The trouble with Cable’s posturing

What are we to make of the fact that No.10 gave the thumbs-up to Vince Cable’s bizarre anti-capitalist rhetoric today? “Capitalism takes no prisoners and it kills competition where it can,” he fumed – and you can argue that, technically, he is paraphrasing Adam Smith. But he has been in politics long enough to know what signal his speech sent out (and the reaction it would trigger). Mood music counts for a lot in politics, and in business. And the mood music from this government sounds like a bunch of politicians happy to tax the bejesus out of the high-paid – regarding them as ATM machines to be raided, rather than wealth creators to be welcomed. It’s time to ask what harm all this posturing is doing.
 
There was a line in Clegg’s speech on Monday that, at the time, I dismissed as playing to the gallery. But in the light of Comrade Cable’s attacks, it’s worth looking at again:

“We all read the headlines about benefit fraud.