The UK Children’s and Schools secretary Ed Balls, has warned that the world is facing its worst recession in over a century, surpassing even the Great Depression of the 1930s.

This is the darkest prediction yet made by a government minisiter, stating that the recession today will still be felt 15 years from now.

Balls is a close ally of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, predicts a resurgence in� far-right groups (as there was during the Great Depression) as well as other “seismic events” that will completely “change the political landscape”.

“I think this is a financial crisis more extreme and more serious than that of the 1930s and we all remember how the politics of that era were shaped by the economy.”

The comments have raised eybrows and created turmoil in the UK’s political arena, with several politicians playing down Ball’s comments and others asking for clarification.

A spokesman for Mr Balls insisted that the Prime Minister and Chancellor Alistair Darling had highlighted the “unprecedented speed and ferocity” of the crisis “time and time again”.

“The unprecedented global nature of this crisis and its impact on the global financial sector is affecting every single economy in the world,” the spokesman said.

One can begin to wonder: Why is Balls making this statement? Why is such a close ally of Gordon Brown making this statement? Is it a political game? Is it an exxageration or a warning? Who’s next in the global political arena to confirm such statement or make similar ones? Only time will tell.

Image by kwl爑nder Creative Commons.