No shame, no honesty – and absolutely no bloody clue

If you’re not British, you may not know about the Gurkhas.

But for nearly two centuries they have fought and died for Britain. No braver soldiers exist.

Their reward from Britain has been – nothing, except a statue in Whitehall. They have had no rights to domicile here. Many live in dire poverty. Some who are here get deported.

Now, again, if not British, you may not know Joanna Lumley. Here she is seen with Tul Bahadur Pun, a Gurkha who won the VC fighting for us. As the picture suggests, besides being a great comic actress she is remarkable in many ways. She has been fighting for the rights of Gurkha soldiers who fought for us. Every decent person in this country backs her.

Now, just guess who tried hard to stop her? Do the words “Great Bloated Loony Toad” ring any bells?

Ten days ago even Members of Parliament, the majority normally blind to much beyond the trough they have their snouts, in defeated this government on this issue.

Years ago, this would have led to the government resigning. But not now.

And no wonder, for yet another series of disclosures reveals just how just about all of them, from the Toad downwards have been stealing money. He - as cheap as you'd expect - did a little £6,577 scam by paying his brother for "cleaning services" and claiming twice for a plumbing bill.

It’s hard to know which is worse – their shiftiness or their dire incompetence. For last Thursday, having finally given in and been forced to the right thing by the Gurkhas, Brown said he would take "personal charge" of things. So two Gurkhas were denied the right to stay.

On two other matters of competence, first, the Bank of England has just printed another £50 billion of bank notes. This is what they used to call “debauching the currency.”

Second, Barclays Bank has just improved its profits by 15%. This was done by cutting costs.

Memo to Rotting Haggis: you don’t improve your finances by pissing away money. Even the doziest of bankers know you do it by spending less.

All you have to do is look around and eliminate every public service job that cannot be shown to add value. We managed without them before you and the Bliar arrived. We can manage again.