Steady as we go on interest rates for now

Mr King suggested that there will be years of hardship ahead, even though officially the economy will soon emerge from recession. He reiterated that public spending will have to be cut if it is not to become more costly for the UK to borrow money on the capital markets. Indeed, if the deficit is not cut, Mr King declared that the MPC will have to raise interest rates. That puts the onus on the Government.

The obvious reality is that for now, the danger of returning inflation is far less grave than the possibility that the economic recovery will stutter. Granted, there is a troubling disparity between official interest rates and the rates mortgage payers, let alone credit-card holders, are charged. For industry however, low interest rates do make a difference to growth prospects, and that matters when it comes to jobs. The good news today is that unemployment has fallen by 7,000 — though the number of jobless in London continues to rise. But this welcome trend is fragile; low interest rates can only help.

David Blanchflower, a former member of the MPC, has criticised it on the grounds that it was too slow to reduce interest rates at the start of the recession and may be too quick to raise them now. He wants the body at least to take factors like unemployment into account. Inflation may not be a grave danger now, although it could be in the future. Yet low interest rates are unlikely to stoke inflation just now. A steady-as-she-goes approach by the Bank is surely right.

Family quarrels

The family is turning into one of the critical issues of the coming election. Today's launch of the Conservatives' family policies has been met by a rival initiative on the part of the Government, with Ed Balls, the Families Secretary, issuing a green paper on ways to support families, including advice for new fathers. Another Government proposal, to give the grandparents of children whose parents divorce greater support, has upset the Tories — who claim that they thought of it first.

The more contentious matter remains whether the Government should support marriage through the tax system, something for which David Cameron today reiterated his backing, even though his proposals to date are distinctly modest, on account of spending constraints. Mr Balls has declared that it is not for the state to favour marriage. Yet as matters stand, the tax and benefit system is not neutral; it favours couples who live separately rather than married. Marriage risks becoming the preserve of the middle classes; that would be bad for the poor and bad for children.

Van Gogh sell-out

The Royal Academy, which receives no subsidy, has sold out tickets for its Van Gogh show, which includes correspondence by the artist as well as beautiful pictures. Another triumph, then, for London's vibrant art scene.