Elizabeth II ‘understood’ the world’s financial problems – Gordon Brown
queen Elizabeth II He had a ‘good understanding’ of the problems the world faced during the 2008 financial crisis Gordon Brown Said.
The former prime minister recalls meeting the Queen on numerous occasions ahead of Monday’s funeral.
He first met the Queen nearly 40 years ago when she opened the Mosmoran Chemical Factory in Fife in 1986.
A former Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Mr Brown then attended regular audiences with the Queen when presenting the budget as prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and then as prime minister.
His tenure was in the midst of a severe global economic crisis that plunged Britain into recession.
speaking on BBC Speaking on Radio Scotland’s Sunday show, Mr Brown said:
The late monarch volunteered to entertain world leaders at the 2009 G20 meeting as the effects of the crisis took hold, he said.
During the meeting, the Queen placed a former Italian minister Silvio Berlusconi “in his place” for arriving late.
Mr. Brown recalls: i was sitting next to her Obama was there.
“Berlusconi arrives late, shouts ‘Obama’ and wants to be the center of attention. He runs right up to the Queen and Obama.
“And of course the most stern look, I have never seen anything like it. Berlusconi was certainly put in his place by the Queen.”
The former Labor leader also said the Queen was always up to date on current affairs but never tried to “impose her will” on elected governments.
He added:
“She asked me, ‘Why did the bankers do such bad things?’ Because of the financial crisis, she never imposed her will.”
“I think that the dignified role of the monarchy that Prince Charles promised to uphold was really established in the way she handled national affairs, that she was there to listen,” he said. added.
“She was there to ask questions, not to impose her will. It was for the elected parliament that day.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/elizabeth-ii-gordon-brown-silvio-berlusconi-bbc-obama-b2169763.html Elizabeth II ‘understood’ the world’s financial problems – Gordon Brown