U.K. Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Level Since Riots Against Thatcher

from Bloomberg:



U.K. Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Level Since 1990 Riots

By Jennifer Ryan

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. consumer confidence dropped in June to the lowest level since the London riots that preceded Margaret Thatcher's downfall in 1990, as house prices fell across the nation.

An index of consumer confidence based on a survey of 2,001 people fell 5 points to minus 34, the lowest since March 1990, GfK NOP Ltd. said today. Property prices dropped 1 percent from May, the most since Hometrack Ltd.'s housing index started in 2001, the London-based researcher said in a statement.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said last week that economic growth needs to slow to contain inflation as policy makers consider whether to raise interest rates. With the threat of a recession looming, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's poll ratings a year after he took office are the lowest since World War II.

``With rising inflation, gloomy forecasts for interest rates and soaring fuel, utility and food prices dominating the front- page headlines, it's no surprise that confidence in the general economy is almost in freefall,'' Rachael Joy, a researcher at GfK NOP, said in a statement.

The Bank of England kept its main interest rate at 5 percent for the past two months after three reductions since December. Policy makers predict economic growth will slow to a 1 percent annual pace in the first quarter of 2009, the least since 1992, as inflation accelerates to more than twice the 2 percent target.

London Riot

The confidence gauge is only one point higher than in March 1990, on the eve of the country's last recession. On March 31, as Thatcher's government introduced a new local levy in England and Wales known as the poll tax, rioters rampaged in London's Trafalgar Square. She resigned that November after a leadership challenge by her former colleague Michael Heseltine. .....(more)

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it looks like it. If any one is curious, just google his name. I am just learning about this man myself. I heard him on Thom Hartmann's show last week. His economic forecast is that the market will collapse very soon, and it will cause an economic revolution after which things will get better.

We'll see....

n/t

1989-1993 sucked big time for a lot of people in the UK, thanks to a property crisis very similar to the one we're experiencing now. You also have a similar situation of one party being power for a really long time. The British have gotten into the habit of not changing the government around too often because they don't want to like Italy o other countries where governments tend to be unstable and never get much done.

On the other hand, this means that they tend to vote the safe option for 2-3 elections in a row and then get really bored with the same party. When the economy misfires they get very pissy, understandably. So it's entirely possible that the next UK election will lead to a decade of Conservative party government.