LETTER: Better broke

Sir: Terry Marsh (letter; "New Butskellism", 29 April) asks whether the consensus between Kenneth Clarke and Gordon Brown on public spending should be referred to as Clownism.

Given that the public sector borrowing requirement has averaged more than 4 per cent of GDP over the past five years, would we not do better to refer to it as Broke?

ADAM SHAPIRO

St Catherine's College

Oxford