addressing difficult times

Measures to help us through recession

Published:

YOU could tell the Queen’s Speech at the state opening of parliament had come straight from the office of the prime minister as she began with the familiar words that her government was “committed to helping families and businesses through difficult times”.

These speeches normally do come from Downing Street, of course, but this phrase has been a recurring theme of Gordon Brown’s fight to keep the people on his side as he leads the battle against recession.

A key element of this is calming fears and building confidence among business and the public. The day turned out to be a series of such announcements.

The Queen’s Speech had a strong economic theme running throughout, with the emphasis on thrift and austerity. It was belt-tightening on a grand scale after years of financial excess and recklessness.

The banks have been forced already into being more sympathetic to those who have hit hard times, by allowing more time between falling into arrears and starting repossession of properties.

HBOS yesterday followed other banks by announcing a new lending package to help small businesses. Fresh from the Queen’s Speech, Mr Brown then pulled another rabbit out of his hat by revealing that the government would underwrite mortgage interest payments for up to two years for those in difficulty.

These are extraordinary measures for truly extraordinary times. Hollow words of hope and comfort are of no use whatsoever. People want direct action which helps them right now and Mr Brown is trying to deliver that. He cannot allow this recession to simply burn itself out or it might well engulf his government as well.