Brown and Mandelson are a couple of frauds

Mr Brown has written to the EIB telling them what to do, and Mandelson is chipping in how we should join with them. This is a bit rich if you ask me, given that the UK is not exactly in great shape. I don't know quite who Gordon thinks he is, but I'm confident I mightily disagree with his own mental self-image.

Mandelson talks a good talk about tighter integration into the European structures for the UK, how this is definitely in the nation's best interests given the experience of the credit crisis. To this I have to ask what he thinks would have been better about being within the Euro straightjacket, rather than being able to make independant monetary policy choices? If Gordon has indeed worked another economic miracle as advertised, by devaluing the pound significantly (BTW you took a big pay cut this last year or so, did you realise it yet?), then he would not have been able to do so if we were already within the Euro straightjacket. Look at Ireland and Spain -- they desperately need to devalue their currencies to inflate their way out of their dire economic problems, but their hands are tied because they do not have the luxury of independant monetary policy. They have to do whatever is best for Germany (and to a lesser extent France) and just get on with the consequences.

No, the real stories here are summarised as follows:

• Brown wants to be head of the IMF when he is no longer the UK PM, and he'll grandstand his supposed economic genius (no no, it hasn't been a global tailwind this last decade or so, it was all due to his stewardship!) as much as he can, while he still can
• and Mandelson's agenda is to get the UK into Europe's grip for his own personal benefit and in spite of the long-term downside for the rest of the UK population

Couple of classy guys huh?