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From Times Online
December 11, 2008
Brown hits back at German criticism of his economic rescue plan ahead of summit
Philip Webster, Political Editor, and David Byers
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;}Analysis: so is he right? | Profile: Peer Steinbrück | He's Merkel in disguise - Rosemary Righter
Gordon Brown was this morning forced into a withering dismissal of the German Finance Minister, who described the Prime Minister's economic policies as "depressing" and "crass" ahead of the European summit today.
Mr Brown said that the attack from Peer Steinbrück was a "matter of internal German politics" — quite a riposte in the normally cautious language of diplomacy.
Mr Steinbrück's intervention in the affairs of another member state took No 10 and No 11 by surprise last night. In an interview with Newsweek magazine, he derided the headline 2.5 per cent cut in VAT announced by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, in the Pre-Budget Report, and said that a generation of taxpayers would be saddled with the debt.
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As well as emphasising the divide within Europe — and in Germany — over Mr Brown's policies, the attack gave an open goal to British opposition parties, both of whom used it to attack the Government's bailout.
In the interview, Mr Steinbrück described the Government’s switch to a "crass Keynesianism" to try to spend its way out of the economic crisis after years of preaching fiscal rectitude as "breathtaking".
On the VAT cut, he added: "Our British friends are now cutting their value-added tax. We have no idea how much of that stores will pass on to customers. Are you really going to buy a DVD player because it now costs £39.10 instead of £39.90?
"All this will do is raise Britain’s debt to a level that will take a whole generation to work off.
"The same people who would never touch deficit spending are now tossing around billions. The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking."
Ministers see his outburst as part of a struggle going on within the German Government between a cautious faction led by Mr Steinbrück and another group that favours an big injection of public cash into the economy.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is believed by British diplomats to be moving towards the French and British positions of backing a fiscal stimulus. The added complication is that Britain's decision to cut VAT was also seen as embarrassing for Berlin, and Mr Steinbrück, who raised the tax in his country recently.
The intervention was seized on by the Tories and Liberal Democrats as public proof that Mr Brown's claims that everyone agreed with him did not really stand up.
George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said that it "totally demolished" Mr Brown’s claim that "only the Conservatives oppose his expensive and ineffective VAT measures".
Mocking a slip of the tongue by the Prime Minister in the Commons yesterday, he said: "On the day he claimed to be saving the world, the world answered back."
Vincent Cable, the Liberal Democrat's Treasury spokesman, said that the criticism came about as a result of Mr Brown's previous "lecturing" of the Germans. "The more substantial point is that Steinbrück and his colleagues are really pretty fed up about being lectured by Gordon Brown on how to run their economy," he said.
"The German Social Democrats have long being telling the British that the City of London and the sort of greed and irresponsibility that took place in the financial market was potentially very unstable. Gordon Brown took the credit and lectured the Germans and they are getting their own back in a serious way."
Mr Brown, who will head to Brussels later today, reiterated that "every country around the world" agreed with him.
He told LBC Radio in London: "Actually, the German Government is investing more. They have just announced a fiscal expansion so that they can invest in public works and helping their banks and doing these sorts of things.
"I do not really want to get involved in what is clearly internal German politics here, because they have a coalition in Germany with different political parties.
"The important thing is that almost every country around the world is doing what we have been doing." Not taking such actions would mean "failing in the role of Government", he said.
Mr Steinbrück's interview was a highly unusual intervention by a minister being openly critical of the internal policies of an ally. It promises to cause some interesting exchanges today when Mrs Merkel meets Mr Sarkozy, Mr Brown and others in Brussels.
First of all, how very typical of the germans to bring up 'Keynesianism'.
Having read this pile of bollocks, any one with a brain will know that Brown of course has his critics and these are called 'Tory votors, many who write for newspapers and who want a return to pre-Gordon Brown when the money men were the only people a government cared about.
The entire reason our country got into a mess in the first place is down to two types of people. One, the fat bank chiefs and money men that Gordon Brown has sacked and two, the greedy British consumer living totally beyond their means on the 'buy now pay later' promise. Only, that's what it was.. a promise.. and a promise that a large percentage of greedy selfish bastards in this country have gone back on when they have gone snivelling to the courts to declare them bankrupt because they have over spent without a hope in hell of paying it back and now want the government to pick their bill up at the cost of decent tax payers who do live within their means.
Even if the government had called a general election when Brown ousted Blair and the Tory's had taken over, make absolutely no mistake, there would be no fairy tale ending and we'd still be in this position exactly the same as conservative governments in other EU countrie's are now.
The situation we have here is Germany disagreeing with the Brussels proposals to inject £200 billion into the economy, spear-headed by Brown and that's why they are attacking him and not the facist in Italy.
If you look at the recovery plan that Germany wants to put in place instead, it is just more of the same to keep the bank cheifs and money men in their jobs. Brown's actions against our money men go against the capitalistic ideals of the german government.
Their proposal is merely to divert the £200 billion proposed by brown back into the banks and not the economy as Brown has down here by slashing bank interest rates and VAT.
All the German's can come up with to attack Brown's proposals is the pathetic example of VAT savings which is only a fraction to what he has done for this country by getting rid of the money men, slashing interest rates, slashing fuel prices, slashing food prices, injecting millions of £'s into creating new jobs and infrastructure of transport, health service and education that will in turn create more jobs, creating more revenue for this country to repay the fiscal stimulation.
Yes, i must admit, the 2.5% reduction may seem futile if your buying a sweater but compare it to buying a new german car??? That's why the Germans don't like the Brown VAT cut.. they will have to cut the price off their over-rated cars. The savings of VAT on a car is equivilent to your road tax for two years.
Let's look at the act that brown passed this week? All immigrants into our country will have to work for at least 2 yrs before getting any benifits and live here for 10 yrs before they can claim a free council house. Isn't that exactly what you have been crying out for for decades??
The proposals this week by Brown to educate the likes of karen matthews and force them into employment instead of the likes of you and i, the taxpayer, paying for them to spend their live's on benifit bleeding this country dry??? Is that not something else this country has been crying out for for years??
Labour have gained approx 27% in the polls in just the last few months and the Tory's are sunk. Of course they will come out and support this statement from germany..They want exactly the same as they do.. a return of power to the money men and not the people.
The Tory's have absolutely nothing to offer except cutbacks in health, transport and education. How many jobs do you think would be lost due to that??
Anyone who critises Browns borrowing and has a mortgage is a hypocrite. What were you doing when you bought your house?? You were borrowing a massive amount of money far beyond your wage income with extortionate interest rates put there by a conservative government, on the hope that you would live long enough to pay it back and have employment long enough to pay it back. That's exactly what Brown has done.At least for those of you who are now in trouble with your mortgages, Gordon Brown is going to suspend all interst for two years for you. Would you like jam on it as well?
Finally, i have only one thing to say to Germany.
TWO WORLD WARS
AND ONE WORLD CUP
:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl
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