Author Archives: Hugh

The comments at Guido have picked up well on the bias in Paul Mason’s “analysis” of the economic crisis the UK faces, compounded in his blog here. It’s headlined “What the worst downturn in 60 years really looked like”, and you’ll not be surprised that he’s referring to the Thatcher recession in the early 80s. As one Guido fan notes, in his piece on Newsnight, he managed to analyse previous economic downturns by going from Barber (Tory) to Howe (Tory) but skipping Callaghan (Labour) when Britain had to get an emergency bailout from the IMF.

The real bias, though, is in the comparison of data from 2007 and 2008 to 1983. In 1983 the recession was in full swing, but now, as Darling pointed out, we’re facing the worst crisis for 60 years – much of the real pain is yet to come.

But, then, what do you expect from a supporter of the Trotskyist group Workers Power?

Labels: save gordon

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Obviously the Beeb isn’t always the fastest with breaking news, but I really thought they might have had the edge with this story. Digby Jones, the trade minister in Brown’s Government of all talents, is to quit – as he told, er, the BBC. (What’s the expression about rodents and ships again?)

Twelve hours later, though, and still no sign of this on the BBC website’s politics page – or anywhere else for that matter. Oh well, perhaps it’s just not a very interestingstory.