and so the cuts begin...the condem coalition seems determined to drive the country into a recession, starting with £2 billion worth of cuts to projects which either create (e.g. the loan to sheffield forgemasters) or train (future jobs fund). And this will doubtless be followed by a harsh, unthinking budget next week. While I would concede that there is a need to tackle the budget deficit, this could and should be done on a gradual, planned basis. The scorched earth policy being pursued by the tories, with lapdog liberals in tow is too much, too soon, and many people will suffer unnecessarily as a result.

And of course the condems have adopted the usual tactic of incoming governments of blaming it all on their predecessors....apparently finding 'black holes' in government finances, unallocated spending etc etc....the funniest sight is to see libdems squirming and wriggling trying to explain away 180 degree turns in their views since they were shafted by the tories....and Danny 'beaker from the muppets' Alexander trying to look authoritative and like he knows what he is talking about standing at the despatch box...would be funny it it wasn't so serious....

And away from the finances, tories are starting to put down some markers for the future. The new minister at DEFRA, Caroline 'please pay for my nanny' Spelman has a stated aim of slackening controls on farming....so that should eliminate any improvements in river quality for the foreseeable future.... and will probably lead to deterioration.

The labour leadership contest bores on. I simply cant get too worked up about it. Diane Abbott has at least brought some diversity to the shortlist -but she wont win it. Andy Burnham has got some interesting views and a working class (if that means anything) background. Ed Balls has a marginal sea, so probably wont get it. So it will come down to one of the Milibands...probably David although it will be interesting to see how much union support Ed can gather....as long as someone is on place for the autumn and a snap election if the coalition falls apart....

BP has agreed to pay billions in compensation for the oil spill. Under pressure from Obama, apparently BP (note to Obama - its NOT 'British Petroleum', nor has been for years!) have agreed to pay this and not pay any dividends this year. The hypocrisy of the americans is breathtaking...the US is the biggest polluter in the world. The operations of American oil companies in particular have caused severe pollution throughout the world. And the US company Union Carbide has never been fully called to account over the Bhopal disaster -over 20 years ago. The real problem is the insatiable demand for oil from the developed world (especially the US) which drives oil exploration and extraction from places where either the technology does not exist to operate safely (the Gulf) or in an environmentally safe way (tar sands).