It was all the snows fault! This actually makes a refreshing change from 'It is not our fault - it is the other lot!' as a reason for their under performance.
It is inevitable that the economy will actually recover - even if they sat back and did nothing. It is called an economic cycle and it runs for between eight and fourteen years depending on a few other factors. As we move through the cycle, the economy will expand, over heat, correct itself, start to contract and then bottom out as it finishes correcting itself. It takes a lot to affect an economy to a significant effect as there is very little that the government can actually control.
So this is my message to them: Stop taking the credit when it going well and then accept that you cannot do much when it is not.
The snow reduced output by a little - it was not a 'significant impact' Mr Osbourne. The ONS report says that it is quite likely that the economy would have contracted without the snow and at best would have remained the same i.e. no growth.
Trying to blame everybody and everything else for this makes you look simple and extremely arrogant. STOP IT!
The economy is not expanding because people are still worried about the cuts that have not yet started. Two months ago, Mr Cameron claimed that the growth in the economy was due to the cuts and measures that the ConDem government had made. Now that the figures are not so good Mr Osbourne has said that it is not the fault of the cuts as they have not started to take place yet. This is the kind of spin that governments usually fall down on after ten or twelve years in power, it is not the stuff that they do after 10 months.
Having said that it takes a lot to affect an economy, we have seen examples of this over the last few years. The Labour spending, undoubtedly propped up the economy and prevented a much deeper dip. However, the money that was given to the banks has mainly been invested in Futures, Oil and Commodities, which we are now paying much higher prices for.
The second impact is the promise of cuts. This has significantly reduced confidence and willingness of ordinary people to spend money - hence a contraction in growth.
Is it really that simple?
Probably not but that is the basic point that the government needs to get its head around. The financial power houses of this country are not the people who are going to get us back to a stable and comfortable economy - so stop listening and helping them. It is the ordinary person on the street - me and you - who ever reads this, that needs to helped and listened to. We are the people who will provide a strong and stable economy. We are the people who will buy goods, work more efficiently and generate more income. The finance castles will simply line their own pockets.
I urge you all to bombard the news stations through twitter and facebook, every time this lot, stand up and tell us what is good for us. They know nothing and we need to find our voice and tell them. We need to tell them exactly how each and every one of us has a part to play in this economy and how we feel when we get pushed to one side because 'they know best'. We need to tell them that we don't believe them. Tell them how much we have to live on. Ask them to walk in our shoes and make them live up to their responsibilities.
If you read my previous posts you will see my ideas about de-centralisation and how you get real income down to lower levels and spread more (geographically) evenly.
Don't believe the spin or the stats that they give you. Challenge them and make them feel our pain every time you get a chance because if we don't, they will continue to move this country into a very uncomfortable position that we may not be able to truly recover from.
And lastly, (to quote a politician) 'It wasn't the snow - it was the economy - Stupid!'
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