Strong medicine

Dr Darling will hold his syringe up to the light today, give it a squeeze or two, then plunge the needle into the patient. The ailing British economy is in urgent need of treatment. The Chancellor and Prime Minister have written the prescription but the rest of us will have to wait until Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report (PBR) to find out what the medicine entails. There has been no shortage of leaks about possible measures to mitigate the impact of recession and restore the economy to rude health.