Vince Cable’s regular slot in the Mail on Sunday was out yesterday; here’s a brief extract:
I have been going on for ages about the way banks exploit the taxpayer guarantee. One simple step is to make them pay for it out of profits, and I was pleased to see the IMF recommend not one but two taxes: one to fund taxpayer guarantees for future support, the other on excessive pay and profits.
But I disagree with the IMF’s belief we must wait for other states. Britain is much more exposed to the risk of a fresh collapse, and we must act first.
One Comment
I made this comment elsewhere, just hoping someone might like the look of it and pass it on…
I like the PEB, but I have another idea…
With all the Cleggmania, I don’t think there’s been enough Cable in this campaign. Those who follow politics realise that, despite not being the second coming of Nostradamus, he was the *only* politician anywhere near advocating the right policies before the crunch hit. …And given that the crisis (and its fallout) is rightly the defining issue of this campaign, more people should know about this.
Also, this plays in perfectly with the message that the LibDems are the only party that will genuinely do things differently. What’s more, Cable is the only one with a plan to properly reform the banks (which is close enough to what Obama is doing to dismiss oo-scary-too-radical attacks).
So here’s an idea for a video that someone with more talent than me could make relatively quickly. The elements would be:
***
VOTER: “Politicians are all the same”
NARRATOR: Explain that what matters now is that we fix the broken economy, and ask ‘who do you trust to do that?’ Well, let’s see, how did we get into this mess? Quick, sober explanation of what went wrong, and the related policy mistakes.
BROWN-DARLING COMPILATION (with dates)
Not them, ok then, vote Tory, they would have done better
BROWN-DARLING-OSBORNE-CAMERON COMPILATION (focus on actual policy decisions and lack of a peep from Tories at the time)
Ah ok. So maybe they are all the same. After all, it was a shock, it came from abroad, no-one had a clue. Ah well.
SAME COMPILATION, BUT WITH CABLE
Oh I see.
End with a quick explanation of what LibDems would do NOW, a bit of hope and light etc. We *can* do it differently this time. Possible reference to “dont let them scare you off…”
***
What do you think?