The R word

Daniel Finkelstein thinks the recent polls suggest a shift in voter sentiment, and he thinks it's nothing to do with the Budget:

I am more inclined to the theory put to me by my colleague Tim Hames. Last week was the first time where the R word (recession) became real to people - they realised that the UK economy was in trouble and that no one official was attempting to deny it. This changed the atmosphere.

What is particularly interesting is how rampant incompetence in the banking sector has been translated into a perception of government incompetence. And that has to have involved the media, which has become hostile, aggressive...and hungry. It's feasted on MPs' expenses, and now it wants more. Who'd have thought that Gordon Brown would morph into John Major? Here's the evidence:

ERM debacle = Northern Rock
Tory "bastards" = Milburn, Clarke, ID rebels, Lisbon rebels, detention rebels
Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith = MPs' expenses
Cones hotline = HMRC

Suddenly, it's 1994 again. And, like then, the next election seems a long, long way away.