Foreign bankers warn against Labour – surprise, surprise
Should George Osborne really be invoking foreign investment bankers in support of a Tory victory?
It may be St George’s Day, but George Osborne has stirred up a hornet’s nest by quoting a list of foreign investment bankers who say the election of a Labour government backed by the SNP would be an economic calamity for Britain.
With new figures due today on government debt and borrowing in March, and with the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies publishing its analysis of the economic plans of Labour, Conservatives and the Lib Dems this morning, the economy is centre stage in the election campaign once again.
Ed Miliband will claim the Tories' planned £12bn public spending cuts would be the deepest in the western world and a far cry from the Tories’ promise of "the good life" for Britain after the general election. David Cameron, he will say, is guilty of “a grand deception”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But Osborne got his boot in first by claiming in an interview in the Daily Telegraph that a Treasury analysis has shown the SNP would force a Labour government to add £6bn to the bill for debt interest - the equivalent of £358 for every family in Britain.
Then, on Radio 4’s Today programme, Osborne dropped his clanger. He quoted Canada's largest bank, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), saying that a Labour government supported by the SNP would lead to a "dangerous cocktail where taxes are going up, spending is going up and interest rates are going up".
And he said CIBC had been joined by US investment bank Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and BlackRock - the world’s largest asset manager – in predicting much the same.
“These are economists and investors who make a living predicting what is going to happen in economies around the world,” claimed Osborne, “and this week they have come out in a chorus to point out the consequences for the UK of departing from the [Tory] economic plan.
“These are not participants in the general election. They are international investors and professional observers.”
But as Michael White of The Guardian was the first to tweet: “Warning against Labour George Osborne on R4 Today cites major investment banks, the very people who caused the financial crash & recession!”
White won’t be the last to complain. Not just because the doomsayers are investment bankers – but because they’re foreigners. Osborne will be criticised for relying on the support of foreign investment giants who pay taxes overseas, just as there would be criticism if British institutions urged voters in the US not to vote Democrat in the presidential elections.
Cameron is attending the two-day heads of government EU summit on the migrant deaths in the Med. He will be hoping that his most senior lieutenants – Osborne and William Hague, who’ll be representing the Tories on the BBC Question Time panel tonight – can keep plugging away on economic competence and finally swing some of the 25 per cent who were listed yesterday in a YouGov poll for The Times as 'don't knows'.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
5 simple items to help make your airplane seat more comfortable
The Week Recommends Gel cushions and inflatable travel pillows make a world of difference
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
How safe are cruise ships in storms?
The Explainer The vessels are always prepared
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
David Cameron resigns as Sunak names shadow cabinet
Speed Read New foreign secretary joins 12 shadow ministers brought in to fill vacancies after electoral decimation
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published