What a week! The Labour government is in serious trouble. Northern Rock, the personal data of 25 million people lost in the post, the mistreatment of our troops and now a Labour Party funding scandal under police investigation. And I am sure other serious problems have been overshadowed in all this chaos.

The country is suffering as the Prime Minister is paralysed by events of his own party’s making.

The latest figures on house prices and the economy also make for bad news. We are not immune from the economic problems the US has faced. In fact Gordon Brown has made us more vulnerable to this instability by ignoring the warning signs and piling taxes and regulations on businesses and families.