Brown ‘is not doing enough’
ALMOST two out of three respondents to an nebusiness poll have claimed Gordon Brown should be replaced as Labour leader, as he prepares to meet EU finance ministers in Luxembourg today for emergency talks today on the world’s financial meltdown.
Only 34.4% backed the beleaguered Prime Minister to steer the country through the economic turbulence, which has sparked an unprecedented collapse of banking and financial systems around the world.
In the wake of a crisis that has sent UK, French and German shares plummeting and renewed calls for interest rate cuts across EU member states, local firms say Mr Brown could be doing more to help alleviate the pressure and restore confidence in UK markets.
Ian Davison, founder of Stockton-based estate agents Ultimate Homes and Finance, said some of the Prime Minister’s policies - including the temporary rise in the stamp duty threshold from £125,000 to £175,000 - had not been radical enough to make a positive impact.
He said: “The threshold could have been raised to £225,000. Home buyers and sellers have seen little benefit from Gordon Brown’s policies. There has been no positive turnaround in house prices.”
Meanwhile Nick Scott, finance director at Grangetown-based Bulmers Logistics, believes Mr Brown could do more to help cash-strapped hauliers by reducing fuel duty.
“In recent times the media attention has shifted from the fuel debate to the financial crisis,” he said.
“We’re still lobbying hard to get fuel duty reduced.”
But he had some sympathy for Mr Brown for “inheriting the problems of others” and said the economic crisis was “not all his fault.”
The crisis has heaped further pressure on the Bank of England to reduce interest rates when it convenes on Thursday.
Analysts believe a cut is required to stave off recession and alleviate the growing pressure on manufacturers and the beleaguered financial services sector.
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