A GOOD PLAN

There is little doubt that the government has won the confidence of an influential sector of the financial community with the radical measures it announced on Wednesday. Yesterday the leading article in the Wall Street Journal began: “It may not look like it, but the world's political leaders are making progress against the global financial panic. The biggest step so far was taken in London.” The article went on say that the measures announced by Gordon Brown “represented intellectual progress and offer the most sensible plan to date.” The London
Times described the UK proposals as “An intelligent and measured response to the financial crisis...Alistair Darling's plan is a good one, which should restore public confidence”. Even the tabloid press joined in the praise, although they devoted rather more space to the 32 curry dinners which a Westminster restaurant delivered to the office where the Treasury team and leading bankers were meeting through Tuesday night to finalise the details of the deal. How times change - in Harold Wilson's day it would have been beer and sandwiches. It is obviously far too soon to offer euphoric predictions about the effect that the British government's initiative will have but the plan seems superior to the one pushed through the US Congress last week.