Gordon Brown has hailed the abilities of his ‘friend’ Brian Cowen, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland. Brown, whose past benedictions have destroyed the British banking sector, the car industry and the value of Sterling, declared: “Nobody deserves greater credit for this than my friend Brian Cowen. He brought great patience, he brought huge tenacity, he [...]

“It’s very simple,” said the Taoiseach. “People must learn to live in painful anxiety in caves as if the outside world has become profoundly toxic, and must learn to enjoy it. Or they must die.”

I switch songs on my iPhone, trying to get something suitably recessiony, something to remind me times are hard and things are bad and people are sad. I round the corner past the bus stops, happy not to accelerate past the slim redhead just ahead. Not checking her out, you understand, just happy for the [...]