Darling is out of his depth

For a man who has been Chancellor of the Exchequer for just over four months, Alistair Darling has certainly made some powerful enemies. In fact, it’s hard to think of anybody important with whom he hasn’t fallen out.

Sir Ronald Cohen, the private equity king who is one of Labour’s most prominent business supporters, has criticised Darling’s proposed increase in capital gains tax. Cohen is not alone: Darling has managed the unprecedented feat of uniting all of Britain’s business lobby groups against this destructive, ill-thought-out measure. He has been chided by Mervyn King of the Bank of England over his mishandling of Northern Rock. And there is no love lost between Darling and Baroness Vadera, the Prime Minister’s most trusted adviser.

Successful Chancellors who take tough decisions invariably court unpopularity; but Darling’s troubles are self-inflicted. So far, his critics have proved invariably right and he invariably wrong; he is clearly out of his depth in the job, little more than a front man for the Prime Minister.