Events looming on the horizon

Gordon is at the palace as I write this but there are a couple of stories doing the rounds this morning that may overshadow this campaign.

Teachers are threatening to take co-ordinated strike action with other public sector unions in protest at proposed cuts after the general election.

As the FT says in its leader this morning Is this the springtime of our discontent?

A warning though from the voice of business

The unions could, of course, strike in defence of their pay and their jobs. They could cause mayhem. But they should be wary: they would not attract sympathy from a de-unionised public. The generous pay increases of the past decade have left nurses, doctors and teachers well off. The state, moreover, is visibly out of cash.

The other being the rise in petrol prices.The only time that Tony Blair was visibly shaken was back in 2000 when tanker drivers held the country to ransom.If one thing could scupper the recovery it is the oil price.

Crude oil for May delivery hit a high of $85.89 a barrel at one point in New York trading the dearest since the peak of the financial crisis in October 2008.

The latest figures from the AA for last Wednesday before the latest duty hike came in showed average petrol pump prices at 118.07p per litre, with diesel at 118.67p a litre.