Vince Cable MP addresses local business leaders

2.04.30pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 1st Jul 2008

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP was the guest speaker at a Business Breakfast last Friday, 27th June, attended by a cross section of the Guildford business community.

Hosted by Sue Doughty, former Guildford MP and parliamentary spokesperson for the constituency, Vince Cable talked on topics including the housing crisis, energy, inflation and the role of the Bank of England. The audience of around 50 at the County Club in Guildford 's high street included leaders from local legal, property, financial services and communications firms.

The breakfast, first in a series organised by Sue Doughty, was sponsored by local solicitors Hart Brown.

Commenting on the event, Sue Doughty said, "We were delighted to have Vince as our first speaker, as he certainly knows his subject and the feedback we're getting is that it was of great interest to local business leaders.

"Vince was keen to engage with the audience and hear about local issues concerning them. One is the downturn in the housing market, which in turn of course leads to a fall off in social housing - something which affects even a prosperous town like Guildford ."

Vince Cable warned about the effects of a knee-jerk reaction by the Government in issues such as housing or the hike in oil prices. "Spending your way out of trouble is not the way to solve the current economic problems - although as consumers we all want lower interest rates, that would be irresponsible.

"I started raising the debt issue back in 2004 but Gordon Brown just laughed. Not only him, but very bright non-political people in the Bank of England. They all said, 'there is no problem.' They've been in a state of denial till very recently.