"I agree with the Governor of the Bank of England". I admit I do no use these words terribly often. But yesterday Mervyn King, addressing the Treasury Select Committee, acknowledged the savage cuts hitting Britain's public services were ultimately the fault of the City.
He added, using words more usually associated with someone like Ken Livingstone, "the price of this financial crisis is being borne by people who absolutely did not cause it."
So next time a Cabinet Minister blames a pernicious cut back on the "appalling mess we inherited from Labour," remember's King's words.
The latest area of policy to take a hit to the solar plexus is law and order. Home Secretary, Theresa May, suggested in a bright, hopeful manner, the rank and file of HM's Constabulary should take a substantial pay cut. Never mind their mortgages and cost of their children's education.
The interesting timing was to announce the outcome of a consultation on pay a week before it was completed. It's like the referee awarding the game to the home side, as 'they looked like winning anyway'.
Cameron, at PMQs, also justified these destructive cuts to the police by glibly declaring the entire service as "completely inefficient." How to win friends, eh?
At every turn we see the pillars of a civilised and balanced society eroded in the name of wiping out the bank-driven deficit. The crisis may be portrayed as the cause of reckless spending by Labour - but in King, at least we have one Conservative who let slip the great untold truth.
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