5 Worst Moments Of George Osborne's Chancellorship

2. The IMF Tells George To Try Something Else

Capital G gave a budget speech back in March of 2011 in which he stated that his fiscal plans had been strongly endorsed by the IMF. Last week the IMF officially stopped playing the role of a pliant groupie eagerly in search of a backstage pass when it pointed out that, actually, the UK remains a long way from a strong and sustainable recovery, contrary to recent claims. David Lipton, the IMF's deputy managing director, said the government should slow the pace of deficit-reduction and bring forward spending plans. He advised that the planned fiscal tightening would prove to be a "drag on growth" and threaten economic recovery. Mr. Lipton also warned that the UK could suffer higher levels of unemployment and endure a permanent economic constriction if it ignored the fund's advice. The IMF seemingly now agrees with the Labour Party€™s assertion that the cuts to public expenditure were much too fast, much too deep, and adds its voice to the calls for Georgey Porgey to either switch to Plan B or make a hasty U-turn to promote growth and create jobs. It must be a tad disconcerting for Chopper Osborne to see so many business analysts, economists and financial experts who claimed to support his policies in 2010 exiting stage left, pursued by a bear. In addition to the IMF's criticism of the Chancellor's policies official figures showed that UK retail sales fell by 1.3% in April, as British consumers struggled with rising food prices.