Warning shot over man who may be next UK chancellor

Thursday 22nd April 2010, 3:00PM BST.

Vince Cable has repeatedly criticised the role played by offshore finance centres

A LONG-term critic of Jersey could be the next UK Chancellor, according to a former UK Treasury economist.

An audience of finance professionals heard David Page predict that there was a strong chance that Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable would be Chancellor in a coalition government with Labour after the general election.

Mr Page, who is senior economist with the Investec group, said that it was no secret within Westminster that there was ‘antipathy’ between Prime Minister Gordon Brown and current Chancellor Alistair Darling.

And Mr Page told the JEP that as the Liberal Democrats would probably want to cut public spending more than a Labour administration, it could suit a Brown-led coalition to appoint Mr Cable as Chancellor.

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1
Wellwell

April 22, 2010 at 3:35 pm

If that happened, we really should think hard about independence. He will undoubtedly bankrupt the UK and look to take us with it.

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2
Tom Jones

April 22, 2010 at 6:08 pm

A typical uneducated insular comment no.1. What do you know about Vincent Cable or his abilities as a potential chancellor and why do you think he would bankrupt the UK? He was the global head of economics for Shell International so he is no fool. I’m not an expert on the lib dem policies but they wouldn’t have the level of expensive social policies that Labour has and they are looking to lob a lot off the cost of replacing Trident so I doubt they’d be as profligate as Labour. If he has issues about the impact of tax havens on the tax base of other countries, it is from a position of being able to see the big picture rather than the view solely of a small rock of 90,000 people and their own vested interests. If only we could have politicians of a tenth of the calibre of this guy in the States of Jersey.

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3
C Le Verdic

April 22, 2010 at 6:45 pm

The Tories really are running scared of a defeat by the Lib Dems ever since part one of the Great 3 Way Debate and the ensuing opinion poll results.

let’s see how the next instalment on the telly goes.

Meanwhile, nothing like a good scare story like this article.

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