The Portuguese Government have turned down the austerity measures proposed by their Prime Minister signor Jose Socrates and as a consequence he's been forced to resign. This is more than a glitch on the Euro path, worse still than the effects of Greece's problems. The Portuguese have effectively turned over their trump card to their European partners and threatened to go bust. Whereas Greece, the UK and other European countries have implemented rigid austerity measures the Portuguese have basically said that they don't want to go that route and prefer to join the queue for handouts. They know that the collapse of the Portuguese economy could bring down the Euro and that the likes of Merkel and other European leaders have pinned their political futures on a strong euro.

Are we in the UK protected from the fall out? Sadly not, Alistair Darling, under Gordon Browns premiership, signed us up to significant financial contributions to any Euro zone country facing financial problems. Good old Alistair the short sighted. You me and every other tax payer in this country, facing higher taxation, costs, job cuts etc. will bail out the Portuguese because they won't do it themselves. It amounts to nothing more than a Government welfare state, a burdensome issue that will not go away no matter how many millions get pumped into it. It also perplexes me as to why Sterling has weakened against the Euro. It's a straw house, get real.