Oh yes! On the day he was vindicated, for when in the last General Election, as Prime Minister he warned, "cut now and risk a double dip recession", GB returned with an world exclusive interview on CNBC in the US, where he will attend President Obama State of the Union address tonight. I woke up this morning, seeing the figures of -0.5% contraction of the British economy, and thought I would gladly pay for a poster, with Gordon Browns face on it, the headline saying, " I told you so"! In the interview, Brown attacked the "complacency" of George Osborne over Britain's lack of growth and said he hoped President Obama's fiscal stimulus alternative could pull the West towards a viable recovery.
"Whatever you take account of in terms of the weather it's clearly a trend where the rate of growth has been slowing,
He also stressed that it was time for the G20 to agree a consensus on how to stimulate growth while cutting deficits.
Brown also sounded like he'd been talking to Obama and the Dems ahead of the Pres's State of the Union speech.
"I think President Obama understands that this is an issue and I think he will speak about it this evening. It's something that President Sarkozy wants the G20 to be active on this year. But I would not underestimate the importance of giving markets confidence by governments saying, just as in 2009, 'We've got a grip on this situation. We know there's a deficit reduction to take place, but we also know that growth has got to happen.'"
But then he added his wider point about the dangers of cutting too fast, too soon.
"To be honest, if we have only deficit reduction, then that's the policy of the 1930s."
Downing Street should listen to the man how saved the world when the banking crisis hit.
