One voice of sanity - John Redwood.

Probably the sole figure in Parliament with the ideas and intellect to guide Britain through the coming period of depression is the MP for Wokingham who I urged to stand for the Tory leadership when IDS was ousted by the clique of conservative cash-rich clots. He declined correctly being aware he stood no chance in that party of the blind and blinkered. Writing in today's Sunday Telegraph, linked here, the grass roots of the party can see what they have missed due to the blind prejudices of their elected parliamentary members. A quote: So far, none of this is working. The cruel logic of past mistakes is pushing the economy into a vicious downward spiral.

We should remember the origins of our problem. The Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates too low for too long. The banking regulator allowed banks to balloon their balance sheets and supplement this excessive lending with off-balance-sheet devices that came to haunt them in the bad times. The economy ran faster than could be comfortably handled, leading to a large balance-of-payments deficit as we sucked in what we could not produce at home, and a large private sector borrowing binge. Asset prices escalated giddily on the back of easy money. Homes became unaffordable without taking on a huge mortgage, which would prove too burdensome come higher interest rates or job loss. Once the authorities called time on excessive debt, there was bound to be a downturn. Their decisions to hold rates too high for too long, and then to require banks to hold more capital and cash to support their lending when we were well into the downturn, made the problem considerably worse.

I argued strongly for lower interest rates a year ago to take the edge off the coming decline. I argued against nationalising banks. I would have kept them in business by having the Bank of England act as lender of last resort, providing cash and loans against proper security, and offering stronger deposit guarantees when needed. The aim should be to see them through, with their shareholders and senior executives taking all the hit for past mistakes. The government's role towards the banks should be that of the intelligent bank manager, not the owner needing profit and access to cheap cash for himself.

Please read it all, then get on the telephone or e-mail the party and make clear that as Mr Redwood cannot replace David Cameron absent resignation, then at the very least Cameron should replace Osborne with Redwood. At least one front bench will then have a member who understands the current crippling reality! (Post copied on Teetering Tories)