Yesterday a huge blow was dealt to the integrity of the chancellor
George Osborne. The Treasury Select Committee had called Paul Tucker, who you
should remember as the man that Barclays’ claimed instructed them to fix the
LIBOR rate. In an interview with the Spectator Magazine, the chancellor had
claimed that Labour ministers were clearly involved in instructing Paul Tucker to
tell Barclays’ that their borrowing rate need not be as low. To be specific
Osborne accused Ed Balls of involvement saying “he [Ed Balls] clearly has
questions to answer.” This provoked a furious reaction in the House of Commons the
next day as Ed Balls demanded that Osborne produce evidence to back up his
claim, which Osborne was unable to do.
At the select committee hearing, Tucker said that Labour
ministers had “absolutely not” instructed him to tell Barclays’ to fix the
LIBOR rate. This completely clears Balls and the rest of the Labour party in
the eyes of most people; as a result the Labour Party has demanded that Osborne
issue a full, public apology. I highly doubt that Osborne will do this; instead
he will rhyme off some excuses and try to ignore the issue.
Most people believe that Osborne was trying to regain some
of his reputation that he lost following the disastrous budget. Instead he has
managed to lose more of it, by falsely accusing a senior Labour minister of wrongdoing;
Osborne has shown himself to be an idiot. He will pay for this mistake dearly.
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