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Just as a poll carried out for the BBC reveals a majority of the public would prefer spending cuts to raising taxes to get Britain out of the red, the Children's Secretary, Ed Balls, has applied for an inflation-busting boost to his own budget.
Mr Balls's bid for extra cash has not only been slapped down by the Treasury for being made outside the normal Comprehensive Spending Review timetable but also puts him at odds with a public which appears braced for austerity measures.
Of course, Mr Balls knows that no one would want schools to bear the brunt of spending cuts. And he will be hoping that the budget increase he is after can be won at the expense of other departments.
On the key electoral battleground of education, Labour could then promise increased spending on schools as an alternative to the greater freedoms for heads, higher standards for entering teaching and other measures proposed by the Conservatives.
As next month's pre-Budget report approaches, however, it is not the success of Mr Balls's power grab within the Government that matters but the credibility of Labour's plans to contain Britain's worst-ever peacetime debt burden.
Approving Mr Balls's plans could theoretically mean a cumulative 12 per cent squeeze in departmental spending elsewhere, or 20 per cent if Labour also matches the Conservative pledge to protect health spending.
The financial markets may judge that to be unachievable. Mr Balls's pitch for extra billions may boost his standing with the teaching unions and with it his chances of being the leading Brownite candidate for the leadership one day.
But if the move affects the Government's credibility with international investors, it will prove unhelpful.
Green light
It is welcome news that the planners' rulebooks are to be rewritten to ease applications to install wind turbines, while putting in electric car charging points will no longer require permission.
Londoners wanting a greener way of life do not want to be held up by red tape. Of course, there must be limits to the size of turbine that could tower over a suburban street but small-scale measures in everyday settings matter.
Steps taken by individuals to reduce their energy consumption play a vital role in demonstrating to politicians that popular support is there for the big changes that will be needed if global warming is to be tackled.
At a time when the prospects of a legally binding agreement on climate change at the Copenhagen summit have receded, it is more important than ever that individuals show they are ahead of their political leaders when it comes to choosing greener ways to live.
The Planning Minister John Healey has done well to make this easier.
Station shame
The odyssey of Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, around Britain's rail network, during which he experienced personally the horrors of inadequate catering and locked lavatories, has been followed by an exhaustive report which places Clapham Junction among Britain's worst stations.
Passageways are filthy. Access between platforms is poor. It is unacceptable that commuters using Europe's busiest junction should have to put up with slum conditions.
This is a regulated industry, where the Government has power to impose performance standards on Network Rail and the rail operators.
At last, Lord Adonis is promising to make the improvement of stations a formal condition of retaining a rail franchise, and £50 million for emergency repairs. The measures cannot come soon enough.
