury spokesman hasn't). It is utterly shameful that the Tory shadow chancellor has less gravitas than the Lib Dem economic spokesman.

[Yet Another Anon]

Politicians are often deliberately misquoted, but that is the nature of politics.
Paddy Ashdown went in for misrepresentation rather a lot - he likes to repeat the famous quote about George Brown one time being drunk (that bit was true up to then, George Brown was drunk continuosly from the 1950s on), but then of course the bit about him asking the Archbishop of Lima to dance with him - apparently that never happened. Then of course there was the whole business about John Prescott saying that the Green Belt was Labour's greatest achievement and that he intended to build on it - another thing that was apparently never said.

History is littered with deliberate misquotations and entire fabrications.

[John Pickworth]

Just returning for a moment to what George Osborne said last week:

He was actually quite brave to say what he did on Newsnight. The interviewer and others guests all seem determined to blame the greedy markets for all our ills rather than recognise the role the Government also played. George gave, I believe, a quite sensible and plain speaking defence of how the markets work in reality.

For me, Mr Osborne sounded like a Chancellor in the making and I hope we hear more of this directness in future.