Sol Invictus
01-27-2009, 05:24 PM
BBC News
January 26th, 2009
Brown warns against 'pessimism'
Mr Brown said world economies could not just 'muddle through'
The economic crisis should be treated as "the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order", Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.
In a speech he promised to fight to prevent the UK and other countries retreating into protectionism.
Mr Brown called for "new rules" for international trade, warning against "pessimism" and "muddling through".
Meanwhile, the Tories will announce plans to make civil servants more "responsible" with taxpayers' money.
The UK is now officially in recession for the first time since 1991, with many businesses blaming difficulties in obtaining loans for the crisis.
'Fill the gap'
Last week the government announced a scheme to offer banks insurance against losing more money from the bad debts which started the credit crunch.
The Bank of England will also be able to buy up to £50bn worth of assets in companies in all sectors of the economy.
Addressing the Foreign Press Association in London, Mr Brown said such such measures were intended to "fill the gap" in lending.
He added: "We face a choice. We could allow this crisis to start a retreat from globalisation.
"As some want, we could close our markets - for capital, financial services, trade and for labour - and therefore reduce the risks of globalisation.
"But that would reduce global growth, deny us the benefits of global trade and confine millions to global poverty.
"Or we could view the threats and challenges we face today as the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order - and our task now as nothing less than making the transition through a new internationalism to the benefits of an expanding global society - not muddling through as pessimists but making the necessary adjustment to a better future and setting the new rules for this new global order."
Later, shadow chancellor George Osborne will tell the Institute of Chartered Accountants that a Conservative government would make Whitehall more accountable.
'Incentives'
He will promise to include a clause on the responsibility to taxpayers in the employment agreements of senior civil servants, with the Civil Service Code being rewritten to incorporate "responsible financial management".
Public sector employees should also be rewarded for suggesting waste-cutting ideas, Ms Osborne will add.
He is expected to say: "We need a need a new culture of financial discipline across Whitehall. That means new incentives, new information and new powers of investigation."
Mr Osborne will add: "Creating a new culture of financial discipline in Whitehall is not going to be easy. It will be like turning around a supertanker.
"But with a determined political will and the right plans, we can do it. We can turn the Whitehall supertanker and put Britain on the right course."
A ComRes opinion poll for the Independent suggests the Conservatives have increased their lead over Labour to 15 points - from five points last month.
It puts the party on 43%, with Labour on 28% and the Liberal Democrats on 16%. ComRes telephoned 1,012 adults from 21 to 22 January.
Source: BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7850649.stm)
January 26th, 2009
Brown warns against 'pessimism'
Mr Brown said world economies could not just 'muddle through'
The economic crisis should be treated as "the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order", Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.
In a speech he promised to fight to prevent the UK and other countries retreating into protectionism.
Mr Brown called for "new rules" for international trade, warning against "pessimism" and "muddling through".
Meanwhile, the Tories will announce plans to make civil servants more "responsible" with taxpayers' money.
The UK is now officially in recession for the first time since 1991, with many businesses blaming difficulties in obtaining loans for the crisis.
'Fill the gap'
Last week the government announced a scheme to offer banks insurance against losing more money from the bad debts which started the credit crunch.
The Bank of England will also be able to buy up to £50bn worth of assets in companies in all sectors of the economy.
Addressing the Foreign Press Association in London, Mr Brown said such such measures were intended to "fill the gap" in lending.
He added: "We face a choice. We could allow this crisis to start a retreat from globalisation.
"As some want, we could close our markets - for capital, financial services, trade and for labour - and therefore reduce the risks of globalisation.
"But that would reduce global growth, deny us the benefits of global trade and confine millions to global poverty.
"Or we could view the threats and challenges we face today as the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order - and our task now as nothing less than making the transition through a new internationalism to the benefits of an expanding global society - not muddling through as pessimists but making the necessary adjustment to a better future and setting the new rules for this new global order."
Later, shadow chancellor George Osborne will tell the Institute of Chartered Accountants that a Conservative government would make Whitehall more accountable.
'Incentives'
He will promise to include a clause on the responsibility to taxpayers in the employment agreements of senior civil servants, with the Civil Service Code being rewritten to incorporate "responsible financial management".
Public sector employees should also be rewarded for suggesting waste-cutting ideas, Ms Osborne will add.
He is expected to say: "We need a need a new culture of financial discipline across Whitehall. That means new incentives, new information and new powers of investigation."
Mr Osborne will add: "Creating a new culture of financial discipline in Whitehall is not going to be easy. It will be like turning around a supertanker.
"But with a determined political will and the right plans, we can do it. We can turn the Whitehall supertanker and put Britain on the right course."
A ComRes opinion poll for the Independent suggests the Conservatives have increased their lead over Labour to 15 points - from five points last month.
It puts the party on 43%, with Labour on 28% and the Liberal Democrats on 16%. ComRes telephoned 1,012 adults from 21 to 22 January.
Source: BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7850649.stm)