London - Mr Eddie George yesterday put up a vigorous defence of the Bank of England's interest rate policy when he became the first governor to appear at a TUC conference.
His historic speech in Blackpool came in the wake of attacks by union leaders on the decision by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee last week not to cut interest rates and ease the pressure on manufacturing industry. Mr George insisted he was "every bit" as concerned about jobs and economic growth as the unions, but said he wanted to see them sustained in the medium and long term, not just in the short term.