I have a column in today's Times, on demography, public services and Mr Roarke and Tattoo. You can read it here:
Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are conducting Fantasy Island politics. Both promise “world-class” public services. Mr Brown says his prescription is the only way, and the Conservatives will make cuts. Mr Cameron says . . . oh, who cares? It doesn’t matter. Both men are having a Fantasy Island argument for a Fantasy Island electorate through the Fantasy Island media. Neither of them are even acknowledging, let alone confronting, the biggest issue of all in the funding of public services: where’s the money going to come from? That question is not about tax cuts. It’s not about stealth taxes. It’s not about any of the ultimately irrelevant issues about which politicians scream.

It is about demography. It is about that, as a country – as a continent, indeed – we are getting older. And that means tax funding won’t be enough.