The proposals in the pre-Budget report were a desperate, knee-jerk response to the swing to the Tories in the polls. Rather than demonstrating Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling’s vision for the country, it revealed their commitment to blatant, vote-chasing expediency. Ultimately, this will make the country think less of them.
Martin Vander Weyer
There’s a new pair of eyebrows at the forefront of British public life. The Northern-rocked Governor of the Bank of England may have lost all traditional power of his once-splendid superciliary tufts – indeed, he might as well go the whole hog and have the damned things plucked, to discourage further comment – but the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alastair Darling, has a set to be reckoned with.
Beetle-black in contrast to his silver hair, distinctly livelier than his dull-silver tongue, they tell you everything you need to know about what’s really going on behind.
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