Gordon feels awkward

Alistair Darling says he's not giving up any more money for schools, the NHS or Transport until the economy stabilises. If house prices have anything to do with it, that could be two years at least. Vince Cable (Liberal Democrats) says "Ministers must not simply lop off the easiest bits of their spending commitments. Instead, the government needs to be very clear in setting its priorities for spending. This should include taking an axe to public sector bureaucracy, in particular the highly paid managers who occupy lucrative positions in quango land." But that's the government's power base! They've spent 11 years creating public sector positions for middle class voters. If Brown and Darling turn around and tell them they're out, well then they've got no hope of winning the next election. What a conundrum.

A BBC study suggests that 18% of 16-17 year olds are "Doing nothing", that's not fair I mean, they're keeping busy.