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Economy

Conservatives accuse Brown of denialism

Written by Gary Howes
Friday, 05 September 2008
Brown can do no right when it comes to the economy. First Alastair Darling was battered for talking down the economy and sending the Pound down, and now that Brown tries to put a more positive spin on the economic front he gets accused of being in denial. Related Articles World: Cut taxes Stamp duty threshold benefits Conservative tax deal welcomed Tories accused of schoolboy error Business news: Monday morning The Shadow Chancellor today said Brown was "in denial" about both the economic crisis. The Shadow Chancellor contrasted Brown's optimistic view of the economy with Darling's comments that the economic problems will be more profound and longer lasting than people expected. George Osboure also leveled criticism at the leadership "civil war" that is seemingly broiling behind the scenes of the Labour Government. At a time when the economy needs a strong and unified approach to dealing with the economy his criticism of the divisions at the top are indeed valid. Housing prices Yesterday also saw a stinging attack launched by the Conservatives regarding the housing crisis. This time it was Philip Hammond who labeled the newly launched economic recovery plan as being weak. The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, stressed that this drop completely wipes out any benefit to would-be homeowners from Labour's Stamp Duty holiday. Hammond said, "this is more evidence that this is a short-term political rescue package for Gordon Brown rather than a long-term plan to revive Britain's ailing economy." Figures from Halifax showed that house prices dropped by 1.8% in the last month and by 10.9% over the past year, the largest annual fall on record.