Well, away from my absurd nom de plume, I used to be a special advisor, which sounds grand but as a Ministerial appointment chairing a public body, it was part of the trade.

The reason I mention this is that one of my chores was to brief shadow ministers and spokesmen. if that didn't satisfy them, they had the right to what are called privy briefings where the ministers had to tell them what they were doing.

This is because opposition does have a role, and his called Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Which means, in our archaic yet not altogether broken system, that the head of state not only agrees to appointing ministers but gives the right to shadow ministers to challenge effectively, hence being briefed on what is going on.

In short, Osborne either knew the state of affairs or he is guilty of a serious dereliction of duty. Nothing new in claiming the situation is worse than you expected. After all, you promised to make it all better and you need an excuse why you can't do so.

Just so tiresome to hear an otherwise respected newspaper do the bidding of their boss the dirty digger, and prostitute themselves to stories that insult the intelligence of many of their readers.