The word Lisbon has been at the heart of the European project for the last few years, but this morning it’s a dirty word, as they finally reached for their inevitable begging bowl. The bailout bill looks set to come in at around €70b and despite Stephanie Flanders’s best attempts to spin it on Today as “closer to the nothing side of the spectrum”, Britain is liable.

Spain is now the last of the “PIGS” not to be bailed out, though they were quick to stress last night that they are apparently fine. The UK is making nominal advances on its deficit, where Portugal rejected austerity measures and the plug was pulled. They now faces harsher and broader cuts than those that were recently proposed.

There is a lesson there…