Do I detect a growing tension between the one-time allies Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling?

Besides the Chancellor's "sharpen up" call, I also sense division over aid for mortgage lenders and the Labour rebellion against Mr Brown's abolition of the 10p tax rate.

So I posed the question to a member of the Chancellor's entourage just back with him from China where he gave his "sharpen up" interview.

"No tension. Sweetness and light!" came the reply. I suspect, however, since it was a phone conversation, that the answer was given with tongue firmly in cheek.

OK, let's look at mortgage aid. While Mr Darling and his team were sitting back to enjoy the in-flight movie on the overnight flight home, I was asking another Treasury official about Bank of England Governor Mervyn King's plan to allow lenders to swap mortgage assets for government bonds.

"It's one of the options we are looking at," he told me. "No decision has been taken yet. But we are looking at this with some urgency."

At about the same time, in New York, Adam Boulton asked the Prime Minister about the plan and got a rather different answer:

An apparent contradiction. So that's why I phoned the Chancellor's travelling companion, by now back at the Treasury, to be told firmly: "We're discussing all the options."

And what about the 10p tax revolt? "The Treasury has always admitted that some people would be worse off," I was told, somewhat wearily, I thought.

"The trouble is that at the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, Gordon said most people would be better off."

Ouch! That must be what Mr Darling meant by "sharpen up".

Comments

[Michael - Maidenhead 21 Apr 2008 09:34:34]

How and when can we get rid off this useless Gordon and his chums. They don't know what the hell they are doing.If Gordon was the FD of a plc company, the company would have gone in to liquidation long time ago. I don't know what economic or accounting qualifications this man had to become the exchecker of this great country. Gordon, can't wait to see you go man. Please, please go as soon as possible. We can't stand your lies after lies any more.

[Stephen Williams 18 Apr 2008 13:16:12]

Trevor,

Exactly & whilst it was a rhetorical question on my part the Labour bloggers can't answer the question with a straight face as they now only to well that their party has taken this country to the point of bankruptcy (some would say that the country is already bankrupt) for the 2nd time in 30 years although I am to young to remember the Labour government from the 70's.

Ken Clarke's well known comment springs to mind again "Labour chancellors always run out of money eventually".

[Trevor 18 Apr 2008 11:12:30]

Stephen Williams' questions are easily answered:

"At the end of the day" ....
comes the night !

"If the country is so well off under Labour then why are we in so much debt after 15 years of high global growth, low global inflation & low global interest rates?"

It is because Labour governments are ALWAYS profligate and wasteful. Never have been any different. They wouldn't really know prudence if they tripped over it.

[G.KING SUSSEX 18 Apr 2008 11:03:56]

Well done Mr.Bean and the Bottlers for screwing up and putting us into massive debt which is revealing itself to be worse than they said it was.PFI'S will give us even more debt for all our future generations.They even got conned by all the builders contracted to build the PFI hospitals and schools.Projection costings for the London Olympics was unbelievable.We are being ruled by a useless,incompetent and inexperienced government.

[John Delaney 18 Apr 2008 11:01:19]

John (Northumberland) 18 Apr 2008 10:42:31

I agree on the housing issue all that money put in and the property worth nothing but like all these things it will come again and fall again and then come back again.

As for manufacturing etc were I come from in scotland was steel any everybody and his son worked the steel works when they were closed during Mrs T's time she destroyed the community a bit like the coal miners so there are different arguments to these thinks but you are correct about pay in china and the rest of these countries they will become wise to the pay structures and so they should.

[John (Northumberland) 18 Apr 2008 10:42:31]

John Delaney

That our manufacturing has been wiped out purely by China is a myth. Which the politicians are happy to exploit.

The Germans are still the world's biggest exporter of manufactured goods.

The US still has a significant manufacturing base.

Japan? They came in the '80s and we now have Nissan, Toyota and Honda all in the UK.

And the Chinese workers will want all the trappings too. Which means more pay. It will level out eventually.

But the two points of our thread are intertwined. Think of all the money poured into property over the last six or seven years. And it will now evaporate. What a waste.

Imagine if that had been invested in production. How powerful our industries could have been?

Where I live we used to build ships. And build turbines. Is there still a need for ships? And electricity? Exactly. Do China dominate here? No.

One day the country will wake up. North Sea Oil will have run out. We'll be left with the con men in the City.

And there won't be any need for the last person to switch the lights off because the Greens would not allow the building of any Power Stations!

The Thatcher economic miracle is complete. Her sons Tony & Gordon have finished what she started.

[Stephen Williams 18 Apr 2008 10:11:36]

Robert,

At the end of the day (please do pardon the cliché) it all comes down to the fact that Britain would never be 43 billion (which is all they own up to) in debt in the first place, so if the country is so well off under Labour then why are we in so much debt after 15 years of high global growth, low global inflation & low global interest rates?

As far as Aberdeen is concerned, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling should go scuttling back there after Labour gets booted at the next general election in 2010.

[John Delaney 18 Apr 2008 10:05:15]

John (Northumberland) 18 Apr 2008 09:42:56

I agree with your points now in the above post.

I have been saying this for the past few weeks it is to a degree on the housing markets the banks fault something they will not admit to and it is agreed in the proffesion I work in that the Banks want it all there own way,but what I would say is this come april next year I will be interested to see what profits these banks come out with.Manufacturing in this country has gone when you have the big companies getting cheaper labour overseas which is sad for this country.

[Stephen Williams 18 Apr 2008 10:00:35]

Kay,

Good point but it would obviously be political suicide to admit to the true state of the economy & national debt so Gordon Brown's has no choice other than to front if out.

[Stephen Williams 18 Apr 2008 09:55:53]

Craig,

I agree with you that the public do indeed need to wake up but from your useless, incompetent, wasteful shower of a party in government.

[John (Northumberland) 18 Apr 2008 09:42:56]

Hi John Delaney

What gets me is that all this was so predictable.

House prices spiral upwards, people speculate - eg "my 100k house is now worth 200k!" - the Banks make fortunes, whilst feeling that their money is protected by ever increasing equity. However, once the houses become unaffordable the whole model collapses. It's inevitable. And then we turn to the tax payer to foot the bill!

The disaster was the economic incompetence which got us here. That's Mr Brown's doing this time. And I have been warning about this for years.

As devotees of Thatcher (which I am not) both Brown and Osbourne are supposed to believe in 'no lame ducks' and allow the market to prevail.

Where was the support for Manufacturing (who create value) in the '80's or over the last ten years? Not a dicky bird.

But when the Banks and propert y speculators (value takers) are in trouble, "here have some tax payers money".

The British economy is particularly susceptible to the cyclical land market. Lawson in '83 and Brown in '97 were warned about the respective crashes of 1990 and 2008 by a man called Fred Harrison. Check out his book Boom Bust and the Depression of 2010. It's an eye opener.

[Merv. Beszant, Dubai 18 Apr 2008 09:42:32]

Victor,
Well said, and how much happier we would all be if more M.P.'s were like Gwyneth Dunwoody.

[Stephen Williams 18 Apr 2008 09:30:36]

John,

I agree with you totally, the problem with the national debt is that the government have only owned up to us being 43 billion in debt this year & as I don't believe a word they say anymore (who can blame me) the true national debt figure is undoubtedly a lot higher.

[Victor, NW Kent 18 Apr 2008 09:29:37]

I was sorry to hear of the death of Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, age 77. She was a very honourable MP and a real expert on transport. When Blair had enough of her criticisms he had her replaced as Chair of the Transport Committee. Fellow MPs were so upset that she was quickly reinstated.

She should, of course, have been made Transport Minister in 1997 but that job went to Prescott.

There are not too many of her calibre in the Commons so she will be missed.

[Merv. Beszant, Dubai 18 Apr 2008 09:26:54]

Robert,
I think Gordon's and Alistair's partnership is as close as it can get, but I would liken it to a ventriloquist and his dummy rather than one made in granite!

[Merv. Beszant, Dubai 18 Apr 2008 09:17:35]

Craig,
Constructive criticism is to be admired, and if acted upon can be very beneficial, but I shouldn't imagine that Gordon tolerates any form of criticism whatsoever, which is a very dangerous characteristic.
Obviously the 10p crisis is worrying him, which is illustrated by the fact that he felt it necessary to 'phone Angela Smith from America, especially when you consider her lowly position in his Party.

[Danny 18 Apr 2008 09:06:54]

Most people would be better off? Statistics in this case are "damnable lies"; as a comparable tour de force, when 10% (5.3 million folk) get a nasty disease no-one excuses the situation to do nothing, by saying most people are better off by no not having it.
So dont patronise us by using the same argument about taxes.
Don't remember the Labour backbenchers doing anything other than crow at the Finance Bill debate in 2007. Roosting chickens anyone?

[John Delaney 18 Apr 2008 08:37:38]

John (Northumberland

I think your biase of brown clouds your judgement as most people who work in the economy will agree the bank idea for mortgages is a good one and even your mate osbourne is claming its his idea surprise surprise but then he would,why should the bank not come clean on its debts come on you are the great economist do tell please.

[Robert,Scotland 18 Apr 2008 00:16:51]

Gordon and Alistair are a partnership made in "granite", a durable rock from deepest Aberdeen. They will make us all realise that whilst New Labour have made a hash of things that under Conservatives things would be 10% worse for everybody. Mr Prudent rules O.K.

[Kay , West Wales 17 Apr 2008 23:44:54]

You have to admire Gordon Brown's courage though. He has surely lost the votes of the 5 million people worse off by the abolition of the 10% tax band, yet he bravely grits his teeth and walks over us.

[Kevin Romford 17 Apr 2008 20:03:05]

The words "Breast and North" come to mind.

[Elizabeth Davies Cape Town 17 Apr 2008 19:46:41]

It appears the only things that are being sharpened are the long knives for Brown. A Labour MP appears to be resigning, doing the honourable thing.
A very unfavourable reference from a Labour Peer on Brown's school report!!
Oh dear, there will not be a welcoming committee for Brown at the airport when he returns on Despair Force One.
Hope customs don't set the dogs on him as well, he had better stick to the Green Zone.

[Craig 17 Apr 2008 18:59:10]

Talk about trying to get a bit of paper between what Brown and Darling say. It is getting absolutely ridiculous. It beggars belief. I hope that the public wil wake up ou tof their slumber and realise what the Tories are all about before it is too late.

[G.KING SUSSEX 17 Apr 2008 18:47:51]

Brown should come clean about bad debt.He has mishandled taxpayers money and left us broke.Darling is not to blame as he is being made a scapegoat.

[Northernhousewife 17 Apr 2008 18:47:15]

This man is so bad, there is nothing left to say.

Except 'GO'.

[Merv. Beszant, Dubai 17 Apr 2008 18:40:22]

Jon,
Another great picture, and the caption has to be, "Darling, this one works and it's watching your every move, so don't attempt to make a decision of your own"!

[John (Northumberland) 17 Apr 2008 16:57:56]

Where do you turn when the only way is down? This meltdown is the result of Brown's post 2000 mismanagement of the economy.

Nothing anyone does now will make much odds.

Have some dignity Alistair and resign. We know where the blame lies...

The thing that makes me laugh is Brown asking the Banks to 'come clean' on bad debt. It's only bad when people default. So this will take years to shake out completely.

Then he plans to use tax payers money to bail the Banks out! When the Banks have made fortunes in recent years from the House Price Bubble.

An overdue correction is underway. Result of bad policy, greedy lending and irresponsible borrowing/spending.

But now as an 'intellectual' socialist, Gordon reckons he can beat the market.

That's the same man who urged Lamont on with the ERM fiasco, sold the Gold at a 20 yr low and after 15 years of growth and the highest tax take in our history got Govt finances to at least 40 Billion in the red this year.

I wouldn't trust the man to sit the right way round on a toilet!

[Merv. Beszant, Dubai 17 Apr 2008 15:48:49]

Jon,
I can just imagine members of the Chancellor's entourage telling him that the nice Mr. Craig has been on the 'phone again, and he doesn't seem too impressed with our responses!

[Elizabeth Davies Cape Town 17 Apr 2008 15:45:10]

Morning Post
If I am right we have not heard from you in a while, good to see you here again.

[Elizabeth Davies Cape Town 17 Apr 2008 15:42:24]

It appears as I have said before Mr Brown has a foot in both doors No 10 and No 11. What happens when you spred yourself to thinly...disaster.
Darling is the Chancellor, Mr Brown needs to let go, what is it with Brown he trusts no one.
Darling will ask Gordon in a very soft tone...Please Gordon can I run the treasury? and we all know the answer to that one don't we....Brown will say NO.
Meeting with financial people should be the job of the Chancellor surely.

[The Morning Post 17 Apr 2008 15:37:00]

Same old story. Gordon never lets the facts get in the way of a good yarn. Remember his statements at PMQ's not so long ago on inflation and eccomonic growth? Both inaccurate and misleading. So claiming that most people would be better off after his abolishion of the 10p tax rate when that is patently untrue is par for the course where he is concerned!

[Khalid 17 Apr 2008 15:34:13]

I suppose Ex Chancellor Brown, being in the vicinity where many a creator of deliberate red herring reside, used the currnet Chancellors deliberations in order to be noted and thereafter grab headlines,as one does in such political circumstances.
None the less, as [One Of Us] is neither here nor there, so long as all options are being considered and no stone left unturned to safegurad many a mortgaged property, we can all relax with [Abba] knowing what really happened.

[Stephen Williams 17 Apr 2008 15:01:50]

This is a classic example of government in meltdown which mirrors exactly what the last Tory government went through during their dying days in power.

Charles Clarke continuing to nibble away every now & again with various criticisms telling the government to get its act together or risk years in opposition on top of the 2 recent government ministers criticism of their own policies set against Alistair Darling’s admission yesterday that Labour needs to sharpen up it’s act all adds up to the government’s wheels coming of the bandwagon as they go into meltdown now that they are in their dying days in power.

Shame!