Wednesday, April 20, 2011

David Cameron delivers snub to Gordon Brown, no £270,000 IMF job, it needs someone who is "extraordinarily competent", mad men need not apply!














Dear All

The general rule of thumb in politics is that senior politicians in the main are nice to their counterparts, especially when they leave office such as Prime Minister.

It is also like an unwritten rule law.

However, David Cameron has indicated he may block Gordon Brown from becoming head of the International Monetary Fund.

A break with convention!

Gordon Brown since losing the election and leadership of the Labour Party has been noticeable by his absence at Westminster as he pursues his own financial interests.

He is a disgrace and a leper.

In saying that he intends to block Brown the Tory Prime minister said someone who "didn't know we had a debt problem in the UK" might not be the "best person" to run the global finance watchdog.

And he is absolute right.

Why should Gordon Brown who drove this country to the brink of financial collapse walk straight into a £270,000 a year job?

It is wrong that he is even still in the House of Commons.

Brown has been linked with the IMF job in recent press reports, but Cameron told the BBC the IMF required someone "extraordinarily competent".

And Brown isn’t it.

Labour leader Ed Miliband out of some misguided loyalty said Mr Brown was "eminently qualified", the facts of our decline say otherwise.

Miliband said that former Labour prime minister's role in dealing with the global economic crisis of 2007/8 had been "outstanding".

Horseshit.

In a rather odd defence economist David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee suggested Mr Cameron's stance was "vindictive" and "small-minded".

Was Blanchflower asleep while Brown deregulated anything and everything which was put in place for our protection?

The UK and other major economies have an effective veto on the appointment of the IMF's managing director and Cameron should use it.

If he doesn’t it lays open the charge that he is weak.

Brown must pay.

The present incumbent of the IMF is France's Dominique Strauss Kahn; he is expected to step down soon.

So, the job should be thrown open to as wide a range of people as possible.

In a piece of sack cloth and ashes, Brown made a speech in the US last week, in which he said he admitted made a "big mistake" in setting up the UK's Financial Services Authority.

He didn’t appreciate the complex relations between global institutions.

This mealy mouth admission was seen by some commentators as part of a campaign to boost his credentials.

I’m sorry isn’t good enough.

Cameron said:

"I haven't spent a huge amount of time thinking about this. But it does seem to me that, if you have someone who didn't think we had a debt problem in the UK, when we self-evidently do, they might not be the best person to work out whether other countries around the world have a debt and deficit problem".

He added:

"Above all what matters is the person running the IMF someone who understands the dangers of excessive debt, excessive deficit, and it really must be someone who gets that rather than someone who says that they don't see a problem."

Mr Cameron also said:

"I certainly don't want a washed-up politician from another country. It's important that the IMF is led by someone extraordinarily competent."

I think we can take it, the answer is no and will always be no!

David Cameron should stick to his guns on this, good decision.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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