This is an important, MUST READ article by Will Hutton, published in the Guardian. Check it out!
guardian.co.uk | George Osborne in China – wide-eyed, innocent and deeply ignorant | Will Hutton.
I find myself in a very strange position with regard to both Will Hutton’s view and George Osborne.
Firstly, I tend to disagree with much of Will Hutton’s argument, yet broadly support his conclusions. For me, Hutton is very light on remedial actions.
Secondly, regular readers of this blog will know that I am not a great fan of George Osborne but do believe that he was broadly right on his visit to China, having to recover enormous ground from David Cameron‘s foreign policy blunders. My fundamental problem with George Osborne is that he puts political dogma first and evidenced based policy second.
Any thoughts?
Peter Kellner (YouGov) & George Osborne MP (Photo credit: Ewan McIntosh)
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Dr Alf is right but Will Hutton of the Guardian just fulminates without proposing any solutions.
Someone had to go to China if David Cameron did not go, if only to raise Sovereign Wealth funds for infrastructure such as roads and airports.
Getting the Chinese to build nuclear power stations, invest in companies that are going to deliver renewable energy and letting them own the Port of Felixstowe, through which 50% of our imports and physical exports flow is not strategically sensible, so Hutton is right about that.
The comments he makes about Tibet may very well be true but how he feels after lunching well in El Vino and having lambasted the Chinese in public is going to further annoy the Chinese and make them hold up even more job creating trade.
These things should be talked about behind closed doors and only when our hands are clean which after Iraq, they are not.
The organisation which Will Hutton works for has promoted policies which have rendered the UK un-competitive and which have brought about our present position of weakness even without the help of Cameron and Osborne.
If Osborne is ignorant about economic matters then Will Hutton and Guardian Media Group(GMG) need to look at their own double standards:
–Railing against Tesco and other multinationals for tax avoidance and then GMG doing exactly the same thing
–Lambasting the Chinese as hackers and tramplers on of human rights yet being quite happy to buy and use their products and entertain and make money from a self confessed traitor and leaker of records Edward Snowden
–“Feeling ashamed” as Osborne and Boris Johnson try to raise investment and drum up business in China but feeling no shame whatsoever about advocating deeply damaging policies which have lost people jobs and are continuing to lose us jobs and policies such as opposing nuclear power, airport building and fracking which will see the lights go out and further emasculate us
–Opposing farmers and being indifferent to their plight (5000 bankruptcies a year and up to 150 suicides) and then complaining about high food prices
Like Will Hutton, I feel ashamed too, but I feel that way because people like Will Hutton who should be doing what he can to make the country more competitive and prosperous is like too many others promoting policies which if left unchecked will turn us into a 3rd world country.