Liberal Democrats call for radical economic action and interest rate cut

12.33.36pm GMT Tue 7th Oct 2008

Oldham East & Saddleworth Liberal Democrats have welcomed the call by Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP to set aside the economic rulebook and take radical measures to stop the economy from spiralling out of control.

Elwyn Watkins, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Oldham East & Saddleworth, said, "Gordon Brown needs to get off his butt and take some decisive action for once."

Vince Cable said: "The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is in danger of becoming irrelevant in a time where short term inflationary risks are massively outweighed by the risk of a once in a life time financial collapse.

"While it is critical that the MPC remains independent, we are in quite exceptional circumstances and the Bank of England must be given the maximum freedom to react to the financial crisis.

"In these circumstances, it's necessary to put the rulebook to one side and adopt radical measures including a big cut in interest rates."