WikiLeaks cables: (The head of the Bank of England) Mervyn King had doubts over Cameron and Osborne

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

The head of the Bank of England privately criticised David Cameron and George Osborne for their lack of experience, the lack of depth in their inner circle and their tendency to think about issues only in terms of their electoral impact, according to leaked US embassy cables.

Mervyn King told the US ambassador, Louis Susman, he had held private meetings with the two Conservative politicians before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit.

He said the pair operated too much within a narrow circle and "had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability". He also predicted that economic recovery would be "a long drawn-out process", since Britain had not been through an economic restructuring.

His apparent pressure on the Tories, a few months before the election, gives further credence to the claim that King was central in persuading leading coalition figures to back a far more dramatic deficit-reduction programme than any politician advocated during the election campaign. He has recently been criticised by members of the Bank's monetary policy committee for straying into politics.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/30/wikileaks-cables-mervyn-king-cameron-osborne

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The cables released today also disclose:

• Internal Tory polling found Osborne lacked gravitas with the public, partly due to his "high-pitched vocal delivery". As a result, Cameron, not Osborne, made the special address on the economic crisis to the party conference in the autumn of 2008.

• The defence secretary, Liam Fox, told the Americans that the Tories would be tougher on Pakistan because they were less reliant on votes from the Pakistani community than Labour.

[Turborama]

1. The cable itself...

Summary
Bank of England governor tells US ambassador he believes the Tory leader and shadow chancellor don't understand the pressures they will face when trying to cut spending. When asked, they did not provide a detailed deficit-reduction plan and King was concerned they only thought about issues in terms of getting elected. He also felt the Conservatives lacked depth. Key passage highlighted in yellow.


The full cable can be read here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/249236

[Turborama]

2. WikiLeaks: Mervyn King should quit over 'political bias', says leading economist Blanchflower

• Leaked US cables show governor of Bank of England's 'thirst for power has clouded his judgment', former colleague says
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/01/mervyn-king-bank-of-england">Read David Blanchflower's article here

Comments (51)
Hélène Mulholland, political reporter

David Blanchflower, a leading economist and former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, has called on Mervyn King to quit as governor of the Bank of England following leaked US cables that he claims show King's "thirst for power and influence ... has clouded his judgment one too many times".

In his toughest attack on his former colleague to date, Blanchflower seized on revelations that suggest King may have been central in persuading leading coalition figures to back a far more dramatic deficit-reduction programme than any politician advocated during the election campaign.

Blanchflower, who stepped down from the policy committee last year and who has warned the coalition government's deficit reduction programme could lead to a recession, seized on the information revealed in the latest tranche of leaked US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks to say King's position was now untenable.

In a hard-hitting article for the Guardian's Comment is free site, Blanchflower said the revelations suggest King had failed to abide by the same rules he imposed on his colleagues not to stray into party political matters.

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-mervyn-king-quit-political-bias