Just been watching BBC Parliament (now there's a displacement activity if ever you've heard one).The debate on the PBR has been no contest, with Philip Hammond, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, delivering a devastating lesson in economics to the entire house, not just the idiots in government who, for instance, don't seem to be able to comprehend the difference between monetary and fiscal policy, (a pretty fundamental problem if you're trying to prove to unconvinced bond markets that you're in control of things).
He's damn good. His forensic unpicking of the Brownite, delusional, dangerous PBR is highly damaging to the last traces of Labour's credibility - or would be if anyone was watching it, of course. Even the usually thuggish Liam Byrne looked quietly impressed.
I hope Hammond is given the praise he deserves for this superb parliamentary performance.
I'll put up a link to it later, if I can find one.
==Update==
Well, perhaps predictably, you can watch the PBR debate on iplayer, but only as far as the end of Byrne's woeful and woefully partisan speech. The BBC clearly didn't feel that Hammond's excellent response, during which he not only provided a forensic demolition of Labour's fantasy economics, but also clearly set out some of a future Conservative government's plans for bringing Britain back from the brink of a credit downgrade (and why that is so desperately important), merited the little bit of extra space on their ample servers (that we own).
Bias at the BBC? Never!
==Update 2==
Jonn Ward has kindly provided a link to the transcript of Philip Hammond's PBR speech. You can find it on parliament's website, here.
Although I realise it's only second best, here is the official transcript of Hammond's excellent contribution.
ReplyDeleteYou are a star, John. Thanks so much.
ReplyDelete