I have just been listening to some jazz on BBC and was struck by the insight in the lyrics of 'That's why the Lady is a Tramp'. I particularly liked the line 'She goes to Operas and stays awake'. I must have heard these particular lyrics a thousand times but cannot recall that particular line. Funny that!

Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce some £15 billion of spending cuts over the next few years when he delivers his Budget statement this week. It is forecast that he will say the money can be found by making Whitehall more efficient and will announce that the Budget will reveal a public borrowing requirement potentially more than £160 billion.

When politicians are unable to match the expenditure with the income they always resort to mythical efficiency savings. It is a sure sign that they are unable to provide an answer to the problems they face.

What is surprising is that not only do the present administration resort to trying to find these mythical savings but we have similar promises from the present opposition that they will also discover this treasure trove when they become the Government

They say they will unearth this munificence that has eluded governments for decades. Some hope!

The item in the news that caught my attention the other day was headlined 'A glass of wine has as many calories as four fish fingers: Government to target drinkers in calorie counting campaign.'

I do wish that the 'I know what's best for you Brigade' would desist. They should leave us little old wine drinkers to our inoffensive and tax producing enjoyment. If they want to make a contribution to excessive drinking they might consider campaigning for the closure of the cheap booze bars in Parliament.

I offer the following from Mr Brown without comment

“I take full responsibility for what happens, that is why the person responsible went immediately.”

The G20 summit appears to have been a relative success. It will be interesting to see how Mr Brown's rating are affected. He has had on balance a good summit but will it have any long term effect on the prospects of the Labour Party winning the next election.

I suspect not.