Says Martin Kettle (with my emphasis),

“Reports that Labour is braced for defeat in Ian Gibson's old seat are entirely accurate. So braced, in fact, that officials have begun floating the absurd idea that anything less that a 10,000 Tory majority – something the Tories did not even manage in 1987 – would be a setback for Cameron.  Some setback.”

Well, let us sit back and see how the Toryphobics try to spin the Norwich North result.

“Indulge me in some historical determinism. We, the peasants, are failing to rise up and embrace the need to change. We will not choose to give up modern life, with all its polluting seductions. Our intransigent refusal to choose green will be met by a new militancy from those who believe we must be saved from ourselves...”

Antonia Senior

As reported by The Times this morning,

“The economy shrank much more than expected in the second quarter to record a record annual decline, official figures show…..The economy has now shrunk by 5.7 per cent since the recession began in April last year, bigger than the downturn in the 1990s and in the early 1980s.”

Economy shrinks at record annual rate in Q2