Douglas Carswell's Blog

The appointments that ought to worry us

"We need more Europe, not less. And we need it now" says Antonio Borges, the IMF's Europe chief. 

It's not the decision to appoint Andy Coulson that worries me, but the decision to throw our weight behind the appointment of Christine Lagarde as head of the IMF.

It might have looked a smart alec move at the time, but we've well and truly put the problem in charge of finding a solution.

Instead of doing what the IMF has historically done so well - allowing countries to do apply the 3Ds, Devalue their currencies, Default on their debts and Downsize their public sector - we've helped put the debtors in charge of the world's ultimate reserve bank.  It is ominous that those running the IMF now believe in the Euro-at-any-price approach to dealing with a crisis created by the Euro in the first place. 

As Antonio Borges seems to make clear, rather than encourage them to try a different approach, the IMF is encouraging our closest trading partners to follow the logic of their bailout-and-borrow approach to its hideous end - a fiscal European debt union, which will inflict economic sclerosis on millions. 

How is that in our national interest? How was Lagarde running the IMF ever going to be in our national interest? 

Thanks to a third appointment - making Jon Cunliffe our chief negotiator in Brussels - I don't hold out much hope of us extricating ourselves from the consequences of this economic car crash.

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