James Forsyth James Forsyth

The blame the bankers gambit

One of the political themes of 2009 is going to be how Labour tries to shift the blame for the fact that the economy is not recovering. Just before Christmas, Pete highlighted how Brown was suggesting that the forecast that the recession would be over by the third quarter might be too optimistic because the banks aren’t lending again. Today in The Sun, David Blunkett—widely expected to soon make a comeback in a campaigning role—goes into full hang-a-banker mode, peppering his column with references to “latter day gold diggers” and “these modern money-changers”.

Here’s the key section:

“Of course, people are right to look for someone to blame.

But this time economic collapse has nothing to do with trade unionists or incompetent managers of small businesses, or the failure to invest in new technology.

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