It matters not a jot that he is Canadian. It matters not a jot that he is supposed to be independent from political arm-wrestling and interference. Mark Carney is the Governor of the Bank of England. I have never had eyes on his job description or his terms of reference. I would venture to guess though that it does not include making either directly or veiled threats  to the people of this country. My contention is that he has failed on two levels and on two separate occasions. I would go further to say he is guilty of misconduct in a public office.

He contributed to the debate in 2016 regarding whether we should leave or stay within the European union. This contribution was completely biased in that his forecasts and predictions were always to the negative. They were direct threats to the populace based on his position as an economist and a knowledgeable person with an intellect on these matters.

We were told in no uncertain terms that if the country chose to vote Leave we would suffer an immediate loss of 800,000 jobs. We were told that house values would reduce by 18%. We were told an emergency budget would be needed and that an immediate recession would take place. These predictions were slavishly promulgated by George Osborne, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer.

We now know that none of this doom and gloom took place. Strikingly, the opposite has happened. My anger towards this man is based on the fact that for fairness and balance he either refused or was told not to estimate what were the potential positives should we have the temerity to vote Leave.

As with President Obama who notoriously also chose to threaten the people by stating we would be at the back of a queue for any trade deals with the USA, Carney also chose not to make a balanced fair case as to what would happen should we vote leave. The threat was made and he will never be forgiven for that. It was unfair, un-statesman like. Bad behavior supported by a smirking Prime Minister.

Mark Carney, to my knowledge since the referendum two and a half years ago, has not contributed much to the national debate. He is not given to publicly informing the country as to where we are with the economy. Yes, he discusses the need or not for any interest rate rises. He informs as to why those decisions are made. His critique of the economy is though, always fair and balanced.  

Why then, at the eleventh hour has he come out into the public domain and once again, smothered in economic largess, threatened the people of this country?

He has clearly no need to do so, many economists have had and continue to have their say with regards to the current Brexit situation. Mr Carney though in his position as Governor surely is duty bound to give a fact-checked, balanced opinion on the economic outcome of both scenarios: May`s deal or just leaving under WTO rules. No, and this is my case for him being guilty of misconduct in a public office.

He chose instead to hype up the fall-out of the latter. He chose to disregard any potential positives from the WTO outcome.  He did not, of course, put forward any scenarios good or bad with regards to the current deal offered by our beleaguered Prime Minister. The default position of this man was once again reached for.

Mr Carney, without blinking, told us in a monotone diatribe that house prices this time, if we dare leave under WTO rules, would fall by a staggering 30%. We would lose an apocalyptic 8% from our GDP. We would experience a financial crash similar to 2008. The pound would drop drastically against the Euro and the dollar, by as much as 25%. This would lead to a sharp rise in interest rates. Finally he stated that unemployment rates would rise to a level as high as 7.5%. Bear in mind current unemployment rates are the lowest since 1975.

No explanation was given for his statements that a layman could understand. He did further qualify by stating this would be a mixture of events, both immediate and by the end of the next fifteen years. He further qualified, after the damage was done and only under questioning, that his list of biblical catastrophes were in fact “worse case assumptions”. Too late, damage done. The media just repeated his figures, they took great delight, almost perversely in telling the world how bad it was going to be should we “crash out” of the EU.

What was his motivation as an independent Governor? Why did he not give a balanced view of all scenarios and outcomes? Who asked him to make these “assumptions”? He further declared that “half of Britain`s businesses were not prepared for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit”. Where did he get this information from? Has the Bank of England conducted a survey of all businesses? Is it their job to do this work? If not, why did he not qualify his statement by referring to his source?

These questions remain unanswered. Mainly because no one is asking them. We have, in a soporific, coma-like induced sleep accepted his words. Some have stood up and said it is all nonsense. I firmly believe that most would have listened, shrugged and laughed and carried on about their business – such is their total abject boredom of Brexit. There are those of course who would have taken his word as gospel, worried and stressed about this future of such abject horror.

This is his second attempt to coerce and convince through veiled threats the British Public. He must resign, take his massive pension and return home to fly-fish on a Canadian river.

We cannot have public figures in positions that affect daily lives continuously threatening those people that they are there to serve.

 

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