Darling - “arguably the worst” slump in 60 years

Not a helpful comment for Brown and the Government, but is it true? If you brought a house a couple of years ago then you are not happy now; paying energy bills and putting petrol in the car is painful now; if you were starting to take your pension now then you will be getting about 20% less than a few years ago;the banks have yet to work through the credit crisis fallout; so mortgages and house sales are still low; unemployment is expected to top 2 million by Christmas; the Poles are going home, is that a sign?; the high street claims to be in agony; personal debt is still enormous and the Treasury is skint.

Yes there is a problem but at this stage its not the worst thing to happen in sixty years. The fact he said anything is key. Darling clearly wants to brace us for the future and make sure he is not blamed for it.

It is almost unprecedented for a Chancellor to speak out like this. So the presure is beginning to tell. Brown will also be pissed off that Darling has said the voters are "pissed off" with NuLabour. It just does not help and diverts attention from the economic relaunch plan. That plan seems No.10 driven and may be another reason for Darling speaking out as he and the Treasury are being sidelined in the process.