The budget deficit is out of control, national debt is rising inexorably and the great Harriet Harman has come up with this, from The Times :

Harriet Harman has declared war on the culture of corporate entertainment in lap-dancing clubs, saying that businessmen will no longer be able to claim back tax on their expenses.

The Equalities Minister said that taxpayers should not subsidise evenings out that excluded women on the team and supported the wider sex industry.

It is the tax that companies claim back for entertaining staff and clients that is in Ms Harman’s sights.

Forgive us for splitting hairs here but the huge amounts of money poured into the economy via the stimulus are going to be subsidising all sorts of things HH might not like – directly and indirectly. And yes some of these things might genuinely need some equality control.

But given the state of the economy, making this a tax issue is like looking down the wrong end of a telescope.