How was the credit crunch for you?

How was the credit crunch for you? So far, our nice two year mortgage fix could not be renewed on the same terms. So, we have had to go on the standard variable rate
(SVR) and the game plan is to pay off the loan as much as possible. There has been
some financial pain but not too bad. UK fixed mortgage loans often have capital repayment limits so the standard mortgage product does not look too bad, if we can get it down.
For many UK subjects the credit crunch will be a lot more painful. The unemployment claimant count will go up and incomes will be squeezed by rising inflation. Some commentators believe that if it hits 4 pct then the Bank of England might have to increase rather than lower interest rates. That would be pain on a major scale but perhaps it would get the pound up against the euro for the holiday
season.
www.searchaccountants.co.uk
Gordon Brown says he is the man to steer the British economy through these troubled times but his main strategy is to plod until the next general election, win it and then really raise taxes. However, the prime minister seems to have lost the confidence of his own political party.
Labour must have had a pretty good idea about what they were getting into with Gordon but still acclaimed him leader. I suppose the change of view must be the expected P45s at the general election. The dispute over the 10 pence lower tax rate showed up Gordon's lack of flexibility.

Matthew Parris does not like Gordon Brown (part 2)

Dear Reader, I have said before that Matthew Parris, a former Tory MP and
a current columnist on the Times, really does not like British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown.

In his Saturday column, Parris again compares Brown to the Wizard of Oz. The
journalist says "the chief economic wizard who has succeeded him (Tony Blair)
appears a shrivelled figure as the curtains are pulled back".
Then, later "After the effective disintergration of command at the very top of the Government......"

I suppose this is quite incendiary stuff. Although we all mock John Major, he did
win a general election on his own merits. It seems that Major had more bottle than
Brown, who would have surely won a poll in November, even it was with a reduced
majority.
I am not the only blogger in the UK quoting these Parris articles.
A "mea culpa" for my international readers for going on about Gordon Brown,
who is apparently British, but wants to sell us down the river with the forthcoming
European Summit.