Plan B Bites The Dust.

Humble Pie is not a dish normally associated with the shadow chancellor. Ed "I caused the problem so I know how to fix it" Balls has finally had to eat a HUGE portion and admit that there is no Plan B for the economy and that George Osborne got it exactly right after all.
It must have been excruciatingly painful for the Labour bruiser to admit that he had been wrong after 2 years of treating us all like fools with his "too far too fast mantra" and insisting that the best way out of debt is to borrow more! In an interview with the Guardian and in a speech to the Fabian Society today, Balls is now stating that an incoming Labour government would have to stick with George Osborne's plan for deficit reduction and that they would not be reversing any of the tax increases or spending cuts that have been introduced. So 10 years after the Labour party divorced Prudence and went on a spending spree, they have now wedded themselves to TINA (There Is No Alternative).

This is potentially a watershed moment for the Labour party, they have a leader in Ed "the geek" Miliband

who is hanging on to his leadership by his finger nails, the latest betting is now only even money that he will still be leader at the end of the year, his own policy guru has described his leadership as having "no strategy, no narrative and little energy", and now their financial sage has had to admit that he has been wrong on just about every issue. They find themselves behind in the polls at a time when they should be miles ahead, with Miliband especially now suffering the ultimate insult in being rated behind Nick Clegg by the public, how much lower has he to sink before the long knives come out I wonder.

David Cameron must wake up every morning and thank his stars that he is up against a team that make the Marx Brothers look competent.

Le Downgrade Est Arrivé

If further evidence is required that our current economic policies are the correct path to follow, we only have to look across the murky waters of the English Channel. Late last evening one of the three major rating agencies, Standard and Poore downgraded the credit rating of many of the countries in the Eurozone including France. France is one of the founder members of the EU and their financial might is seen as the key to the rescue packages offered to Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal etc etc in a vain attempt to save the Euro.

France has a much bigger debt problem than we do, currently their debt is over 90% of GDP and the rating agencies have been saying for a long time that the government have not taken the tough decisions required to get this debt under control, the French gave a typical Gallic shrug and ignored the demands, from now on their borrowing costs will go up as a result. For comparison, the UK last week sold 10 year bonds at 1.03% interest, not even enough to keep up with inflation, while France struggled to sell it's bonds at 3.5%, a rate that is bound to go up as a result of last nights decision. Furthermore it is now very doubtful that the Euro rescue package, backed by the French government, will be able to go ahead, as the whole thing depended on both France and Germany maintaining their AAA status, Frau Merckel is not going to be pleased!

Get in the lifeboat guys, the Euro is sinking fast.

Best joke of the weekend from parlez-me-n-tory , a conservative blogger and tweeter from Frome.

Q What is missing from this:  S*RKOZY   teeheehee