I get the impression that because we have so many people at the top of government, which includes Mandelson, constantly at the PM’s shoulder, that there is confusion among the civil servants as to whose orders they are to obey, and as I suspect the orders are coming as a result of panic, thick and fast, it is no wonder that nearly every day approaches are changed or rescinded. A number of us never believed that Brown’s method of dealing with the crunch had been the right one, and now he is proposing to put everything under the auspices of the Bank of England, that was one of the watchdogs who should have seen where we are going. I have always felt, as I wrote the other day, that we should have had an independent, government controlled bank which took over many of the failing banks, instead of supplying them with money. I believe this new approach, which was promulgated yesterday, is due for a change already. I think the problem is that with a new election on the horizon, panic is setting in, and the intensity of pressure on those making decisions is heavily increased, by the sniping of the media instead of receiving constructive criticism. I also notice that David Cameron is going to make sweeping changes in the banking system. We are living through a period of monumental, rash thinking, at a time when rational careful thought, in every field, especially the medical one, is so necessary.
Talking of panic, did you listen to and see the behaviour of the leader of the Conservative party out on the stump at Norwich North, making daily visits to ensure a win, fighting the fact that the electorate still fancied the man he had forced to resign, if I translate the reasons given. Talk about panic! I suspect he is trying to justify himself to the party.