After the politics, the policies

So to policy now that the personality of the prime minister has, for the time being, been parked.

So what to expect? Mostly obviously, I guess, we look to proposed changes in Post Office ownership, now to be kicked into the long grass.

A possible end, too, for the ID scheme (estimated cost: £5bn), and the abandonment of the Trident nuclear weapons upgrade (£20bn).

What else? How about the abolition of the House of Lords and the Privy Council (£100m) to be replaced by an elected 100 seat senate?

And while we are at it, a cut in the House of Commons, down from 650 plus to 400, moneys saved redistributed among remaining members for proper pay scales, allowances and staffing.

And then there’s the economy.

UK indebtedness as a percentage of gross domestic product outstrips most industrialised nations, with the exception of Japan.

Meanwhile, unemployment is set to rocket – LDV yesterday shed 850 jobs with a further 3,000 at risk at suppliers and dealers. Today Cheltenham and Gloucester is shedding 1,500.

Inflation beckons too. The way Britain’s monetary system is set, interest rates will go up.

Make no mistake, no amount of green shootery (the Purchasing Manager’s Index suggesting growth in demand for product last week; enquiries for houses up this week) will stop us slipping into very desperate times.

This is certainly the view of a very senior mandarin, with whom I spoke yesterday. He says those at the top of the Treasury tree see a few very, very dark years to come.

Meanwhile the Bank of England is engaged in an unprecedented exercise in money printing.

I only got an Economics A-level at Scarborough Tech, so I have to trust those who know.

And those who know tell me prepare for the very worst. Do not spend what you cannot afford and prepare as never before, for the morrow.