TONYVISION

From the BBC...

There was some detail in the prime minister's speech with hints about no spending splurges in a third term, lifting the age of retirement, offering incentives for people to save for their old age and a possible crackdown on junk food adverts, for example.

Well, that should light a fire under the politically apathetic, shouldn't it? Stampede the populace towards the polling booths.

I don't honestly know which is worse, the contents or the standard of the journalism. Point one would seem to suggest that the state of 'public' transport will remain fucked for years to come and points two and three are interesting to say the least...an imaginative solution to the demographic problem affecting pension value? Seems to boil down to spending as little time as possible actually retired and leaving as much as possible to the chancellor in death duties. Point four is typical New Labour...a sop...a diversion...caring, sharing, touchy-feely bollocks.

As for the writing. Well. An admirable attempt to avoid the cliché 'spree' gives us 'splurge'. I ask you. Then there's 'lifting'. I mean, what? Sorry to disillusion you, wee BBC journalist type chappie, but one cannot actually lift an age.

I suppose I should be grateful for the last clause, conjuring up, as it does, images of teens being stopped and searched for possession of fast food adverts. Crackdown indeed.