John
12-01-2010, 08:11 AM
The Bank of England chief criticised David Cameron and George Osborne for their lack of experience before the election, according to the latest leak of US embassy cables.
Mervyn King told US ambassador Louis Susman that the future Prime Minister and Chancellor relied too heavily on a narrow circle of advisers.
They "had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability," he apparently said.
Mr King told the ambassador he had held private meetings with the Tory leader and Mr Osborne before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit.
In a note to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Mr Susman said: "King expressed great concern about Conservative leaders' lack of experience.
"[He] opined that party leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne have not fully grasped the pressures they will face from different groups when attempting to cut spending.
"In recent meetings with [Cameron and Osborne], he has pressed for details about how they plan to tackle the debt but received only generalities in return.
"Both Cameron and Osborne have a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics and how they might affect Tory electorability.
"King also expressed concern about the Tory party's lack of depth.
"Cameron and Osborne have only a few advisers and seemed resistant to reaching out beyond their small inner circle."
The cables, published on the Guardian website, also reveal internal Tory polling found Mr Osborne was not taken seriously by the public, partly because his voice is "high-pitched".
And they show that Defence Secretary Liam Fox told the Americans the Tories would be tougher on Pakistan because they were less reliant on votes from the Pakistani community than Labour.
:: Interpol has placed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on its most-wanted list after Sweden issued an arrest warrant against him.
It is part of a drawn-out rape probe involving allegations Assange has denied.
The Interpol alert is likely to make international travel more difficult for Assange, whose whereabouts are publicly unknown.
Source - Yahoo News.
Mervyn King told US ambassador Louis Susman that the future Prime Minister and Chancellor relied too heavily on a narrow circle of advisers.
They "had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability," he apparently said.
Mr King told the ambassador he had held private meetings with the Tory leader and Mr Osborne before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit.
In a note to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Mr Susman said: "King expressed great concern about Conservative leaders' lack of experience.
"[He] opined that party leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne have not fully grasped the pressures they will face from different groups when attempting to cut spending.
"In recent meetings with [Cameron and Osborne], he has pressed for details about how they plan to tackle the debt but received only generalities in return.
"Both Cameron and Osborne have a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics and how they might affect Tory electorability.
"King also expressed concern about the Tory party's lack of depth.
"Cameron and Osborne have only a few advisers and seemed resistant to reaching out beyond their small inner circle."
The cables, published on the Guardian website, also reveal internal Tory polling found Mr Osborne was not taken seriously by the public, partly because his voice is "high-pitched".
And they show that Defence Secretary Liam Fox told the Americans the Tories would be tougher on Pakistan because they were less reliant on votes from the Pakistani community than Labour.
:: Interpol has placed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on its most-wanted list after Sweden issued an arrest warrant against him.
It is part of a drawn-out rape probe involving allegations Assange has denied.
The Interpol alert is likely to make international travel more difficult for Assange, whose whereabouts are publicly unknown.
Source - Yahoo News.