You are really too critical Melanie. Administration here is incompetent, and the misappropriation of public funds makes us a perfect member of the EU. Now the Inland Revenue has had its accounts qualified, it is getting like the EU Commission which can only account for 10% spending and has had accounts qualified for 9 years.

The German Govt is bankrupt and playing games with its own Stability Pact; the French are just as bad; and the US borrows $1.5 bn each day to stay afloat......

Government is incompetent.

Brown will be known by history as the "lucky Chancellor." Lucky that he was able to ride a wave of worldwide prosperity promoted by cheap money. Lucky that this occurred at a time of worldwide disinflation. Lucky that very few seemed to notice that Britain's prosperity rested on little but a huge credit bubble and rampant property inflation.

He will however also be known as the "unlucky Prime Minister."

Since the welfare culture took over at the start of the last century the British have become disconnected from the modern world, like the primitive tribes they once ruled. Government is our cargo-cult. We load it unreservedly with all our needs, our desires, our dreams - and also divert our blame to it. Politicians are our witch-doctors, and party manifestos teach us the incantations by which 'government' becomes our proxy and good fairy.

Such a world-view keeps us imprisoned in a childlike and destructive fantasy. We can never grow up, and the promises made to us will never (never can) be delivered. But we just put more wishes under our pillows and our fairies convince us again that delivery is just around the next corner. And so our sad world continues to spiral downwards.

Gordon Brown will make a fine Prime Minister. It's what the country needs - 10 yrs with a good, old-fashioned Socialist in charge. Digby Jones and the greedy fools at the CBI will squeal about it, but they better get used to the idea. Go Gordon.

I disagree Curious. In fact until the 1970s deregulation of credit under Edward Heath inflation was not a big issue in property. It took off after CCC in 1972, and then exploded after 1980 with all controls on lending being removed by Thatcher, so long as you would pay the price (interest rate).

All Brown has done is switch the borrowing from the Public Sector to the Private (Household) Sector; and now he is increasing Public Borrowing too.........if we really do have full-employment as the media proclaims, his tax coffers should be overflowing, but in reality he has lots of Tax Credit subsidised poor law jobs at Tesco whilst the Board members each pull down over £1 million each without paying real tax.........when Michael Foot had Temporary Employment Subsidy in 1975 people laughed, now Brown has a Permanent (Low Pay) Employment Subsidy which is why he cannot generate tax revenues

Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right.