Bernard Ginns: A spell in the real world may have helped our Chancellor

HOW unfair of me to suggest that George Osborne lacks the skills and experience to run one of the world’s biggest, most indebted and most structurally challenged mature economies.

I stand corrected, thanks to Janan Ganesh’s illuminating biography, The Austerity Chancellor, which reveals that, in fact, the young Gideon excelled at maths at primary school.

Who better then to have his hands on the levers of power at this most crucial juncture in the economic history of our sceptred isle? A time when no growth or slow growth, declining tax revenues and continuing global uncertainty might call for someone with experience beyond the narrow world of Westminster.

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Have no fear about tomorrow’s Budget for Osborne “relished” sums at primary school and, along with a boyhood friend, came joint first in completing the twelve times timetable.

Just the man we need in charge of the Treasury, I hear you say. Never mind that his sole experience of the real world, the one that you and I inhabit, is limited to a summer job as a data entry clerk and a few months as a freelance journalist before, writes Ganesh, “he was drawn to the professional world of politics, or what he would come to know as the ‘guild’ ”.

Ganesh goes on: “Even others of his generation who are thought to have ‘never done a proper job’ have at least left Westminster for a while, even if it has usually been for a related pursuit.

“David Cameron worked in corporate public relations for seven years. Ed Miliband spent a year studying at the London School of Economics. Ed Balls was a journalist at the Financial Times.

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“Aside from a few months as a freelance reporter just after graduating, Osborne’s entire career has taken place within earshot of Big Ben.”

Having said all that, Osborne has done well to make it to the top in that particular nest of vipers. I don’t doubt that he is sincere in his beliefs.

I just wonder whether Britain would be better off with someone with experience of having actually done something other than pure politics.

Osborne would disagree, according to his biographer.

“Osborne sincerely believes that politics is a trade with its own skills and codes that can only be learned on the job. It is not an amateur vocation for talented people from other fields, and he is never surprised when businessmen who have coined fortunes in the outside world flail and founder in Westminster.”

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Osborne, who worked as a political researcher, special adviser, speechwriter and strategist before becoming an MP in 2001, regards the first rule of politics as “you have to be able to count”. This is of primary importance when it comes to votes or securing sufficient support from MPs.

I hope Osborne gets his sums right tomorrow, with Britain’s economy heading into a triple-dip recession. The Austerity Chancellor is worthy of your attention, especially if you want to understand the background of the man who will be holding aloft the red leather case a few hours’ hence.

Words have meaning. That was the advice given to me by a former news editor when, as a young reporter, I had to face the consequences of a piece I had written about a friend of the publisher. It’s good advice and I haven’t forgotten it. I wonder if Cameron Clyne, the accountant turned banker who now heads National Australia Bank, had a similarly instructive experience in his formative years? Based on his comments of last week, I might doubt it.

In a strategy update to analysts, the chief executive described the Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks as “clearly a problem asset”. Nice way with words. I wonder how being described as “a problem asset” felt for the staff?

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They are the ones who are working hard to deliver a decent service while the banks go through a deep restructuring exercise involving the loss of 1,400 jobs against the background of a very challenging economic environment and continuing public hostility towards banks in general.

I can think of better ways to motivate the troops. Times are tough for most businesses and many management teams are fatigued.

That said, a pat on the back for hard-working staff every so often goes down well. It says ‘we appreciate you’.

It should be stated that Yorkshire and Clydesdale are receiving important financial support from their parent, the biggest manifestation of which was the transfer last October of £5.6bn worth of troublesome commercial real estate loans to the NAB balance sheet.

This move is critical to the restructuring and arguably puts Yorkshire and Clydesdale ahead of the curve compared to larger rivals.

But Mr Clyne, please mind your language in the future.

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