Whoops! Browser Settings Incompatible Britain heading for the IMF - official
Posted By: Iain Martin at Apr 4, 2009 at 13:29:22 [General]
Posted in: Three Line Whip
Britain is heading for the IMF for funding, government ministers are admitting. They claim that there should be no stigma attached to the country making such a move, and have launched an extraordinary spin operation in preparation for it being needed.
Andrew Porter has the story in today's Telegraph and it contains a fascinating quote from a cabinet minister.
"Previously, a country would only go if they were in a very bad state. It was a bit like going to accident and emergency to get urgent help. This new facility will not be like that. It is a bit more like getting wellbeing care or even like going to a spa to recuperate."
Like going to a spa, to recuperate? It's Gordon Brown that needs to lie down. The last IMF bailout of Britain in 1976 was a national humiliation; another one would be just as humiliating.
The "spa" quote follows public comments from ministers - Stephen Timms and Douglas Alexander - that the IMF should be destigmatised. They got very little attention because they were speaking on the "day the world was saved" i.e. on the day of the G20.
But what on earth is going on? Here's what.
The supposed $1.1 trillion G20 package for the IMF contains $250 billion of what are termed "special drawing rights". They were originally imagined to be for poor countries in a crisis, but a softening up operation has been launched so that Britain, and even America, can make use of the money if it is needed. Think of it as a giant extra credit card they can use if things get really tight. If for example the markets won't buy up government debt - as happened recently in Britain.
The government spin operation is designed to make it seem like the most natural thing in the world so that when it happens ministers can be nonchalant and say calm down, we've been clear about this all along. It's a new kind of IMF, a reformed institution we can draw on. Nothing like 1976 then?
"No, think of it as going to the bank. You go to the hole in the wall don't you?" said a minister.
This is all quite staggering, and the cheek involved of audaciously trying to just breeze this one through is quite something even for this government. It's a cunning strategy though: smile and look relaxed while delivering deeply troubling news.
Developed countries are supposed to be able to finance themselves though a mix of raising taxes and borrowing on the open markets when they need to. When they can't and need a bail-out from the IMF they are bust. It doesn't matter how well it is dressed up as a relaxing trip to the spa.