| I didn't put this in WOT background, but it could go there. Look for the UK forces to be even more badly underfunded and for Brown to pull back from Afghan and other commitments. |
Gordon Brown today issues a bleak assessment of the world economy as he braces Britain for a year of belt tightening in the wake of the credit crunch. In a strong warning, which sets the backdrop for a campaign to revive his premiership, Brown tells Britain to prepare for 'global financial turbulence' in 2008. 'Our strong economy is the foundation,' Brown writes in his new year message. 'With unbending determination in 2008, we will steer a course of stability through global financial turbulence. The global credit problem that started in America is now the most immediate challenge for every economy.'Brown's sober analysis comes in the wake of the autumn credit crunch that caused the first run on a British bank in more than a century after the Bank of England bailed out Northern Rock. The sight of thousands of depositors queuing outside branches across Britain to withdraw their savings was one of the factors that contributed to the dramatic fall in Brown's ratings in the autumn.
The Prime Minister knows he must turn round his and his government's fortunes in 2008 if he is to beat off a strong challenge from Conservative leader David Cameron and place Labour in a strong position to secure a fourth successive election victory. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, today warns that Tory messages are 'resonating' with voters. But Brown receives a boost today as a new opinion poll shows that a 13-point Tory lead has shrunk to five points in just two weeks.
The Prime Minister tackles the financial threat head-on in his message as he pledges to repeat his success as Chancellor, when he helped to stave off recession in the face of a series of global economic crises. 'Just as we withstood the Asia crisis, the American recession, the end of the IT bubble and the trebling of oil prices and continued to grow, Britain will meet and master this new challenge by our determination to maintain stability and low inflation,' he writes.
'We will make the right decisions, not only this year but for the years ahead, to safeguard and strengthen our economy - and, by keeping inflation low, keep interest rates for business and homeowners low.'
Brown's decision to highlight the threat to the economy shows he still believes his track record places him in a strong position to cope with financial instability, despite recent polls that show the Tories closing the gap when judged on economic competence. But Brown also wants to brace people for a bumpy year. He says that '2008 will be the decisive year of this decade to put in place the long-term changes that will prepare us for the decades ahead'.
Brown indicates that ministers will soon embrace a new generation of nuclear power stations. The government believes that renewing Britain's civil nuclear power programme is the most effective way of guaranteeing security of supply while tackling climate change. 'Because a good environment is good economics, we will take the difficult decisions on energy security - on nuclear power and renewables - so British invention and innovation can claim new markets for new technologies and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.'
Aides described the message as strongly New Labour. He makes clear that Labour traditionalists will receive no comfort as he presses ahead with the reform of public services to better tailor them to the individual. 'Illness is not a nine-to-five condition - and the NHS cannot be just a nine-to-five service,' he writes. This will be welcomed by supporters of Tony Blair who signal today that they are suing for peace with Brown as they declare that their hero is 'history' as a political figure in Britain.
In an article in today's Observer, the former cabinet minister Stephen Byers writes: 'Tony Blair is history. With Tony Blair gone from domestic politics, the task of leading Labour to victory falls to Gordon Brown. It is the responsibility of all of us who want to see a fourth election victory to give him our support.'