Should Britain call in the IMF now?

Everyone's agreed – Britain's finances are in a mess. So should we just go ahead and get the IMF in now?

Everyone's agreed Britain's finances are in a mess. "One change is now inevitable", says Camilla Cavendish in The Times. "We're moving into the era of no-money politics." That'd be a tough message even for a strong government which is just what we don't have to sell to the British public. Worse still, as Bank of England governor Mervyn King has reportedly put it, the scale of the cuts in store will ensure that "austerity Britain will hate its government".

So "why not turn to the big boys at the IMF to lay out a plan that government can then present as the Authorised Version"? asks Cavendish. "The IMF cannot be accused of being partisan. Its verdict on Britain would really make people sit up and would strengthen the hand of any politician brave enough to take the right decisions. And it might be good for the IMF to know the worst, just in case."

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