Gordon Brown: "swashbuckling"
The Chancellor Gordon Brown today admitted that the economy is growing at a slower rate than the Treasury had predicted, but issued a trenchant defence of his policies.
The following is an extract from his speech, delivered to a heaving House of Commons.
"When some passing ne'er-do-well stops and complains to me, 'Chancellor Brown, the country is groaning under excessive taxation,' I say this to him: 'Yes, but we are not breaking any of my Golden Rules. Have you thought of that?'"
"Or if an idle scallywag tackles me down in the street, grips me by the throat and yells, 'Brown, one more stealth tax and I'll slice off your fucking nose,' I say to him, 'Yes, that's all very well, but have you considered the fact that the British economy recently passed my stability test?'"
"Lastly, when I am jabbed in the eye, as I was only yesterday, by some trivial jackanapes with a tedious gripe about me ripping off pensioners, I say to him, 'Yes, but do that once more and I'll lock you up without trial when I'm PM.'"
The address was universally praised for its swashbuckling style and powerful rhetorical devices, such as the ascending tricolon, a favourite with the Chancellor.
