MAKE DO AND MEND......

This post was written three hours ago - interrupted by a power cut. Nice to know that rising utility company prices are paying dividends for the consumer......... still, amid the serious pain of rising food and fuel prices, we now know what to do . The advice to hard-up householders from our Great Leader is to re-discover the thrifty ways of our forbears and , hey, maybe the average household could save £8 a week.
Actually, I'm something of an expert in cheese-paring. Last week I bought a chicken ( free-range, reduced) for £2.50 and managed to make an excellent coq au vin for two AND roast the other half which meant there were two more meals for me - and the cat had the dodgy bits. Then I boiled up the carcass and made soup. My fridge is a beacon of non-waste. But, frankly, it is not enough to keep the wolf from the door. In fact the wolf is pretty much sitting down at my dinner table with his teeth bared and ready to tuck in.
In years to come, I will no doubt look back at this fallow period employment-wise and laugh about it. The reality at present is not so funny for me- nor millions of others facing penury.
And sitting round in the dark for several hours while electricity suppliers get their act together is even less amusing........
It is a gross miscalculation on the part of Number 10 to issue wartime-like pronouncements on belt-tightening when our oppos on the well-off side of the fence are richer than they have ever been. I always thought it was the job of a Labour Government to look after the less well-off and aim to make things more equitable. But no, it's all our fault for being wasteful.
Meanwhile, the vultures are gathering around Gordon Brown and the line seems to be if Glasgow East goes down the tubes then that, basically, is it.
Someone has suggested I will take great delight in the loss of this hitherto safe constituency. That is, to be blunt, bollocks. I think it will be an absolute disaster - and terrible news for EVERY Labour MP in the UK. So what to do? Can we really go on with a Leader who clearly won't take the steps necessary to turn Labour's fortunes round ie change of POLICY. In a word, no. And it is arguable it would be better to pull the plug now than carry on with a Leader who is, I'm sad to say, an electoral liability.