Backwards and Forwards
By Graham Davies

The best political presentations are the ones that deal with the present and the immediate future. Those that focus mainly on the past merely fuel the general public's belief that politicians are more interested in name-calling than problem-solving.

So now for something deeply unfair. I have extracted what I believe are the twenty-odd most important words from Gordon Brown's New Year Statement and George Osborne's reply.

Brown: "Today the risk of attempting to do too little is a greater threat than the risk of attempting to do too much".

Osborne: "He talks of tomorrow, but ignores the role he played in creating the mess of today. (He has) achieved nothing except adding to our National Debt."

Brown attempts a solution; Osborne says “No!” (and not much else). At least you have to admire Osborne’s consistency. He’s been saying “No!” (and not much else) for quite some time (except to the odd Russian oligarch bearing a yacht-party invitation).

Which makes me think that whilst Cameron hopes to mend our broken society, and Brown wants to fix our broken economy, Osborne might want to consider changing his broken record.