The most appropriate response

No one can blame the European Union specifically for inflation and, seeing what Gordon Brown has done to our economy unaided, it would be stretching it somewhat – even for us – to lay the blame at the door of the "colleagues".

However, considering that EU regulation costs 12 percent of GDP, that we are paying zillions in contributions to the EU pot, that the mad eurozone experiment is contributing to financial instability, that the mismanagement of the CAP is adding to commodity inflation, and that the insane policies on global warming are adding massively to our costs, no one can actually say that the effect of the EU is exactly deflationary.

Thus, it is not exactly difficult to craft a response to the finance ministers of the EU meeting at the Slovenian resort of Brdo pri Kranju for a two day jolly. They are telling member states to do all they can to reign in the soaring inflation, "in particular by keeping prices in check and holding down wage increases."

Chairman of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker says, "We remain very concerned about the level of inflation ... it is a concern for all governments," telling employers and governments to resist growing demands from unions for higher salaries.

To bolster his colleague, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet then tells us that, "It is extremely important that we understand that moderation today is necessary …", cautioning member states against undertaking wage increases akin to those agreed in Germany for the public sector.

Sometimes, it is not so much the message as the messenger that causes the offence, and a message of moderation from EU fat cats is a little hard to take. Thus, while swearing is often taken to reflect an inadequate vocabulary, sometimes it is the most appropriate response.

Ours uses the letters "f" and "o", and we don't mean "foreign office".

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