King attacks Prime Minister.

The focus of British politics reverted back to the economy today. We have gorged ourselves on the 'expenses' scandal for long enough. Its not gone away, and will be a significant feature of the next general election campaign. All candidates will have to make clear what they will and will not do and claim. And the most important commitment will be to be transparent - promising to ignore the cloak of secrecy that they will be pressed to drape over their 'expenses'. Lucky I've never been willing to do what I'm told! A good start would be to abolish the word 'redacted'.

But today, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England reminded us of the bigger picture. He told the Treasury Select Committee that Gordon Brown's plans to reduce public borrowing are 'a load of cobblers'. OK, so he didn't say exactly that, but its what he meant when he said the plans were not "clear enough" or the rate of reduction in the deficit was not "quick enough". He described the deficit as "truly extraordinary" and said he was "more uncertain than ever" about the timetable for economic recovery. He asked for a credible statement about the path to reduce the Government's budget deficit - implying that he thinks the Chancellor's current plans are not credible. And that's because they are not.

This might not have the entertainment value of a 'duck house island' or 'the mother of all wigs' but its incendiary stuff, which blows apart the Prime Minister's dishonest election strategy. Will make good reading in tomorrow's papers.