Doom-mongers have been proven wrong
AS dawn broke yesterday, it wasn’t just the cockerel crowing. So was the BBC’s preening presenter Nick Robinson.
The Today programme host was almost audibly salivating at the prospect of new economic statistics being released which were forecast to show ‘how badly Britain is doing’.
In fact, when the figures were published, it was revealed that output had provisionally grown in November. Marginally, it’s true. But defying all apocalyptic predictions.
For months, we have had it drummed into our heads that the country is already in recession. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said so pessimistically in his Autumn Statement, while Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned darkly of a deep and painful slump lasting into 2024.
The merest hint of bad news has been amplified by a hysterical Left-wing media, backed by alarmist – and, to their shame, often downright distorted – rhetoric from Labour’s front bench.
Of course, these are times of great financial uncertainty. Prices remain troublingly high, the tax burden is crippling and interest rates are rising. Household budgets are under immense strain.
But thanks to the high street enjoying a bonanza on the back of the World Cup and families celebrating the first post-pandemic Christmas, a downturn is vanishingly unlikely.
On top of that, food and energy prices are starting to tumble, the FTSE is surging, employment is at a record high and many are still sitting on savings built up during Covid. These factors will help fertilise the tentative green shoots of recovery.
So why isn’t Rishi Sunak shouting the good news from the rooftops? Naturally, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet must beware of being complacent. The GDP figures still only offer the smallest imaginable crumb of comfort and circumstances can change for the worse – and quickly.
However, doom-mongering is an equally dangerous game. Repeatedly telling a country it is heading towards economic disaster will sap consumer and business confidence. Soon, predictions of doom become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
That would play straight into the hands of the Tories’ enemies. With Labour 20 points ahead in the polls, Sir Keir Starmer would relish a slump which he could blame on the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, there are many Remainers desperate for a downturn to force us back into the EU.
The Government must remember: being honest that tough times may lie ahead is one thing. But talking Britain into a recession – with all the misery that would bring – would be the height of irresponsibility.