Staring markets down
MR GLADSTONE and his Cabinet gazed beadily down from the walls of the Palace of Westminster, as the Governor of the Bank of England turned his own beady gaze on the post-Budget markets and stared them down. Their first reaction had in any case been (as it so often is) short-lived and not to be taken too serious- ly. Now the Governor told the Commons' Treasury Committee that our interest rates were quite high enough to keep the eco- nomy in order, and as for keeping the pound in order. . . well, the pound wasn't behaving as badly as all that. Just fluctuat- ing, said the Governor fondly. And what made it fluctuate downwards? He looked the members of Parliament straight in the eye and blamed political uncertainty. Bright-eyed, Diane Abbott gazed back at him and charged him with not drawing breath except in synchronisation with the Prime Minister. The Governor did not seem to recognise this cosy domestic scene of mutual affability in Downing Street. His expression was that of Mr Mulliner in the Wodehouse story, reflecting on his old nurse — a woman who in his formative years had frequently spanked him with the flat side of a hairbrush. He winced, as though the old wound still troubled him.
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