The start of scorched-earth policy?

So, does this make Crewe the most expensive by-election in British history? It will cost £2.7 billion for Darling’s move to try win back votes lost from his 10p tax debacle – but the money isn’t there. So what does he do? Blithely slaps it on the national deficit.

Now and again, Labour bangs on about a “black hole” in Tory proposals of one or two billion. And yet they jack up the national debt in this way without so much as blinking. I suppose the more Brown thinks Labour will lose the next election, the more minded he will be to vandalise the public finances. This may be the start of a scorched-earth policy. We’ll be watching.