[Osem]

Caught a bit of 'Red Ken' Livingstone's highly entertaining radio show earlier and, during a section on the UK's economic woes, it was stated that the equivalent of £1 in every £5 now raised in tax goes to pay just the interest on our debt. It's not a figure I've heard before but it sure focuses the mind on how serious this issue is. So when Brown tries to take credit for what he's spent over the years perhaps the electorate will a) consider how much of that has been wasted and b) bear in mind that 20% of the tax they're now paying won't be going to the NHS, schools, the poor, the needy, the police or the armed forces for whom he has nothing but praise - it'll be going into the pockets of international financiers and if they get nervous that figure will be heading north not south.