Brown lost £2 billion selling UK's gold

[wendigo100]

Brown lost £2bn selling UK's gold

GORDON BROWN is to face questions in parliament after revelations that he disregarded advice from the Bank of England before he sold off more than half the country’s gold reserves at the bottom of the market.

Insiders involved in the decision have broken ranks after an 18-month battle in which the Treasury has blocked attempts by The Sunday Times to make public the official advice received by Brown before he sold the gold.

They have revealed that Bank of England officials had serious misgivings over the chancellor’s determination to sell 400 tons of bullion in a series of auctions between 1999 and 2002, when the price was at a 20-year low. Since then the price has almost trebled, meaning the decision cost the taxpayer an estimated £2 billion.

This Tuesday the chancellor will face a Commons grilling over the affair as the Tories seek to undermine his reputation for economic competence.

The decision to sell 400 tons of gold is seen in City circles as a financial bungle on the scale of the Tories’ “Black Wednesday” that cost the taxpayer £3.3 billion, according to Treasury estimates.

...which cost the tories their reputation for economic competence! More chickens coming home to roost for our wonderful Chancellor!

Wait for the big one though...

[Buffoon]

Wait for the big one though...

We've already got several 100 Billion marked down to him. Just how big is 'the big one' ?

[Moscow Mule]

What a ******.

[VectraMan]

UK Gold isn't worth much. All those Top Gear and Vicar of Dibley repeats around the clock. I say Gordon did right on that one.

[OwlHoot]

Ten years ago Britain had by far the largest pension pot in Europe, and I remember there was some talk at the time about the EU wanting to "harmonise" pension funds, which would have amounted to redistributing our funds.

If that was so then GB could claim a patriotic motive for taxing pension funds, and eroding them by allowing pension holidays, namely to deprive the thieving gits by spending the money within the UK. Maybe be it's only Blair hanging on, and wanting to suck up to the EU, that is delaying this justification from seeing the light of day.

(With a bit of ingenuity, GB might even be able to blame the EU for the gold sell off as well.)

[wonderwaif]

I don't know what all the fuss is about.
Gordon Brown is the best chancellor this country has ever had.
It must be true, that nice Mr Blair said so.

[cykophysh39]

It's a wonder how the economy has managed to stay strong with all Brown's misadventures!!

We need to get rid of him before the next decline, to save Britain, Brown should go join the Scottish Nationalist Party. Instead of trying to ruin Britian from the inside!!

[bobhope]

It's a wonder how the economy has managed to stay strong with all Brown's misadventures!!

We need to get rid of him before the next decline, to save Britain, Brown should go join the Scottish Nationalist Party. Instead of trying to ruin Britian from the inside!!

pretty easy answer. For the first few years, the world economy was booming. Then latterly, he's been borrowing shedloads, thus deferring and increasing problems further down the road.

[TwoWolves]

Why is this news now?

I have been ranting about it for ages yet the press wait until now to start pointing out the obvious.

The man's incompetent but I suspect a game afoot.

[wendigo100]

pretty easy answer. For the first few years, the world economy was booming. Then latterly, he's been borrowing shedloads, thus deferring and increasing problems further down the road.

Also, in the first few years he also inherited a strong economy, and stuck to the Tories' spending plans while building up a warchest (now long gone).

Latterly, not only has HMG been borrowing shedloads, but so has everyone else in the country, deferring and increasing personal financial problems further down the road.

It will probably go tits up one day - you can't have that much debt without a correction - and the longer we wait the worse it will be.

Of course, 80% of the population don't consider or even realise any of this. And if it happens a week after the Tories win an election, it will be seen as their fault!