The BBC reports that Sir Richard Branson has come out in favour of spending cuts to deal with the crisis in the public finances. He joins a number of senior economists who wrote a joint letter to the Sunday Times that I blogged about earlier this week. It's hard to disagree with any of this:
"Sir Richard, one of the UK's most high-profile businessmen, said he agreed with arguments that cuts must begin this year and politicians needed to give a "clear signal" over the issue.
"I believe the UK's record budget deficit does pose a serious risk to our recovery," he told the Evening Standard.
"It would be damaging if we lost the confidence of the markets through delayed action and saw interest rates have to go up steeply.
"The next government, whatever party that is, must set out a plan to reduce the bulk of the deficit over a Parliament by cutting wasteful spending and must not put off those tough decisions to next year."