Is the economy becoming something of a political football?
Over the last 24 hours there has been a significant diversification in the forecast performance of the UK economy in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The UK government has attempted to put a significant gloss on the expected performance this year and next year in the hope that confidence will return to the markets in abundance and a "V shaped recovery" will slot into place. However, when you see associations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggesting the UK will still be in recession in 2010, alarm bells do start to ring.
There is no doubt that all political parties are looking to reposition themselves for the general election and appeal to core voters and "floating voters". We are sure to see a resumption of the "class wars" which dominated UK politics in the 1980s and 1990s prior to the introduction of "new Labour". Even though the Conservative party have a double-digit lead over Labour at the moment there is no way they can sit back on their laurels and saunter into power.
The next 12 to 18 months will see a significant increase in political activity and political disagreements in the House of Commons as parties from all sides looked to grab the headlines and attention of voters. Yesterday's budget was nothing more than a political statement which offered a significant dividing line between the Labour Party and the Conservative party. While politicians continue to fight for the next general election it seems that many areas of the UK population and UK business arena are being left to fend for themselves.
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