Carney resists Trump threat: Former Bank of England governor may just be what Canada needs: ALEX BRUMMER

One of the golden rules of a former colleague was never use Canada in the opening line of an article.

He should have amended this to say unless it involves Mark Carney.

The former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England finally has achieved his goal of being prime minister of Canada, although he needs a parliamentary seat and will have to fight a general election later this year.

Carney, a former Goldman Sachs trader, may not be the perfect person. Infuriatingly for his critics, he has been in the right place at the right time. He steered the Canadian banking system through the great financial crisis without bailouts.

This catapulted him to the attention of former chancellor George Osborne who recruited him to Threadneedle Street.

There, he executed the post financial crisis reforms in the City, guided markets through the trauma of Brexit and, in his final hours at the Bank, was busy making swap arrangements with the Federal Reserve as the pandemic caused mayhem.

His seeming obsession about climate change attracted criticism. Yet it has now been disclosed that the California wildfires in January will cost $40billion (£32billion) to put right with some £1.8billion coming back to Lloyd’s of London. The former Bank chief was right to be worried about the impact on financial stability.

Carney’s latest challenge is Donald Trump. The US President’s imposition of punitive tariffs on Ottawa and his trash-talk of making Canada the 51st state have been deeply unsettling.

Equity markets in the US have plunged into correction territory, down more than 10 per cent, and bullion prices are soaring. Consumer confidence is plummeting and key growth stocks, such as Tesla, punished.

The new Canadian leader is refusing to be intimidated. He told the world overnight: ‘Americans should make no mistake. 

In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.’ Reciprocal tariffs will be toughened. The new prime minister has the comfort of knowing that King Charles, Canada’s head of state, is on his side. 

Fears of a Trumpcession have intensified, although the US president insists America can withstand the confidence blow from tariffs and the tilt away from Ukraine. 

Carney has proved a firm hand on the tiller in past crises. He may just be what Canada, the Commonwealth and the G7 needs as the Trump cyclone ploughs an unpredictable path.

Health harms

The record of private equity in healthcare provision is truly immoral on both sides of the Atlantic.

It has resulted in real estate being plundered, bulging interest rate bills and higher costs, with little benefit to people in care, the elderly and the infirm. 

Despite these risks, the directors of NHS landlord Assura, which almost certainly owns a GP clinic near you, have declared they are close to accepting a £1.6billion bid from the original barbarians at the gate KKR.

One might have hoped that Assura chairman Ed Smith, with extensive knowledge of the NHS and strong accounting and property background, would be alert to the risks. 

The 32 per cent premium to the share price, dating from when KKR first showed its hand a month ago, is ungenerous.

It takes no account of the London discount to US markets which has made the London Stock Exchange a bargain for marauders. 

Even more careless, it doesn’t recognise that KKR is buying at the bottom of a dip in UK property prices, which is beginning to correct, with yields on UK commercial property on the rise. Ceding the upside to interlopers makes no sense.

That’s before considering the impact on healthcare of short-term owners whose main interest is financial engineering and making a quick buck for clients and executives enjoying tax privileges. Pathetic.

Keeping stumm

The truth can be the hardest thing for senior executives faced with searching questions from fund managers.

In an interview with Citywire, former Schroders guru Richard Buxton recalls how body language is often more important than words. 

When the Tesco finance director was grilled a decade or so ago on how the grocer’s disastrous California venture Fresh & Easy was going, he answered positively. 

He then sat back in his chair and folded his arms. Needless to say, £1.3billion of shareholder funds were poured down the drain.

Easy come, easy go.