The outing this week of three former New Labour Cabinet members for touting business might have stole some of the thunder from the Budget, had it contained any.
As it happens, I've been reading "Londongrad: from Russia with Cash" by Mark Hollingsworth and Andrew Lansley, a book drawn to my attention by a 2009 Channel 4 Dispatches programme about the influence of oligarch money over peers of all parties.
"Londongrad" draws attention to the impact of Russian oligarchs on the Capital and hinterlands, re-inforcing the City's role as the world's premiere financial centre in the noughties, and contributing to the domination of the UK economy by a small number of geographically concentrated business sectors.
In short, the book draws attention to some fundamental failures of governance, most notably in the former Soviet Union itself, but facilitated by the international community and particularly by Britain.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated story. For whilst the "Londongrad" phenomenum undoubtedly provides one of the most sensational perspectives on the world's "laundry of choice"*, as one African commentator describes some of the Capital's financial and property services, many other countries have lost out to Britain's failures of governance, as well as their own.
Indeed, this might very well be described as "The New British Problem", and there is little evidence that any of the nation's main parties have the wherewithal to tackle it, as last year's Dispatches programme illustrated very well.
For the inconvenient truth is that the British economy is now dependent on its role as the world's "laundry of choice", and it is notable that the Chancellor has postponed the introduction of a higher rate of stamp duty on properties over £1 million until next year, something which will undoubtedly encourage a flurry of international purchases in the meantime.
* BBC Radio 4 "File on 4" 31.10.2006
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