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Brown is accused of ‘going into hiding’
Joe Murphy, Political Editor24 Oct 2008
GORDON Brown was accused of staging a vanishing act today when official figures confirmed the economy is diving into a recession.
The Prime Minister was spending the day in his Scottish constituency with no plans to make any public appearance.
“It's sheer cowardice,” said former Conservtative minister Michael Fallon, deputy chairman of the Treasury select committee.
“He is a coward. Today was the day to address the nation and reassure us what he is doing to put things right.
“It's truth time — and the PM should have faced the people to tell them how he is going to tackle recession and make it easier for homeowners and businesses to get through.”
But instead, it was left to Chancellor Alistair Darling to face the cameras on behalf of the Government. He quickly admitted the UK was moving “towards” a slump and promised the Government was doing all it could to ease the impact on families. “It will be a difficult period, but I am absolutely confident we will get through it,” Mr Darling said.
“We want to help people get through this period, putting more money in their pockets. We have also got to make sure in the medium term we live within our means.”
The Prime Minister has in the past been accused of being a political Macavity, after the Mystery Cat in TS Eliot's poem, for keeping out of the way when there was bad news.
Mr Brown's spokesman denied that the Premier had gone to ground. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has, I think people recognise, been extremely active in recent weeks to ensure that we take the necessary steps to ensure that we have the right policies to see British people through his difficult period.”
“Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg called for interest rate cuts. “These growth figures show that the credit crunch is hitting the real economy and harder and faster than was first feared,” he said.
Tory leader David Cameron said Mr Brown has himself to blame for the slide. “Its ten years of a government not putting aside money for a rainy day,” he said in Oxfordshire. “That rainy day has now come.”
Mr Cameron said Britons would get through but in future the economy should be managed more prudently.
"We need change . . . to bring more balance to the economy,” he said, urging more support for small firms.
The economic risks were highlighted when one of Mr Brown's close allies warned that millions of families could suffer the impact for “a decade or more”.
John McFall, chairman of the influential Commons Treasury select committee, said: “The lesson is clear: We need decisive action, and we need it now. Otherwise we could be struggling to pick up the pieces of this crash for a decade or more.”
He warned that Britain could mirror Japan's “lost decade” caused by a boom turning to recession. “Doesn't this sound familiar?” he asked, highlighting the collapse of Japanese banks and a crash in Tokyo property prices to 40 per cent of their previous levels.
