Government borrowing has risen by 15% this financial year so far, according to the OBR’s latest numbers. From April to January the Government borrowed £44.8 billion, £5.8 billion more than in the same period the previous year. To paraphrase George Osborne, the sun has stop shining and the Tories still haven’t finished fixing the roof…

The Tories originally promised in 2010 to close the deficit by 2015. That date subsequently slipped to 2018, 2020 and then to “the middle of next decade”. Short of an economic miracle, that vague target now looks certain to disappear too…