Opportunity knocks - but no one is in

Jeff Randall finally notices something I mentioned a couple of weeks back.

This, surely, is George Osborne's moment. The ball is bobbing on the goal-line. There's not a defender in sight. All Wee Georgie needs to do is smash it in the net. Go on, my son, you can't possibly miss from there. Hang on a minute, where the bloody hell is he?

Er, Osborne's not in the box. In fact, he's not even on the pitch. The Blues' golden boy cannot have left the stadium because he never arrived. Just like another famous George, he failed to turn up on matchday. The difference is, whereas Besty was enjoying a steamy session with Miss World, Osborne seems to have frozen in the headlights. As the situation becomes ever more serious, George looks increasingly flaccid.

Quite. And why? Because "Wee Georgie" is a paid up believer in the Brownite monetary and fiscal "miracle" that never was. Both Osborne and his boss, Cameron, have been telling us for months before the crisis materialised that they'd be doing exactly the same as Brown - they even claim they thought of it first half the time.

Fundamental to this was the absurd Cameron plan to not oppose the government when he thought they were doing right - or rather, not to oppose Brown when Cameron believed it was something the public supported. This goes against the whole purpose of having opposing political parties which are supposed to differ on principle - but when the leader of the Tories has no principles to speak of, only a set of wavering "objectives" that change with the breeze, then all he will ever be is an opportunist.

Unfortunately, by failing to oppose on principle when it mattered the Tories have missed their biggest opportunity.