Brown Ex-PM calls for global action to cut rates

Gordon Brown yesterday accused Donald Trump of "weaponising" the global trading system with import levies that threaten a "breakdown" in the global economic order.

- Jasper Jolly

The former prime minister said governments and central banks should come up with a "global rescue plan" comparable to actions taken during the global financial crisis of 2008, including synchronised interest rate cuts.

Echoing concerns among bankers and City grandees that the US president's tariff regime could cause a second week of turmoil on the financial markets, Brown said action was needed "to get ahead of events" or a recession could turn into a 1930s-style depression.

Brown urged finance ministers and central bankers to discuss shoring up the global economy when they gather in Washington after the Easter weekend for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Brown's comments, in an interview on BBC Radio 4 yesterday, will add to pressure on the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, to loosen monetary policy.

Charlie Bean, a former deputy governor of the Bank, said last week that the global uncertainty would prevent businesses from investing and would slow consumer spending.