That "Can-do Attitude"

Gordon Brown on his plans for the next year:

"Britain can and must be a beacon of hope and opportunity for the future. With our fighting spirit and our can-do attitude, I am confident that we can meet all the challenges ahead."

Lordy. I suppose we should be pleased that the Prime Minister stopped just short of invoking the spirit of Dunkirk, but judging by the language, it was a struggle. Gordon Brown attempting a motivational pep talk. Yes, it is as hideous as it sounds.

But it is this notion of having a can-do attitude that worries me, particularly when it is coming from Brown's mouth. Since the economy finally disappeared around the U-bend in the mighty toilet bowl of life, we've seen Brown really adopting a can-do attitude. To qualify: Brown can do whatever the hell he wants, with our money, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. And to be honest with you, I am not sure that is a good thing on any level.

Let's look at where this can-do attitude has got us. The government now owns - using our money - substantial stakes in a number of failed or failing financial institutions. It is looking to regulate more, and punish entrepreneurs in the banking sector. The government has crippled the financial sector in not just this country, but also in Iceland. And the housing market continues the sort of descent that one normally associates with a suicidal person jumping off the top of a tall building. To top it all, the taxation policy of this government is alarmingly all over the place, and has not been costed. At all. In any way.

Frankly, the country cannot afford any more of Gordon Brown's can-do attitude. He and his badger faced joke of a Chancellor have spent money like it is going out of fashion, and what to they have to show for it? The economy is still as falling apart quicker than a leper with eczema.

I'd find it far more comforting if Gordon Brown actually pledged to do nothing for the first few months of next year. Sure, if he elected to just leave the economy alone, then things might not get any better. However the repeated, hideously costly, government interventions haven't helped either, and have just created a crippling debt that this nation will have to pay off in the future. Frankly, Brown doing more things should be a hideous fear for everyone within this country. What he has done so far hasn't stopped the pain of this recession, and is going to create one of the worst economic hangovers ever in the future.