Diary: When quantitative easing was 'an admission of failure'

 

Suggested Topics

There was a tsunami of expert commentary on yesterday's decision by the Bank of England to inject another £50bn worth of quantitative easing into the economy. Some of it was positive, much of it negative. On the Conservative Party's own website there is a clear warning that QE is a last resort for a government whose other policies for tackling recession have failed...

"I don't think anyone should be pleased that we have reached this point. It is an admission of failure and carries considerable risk... This is a leap in the dark and we will see whether it works," said the shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, speaking in the days when QE was happening under a Labour government, on 5 March 2009.

MPs get expert help behind the board

When MPs take part in photo-opportunities, their role is usually to utter platitudes or perform simple tasks. But in Chess magazine, Labour's shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves, and the Tory MP Jo Johnson are pictured taking part in a simultaneous chess match against grandmasters at the London Chess Classic.

To even things up, the MPs did have an adviser sitting alongside them – none other than Garry Kasparov – but his task was only to give hints on broad strategy not tell them which piece to move. The magazine also has a diagram showing how Rachel Reeves shrewdly sacrificed a bishop.

According to the picture caption, the grandmaster who replied to the move, Luke McShane, threw an accusing look at Kasparov, whom he suspected of giving more help than the rules allowed. But, it says, "he was innocent(ish)".

Falklands spat turns a little bitchy

Penguin News, the newspaper of the Falkland Islands, does not have a mass circulation, the population of the islands being no more than 3,000, but it reached out to a massive and largely Spanish-speaking audience on Wednesday after someone on the publication uploaded a photograph of Argentina's President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, and gave it the file name "bitch". Spanish speakers in Argentina who did not know what the word meant were quickly enlightened by the Buenos Aires daily, La Nacion. As the uproar began, the editor of Penguin News, Lisa Watson, changed the link, which did not stop the stream of furious messages expressing sentiments such as "Invasores mother- fuckers y go home!"

An editor out of his comfort zone

Anyone who watched Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail, at the Leveson Inquiry, could see a man who has commanded nothing but obedience for 20 years not enjoying the experience of being challenged and contradicted. He seemed to have real difficulty pronouncing the name of the actor Hugh Grant, who has been one of the Mail's leading accusers, and came perilously close to uttering that word he is said to use rather often, which also ends in –nt. At another point he tripped over his words and said: "I've exploded... I've explained." Right first time, sir.

Burley in another spot of bother

It was another bad day yesterday for Aidan Burley, the Tory MP who took part in a stag party in a French ski resort where fellow guests dressed as Nazis. He visited Auschwitz on Wednesday and attended a talk by a holocaust survivor. That should have gone a little way towards repairing the wreckage of his reputation – except that he was recognised by a teenager, Matthew Parkinson, who was in Poland on a history trip with his college.

Parkinson went on to Twitter to accuse the MP of being "blatantly disrespectful throughout" and of "texting and dozing". There were "a fair amount of witnesses" to this behaviour, he claimed.

This was in part denied in a statement issued by Dr James Smith, president of the Holocaust Centre, who is not a Tory voter and had organised the trip without anticipating that it would get publicity. "When he replied to a text from London, he was at the back of the hall, out of sight of the survivor. I was sitting next to him and... if he were asleep, I am sure I would have noticed," he said.

He may have been awake, but the undisputed fact remains that Burley read and answered to a text message during a live talk by a holocaust survivor. Someone with better manners would have turned his phone off.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
From the blogs

Dish of the Day: Lily Vanilli’s recipe for making a human brain cake

A slight deviation from style this week and admittedly a bit weird, but at least I can finally say I...

Owen Howells: From the UK to Australia and back again (and again!)

Owen Howells is a DJ/producer who grew up in Australia but was born in the UK. He came back to the U...

Justice for sale but who pays for the cost?

Justice, the bedrock of our society is for sale under the Government’s latest plan to sell legal aid...

Dish of the Day: How to… make flower power cocktails

Take inspiration from the green-fingered brigade who have been showing off their creativity at the R...

       

Day In a Page

Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions

He's worked with Modest Mouse, the Pet Shop Boys and Beck, to name a few, and recently released his first solo album. So why, wonders Johnny Marr, do people still hark on about The Smiths?
After the flood: From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands

In pictures: After the flood

From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands
Death becomes her: Meet the very modern mortician who champions 'cool' funerals

Death becomes her: A very modern mortician

Ever considered baking a loved one's remains into a cake or putting their ashes in fireworks? If so, talk to Caitlin Doughty, champion of the alternative death industry.
How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

At first it seemed clever and cute. Then the 'Keep Calm' motif went mad, spawning endless offshoots.
The man who built Brum: A lament for the demise of John Madin's Brutalist Birmingham

John Madin: The man who built Brum

The architect's buildings were supposed to leave an indelible, futuristic mark on his beloved hometown but they are now being inexorably torn down.
School of chop: Learning the art of butchery at the Ginger Pig

School of chop: Learning the art of butchery

How do you butcher a lamb? Or make Mexican street food in a British kitchen? Christopher Hirst finds out.
James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats