Gordon Brown the loan shark!

Gordon Brown's economics are the stuff of Alice in Wonderland. Actually, it is more the Mad Hatter, with his insistence in claiming that Britain's debt is about 40% of GDP, when in fact it is more like 160%! His hatband has a ridiculous note stuck into it with this inaccurate figure brazenly advertised for all to see.

But not content with being a fantasist on financial figures, we now hear that a government discussion paper had proposed to charge interest on emergency state loans given to the UK's poorest people. The government was quick to say the reform was "never our intention", blaming a poorly drafted paper on the social fund, which a minister signed, for the confusion.

Which minister? None other than the cretinous James Purnell. The document, signed by the hapless Work and Pensions Secretary, stated that the government was considering offering contracts to credit unions "to take over the provision of credit to social fund customers in their areas". As well as providing "affordable loans", they could also offer other services such as savings accounts and financial advice, it said. "To fund the cost of these extra services, we are proposing that the credit offered under these arrangements could attract an interest charge of 1-2% per month - the same criterion which applies to credit unions."

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague told the BBC the proposal was "right out of order". "This is astonishing. It is outrageous," he said. "Here we have a proposal under Gordon Brown's government for interest rates up to 27% - the interest rates of the worst store cards or the loan sharks - to be imposed on some of the poorest people in the country."

Quite right of Mr. Hague to point this out. Purnell read it. Purnell thought it all up. There was never any confusion. He just got caught out. Doing his master's tasks.

So Scrooge is now the prime minister's political companion, with Prudence consigned to the attic Mr. Rochester style!