The Today programme said it was about to interview the Governor of the Bank of England. I fear once again they will fail to ask him anything critical or central to the economic mess the government is in.So far they have failed to explore the big failings of the Bank on inflation and heavy losses.
The BBC usually has a craven approach to the Bank of England . It watched as the Bank printed too much money, held rates too low for too long and created an inflation that hit 5.5 times the target it was meant to keep to. The Bank failed to forecast this huge inflation until it was well set and happening.The BBC did not run the inflation warnings from critics then put them to the Bank.
Then the BBC watched as the Bank overdid its lurch to high interest rates to curb inflation by adding big sales of bonds it had paid too much for at huge losses. No other Central Bank did this. The Bank invaded fiscal policy, securing payment of all its losses by the government and taxpayers. Why?
Questions
Why did Bank make such huge errors in forecasting inflation ahead of the big inflation?
If the Governor counters by saying the inflation was not foreseeable because it was the Ukraine war and energy prices that did it, then ask
Why was inflation 3 times target before the Russian invasion?
Go on to
How did Switzerland, Japan and China keep inflation down to 2% despite being big energy importers?
Weren’t Switzerland, China and Japan Central Banks right not to announce new or enlarged programmes of money printing and borrowing 2020-22? Isn’t that how they kept inflation down ?
According to the latest OBR forecast the Bank will lose £288 bn on its bonds from Q3 2022 when they last made a profit to the end of the programme. Isn’t this an unacceptable burden on UK taxpayers who need to pay the bill?
Why doesnt the Bank stop selling bonds at a loss when holding them to repayment will recover a lot of that loss?
Why does the Bank offer the same interest rate to banks lending to it as it charges them for borrowing? Why not copy the ECB and commercial banks by having a gap between lending and borrowing rates?
What is the monetary policy purpose of selling the bonds? Why does no other Central Bank do it?
As the Bank printed money and bought bonds in order to cut interest rates and provide stimulus, why doesn’t it see that doing the opposite drives up rates and slows the economy?
If a large company boss planned losses of £288 bn would he or she get a bonus? etc
December 19, 2025
Sorry but off topic
Keir Starmer has been accused of running “scared” from voters yet again, after Labour moved to cancel yet more elections for millions of voters next year, as well as the local mayors elections, we are being run by dictatorship and the whole world is laughing at us, what’s needed is someone to organise mass marches around the country to show this bunch of rabble enough is enough we cannot carry on this road to disaster any longer we need change before it’s too late
Reply Cancelling elections is a very bad idea, along with abolishing juries.
December 19, 2025
Budgeting…. sometimes the answer is to do very little or nothing.This Bull in a china shop approach will probably lose them the next election where they will not be able to realise the damaging plan.
December 19, 2025
Can’t the HoL call in the Govenor to answer questions? The country needs a 2nd chamber that can expose blinding folly, when the 1st chamber won’t do it.
December 19, 2025
FCA and FOS being crap is also obvious and unremarked on by the blob.
Banking system which does not work, including silly low cash withdrawal limits, and account transfer limits. As if the blob owns our money.
December 19, 2025
The BBC has nothing in it’s charter that says it should get involved in economics. It’s brief is to educate, amuse and inform. The BBC is scrupulously impartial – criticising it for failing to press the BoE on economic policy is disingenuous. How many of the millions of listeners that tune in to “Today” on R4 know anything about the Bank’s brief? Most folk are only interested in the news about how much their mortgage payments will reduce with the Bank’s latest cut in interest rates.
There are other, more effective ways to press the BoE on it’s performance. Using the BBC as a proxy to do so is pointless
December 19, 2025
John
You pose some interesting questions, which you have shared with your readers before, but no one seems to want to take this up, ask questions, or discuss it further.
The sums you talk of are massive when compared to the Tens of £billions Labour are trying to raise by additional taxation in the past two Budgets.
Is there a conspiracy of silence, because the Conservatives did not want to talk or question the BOE either.
Why this silence from successive Chancellors ?
Does the Government not want the World to know the BOE made a huge error, which may threaten future confidence in our banking system ?
You are aware because banking is in your blood and background, were you the only one in Parliament with such knowledge at the time, although I recall Farage and Tice have both mentioned it quite recently, but taken it no further.
Why has the the BOE not been asked to stand before a Select Committee.
Seems to me that the one of the biggest financial disasters in our history, is being deliberately kept away from being aired in Public by a code of silence, or you are wrong !