This comes after the (frankly mad) plan to extend the working lives of firefighters up to 60 years of age, in what appears to be yet another cuts-by-stealth scam by this ConDem-med government.

However, this house of cards is already looking shakey, because as we now all know that despite some of the most brutal cuts (and sell offs) to our public sector services since The Iron Lady was in power, government borrowing has actually escalated in what appears to be an attempt at the financial equivalent of running on the spot, probably in no small part due to how few new jobs have been created in the last five years.

The FBU strike has also coincided with walkouts by NHS staff due to pay freezes there, and a refusal to grant even a meagre 1% pay rise to them.

Meanwhile it seems our Lords of Misrule are quite happy to spend money dropping more bombs on Iraq.

Scrooge would be rubbing his hands in glee at the whole sorry situation.