GORDON BROWN MAD ON BORROWING

BBC NEWS There is an email doing the rounds in the City, offering an anagram for the phrase "I am Gordon Brown".

The clever boys and girls in the Square Mile have come up with this: "Mad on borrowing", and gives you a sense of what next week's Budget will be about.

Because all the forecasts say that borrowing is about to go through the roof.

The prime minister used to have a rule that Britain's overall debt - Public Sector Net Debt in the jargon - should not exceed 40% of Gross Domestic Product. That has already been abandoned and some estimates say that our Net Debt could rise to nearly 80% of GDP over the coming years.

The other measure of the public finances is what is called Public Sector Net Borrowing - in other words, the difference between what the government takes in through tax revenues and what it spends.

There are two big pressures on Alistair Darling next Wednesday. The first is fear of the markets; the second is fear of the voters.

Fear of the markets means Mr Darling will want to make it crystal clear how he plans to tax more and spend less to bring down the deficit and get public finances back on an even keel.

Fear of the voters means that he will not want to talk too tough in terms of squeezing an already beleaguered electorate by promising further tax rises and cuts to their services, particularly with an election no more than a year away.

In fact, Mr Darling has already announced part of that squeeze in his Pre-Budget Report back in November.

The truth about next Wednesday is that it could be the pivotal moment for Gordon Brown's Government.

Will his Chancellor manage to set out a convincing roadmap out of recession, and be able to afford to do enough to reassure those hardest hit by the downturn? Or will his Tory shadow, George Osborne, be able to make the charge stick that ministers are simply saddling future generations with unsustainable levels of debt?

Whoever wins this argument over the coming months stands a good chance of winning the next election.

Who knows? The Government is in such a mess that I would not be surprised what they come up with.

Anyway back to the anagrams-I have come up with: Nomad Borrowing, Rabid Gown Moron, Drab Owing Moron, Brain Mood Wrong, Goad Inborn Worm, Dam Borrowing No, Onward Big Moron, Darn Booing Worm, Gonna Borrow Dim, and my favourite Nob Adoring Worm.

Have a go it’s very therapeutic.


“It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Yogi Berra

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