Labour Bombs Out

Then the bubble burst. The Leader of the Opposition is supposed to give some pithy and sarcastic comments. Perhaps he was also asleep, or else waiting for the cheese to come around again. He finally membled something about calling the thing the "blunder budget".

From across the hushed chamber came the sardonic "What would You have done?" Good question on sir, I'm glad you asked that question. What would the dynamic Social Democratic leadership have concocted? Mr Rowling was obviously not at all pleased the question had been asked. He muttered sleepily about the procedure of the House, and moved an adjournment.

The House showed what they thought of procedure by totally mucking up the adjournment. Confusion. Noting it was 9.30 and the budget hadn't changed closing time I made for the door. Waving breezily to the Movosti Press man, one revisionist to another and leaving the party games behind.

Doing the old Les Moyniton down the front steps, and eventually to a bus stop, where a boy with a transistor is telling the driver all about the Budget.

• What's Muldoon put the price up of now?
• Oh, lots of things, cigarettes, air travel (more hesitantly] and beer
• Beer? The bastard. And I bet the bastard's put up the price of petrol again
• (very hesitantly, thinking "Well I could always say I misheard"] Yeah.
• The bastard.

The bus coughs into life and into the rain-sodden night mourning the increase in whiskey prices. And perhaps realising the small impact of any Government's measures on an essentially unsound and anarchic economic system.