Message from the Dutch bottle

Political drama every day in Europe. We are about to see a new president in France, while in Greece the traditional parties have shrivelled in the polls as austerity bites. The Dutch government of Mark Rutte was taken down by Geert Wilders. Here in the UK the Conservative-LibDem alliance was pummelled in local elections. Blond politicians to the fore, with Boris Johnson of the scruffy blond locks edging home to another win as London mayor. I vote for Bozza just because he's entertaining, although I think he's actually been quite effective, after a chaotic start to his first term. Wilders' blondness comes out of a bottle and although he's an attention-grabber he's a bit too off the wall for me. Both Wilders and Rutte are youngsters, still in their 40s. With 'fringe parties' on the rise in many parts of Europe, ongoing negative market buzz is never far away. The latest wheeze is to implement growth strategies to offset the austerity fatigue. Europe is chipping away at the edges. What we need to see is still greater shrinkage of the state. Governments the size of Europe's are simply unaffordable. The public sector is not suited to the creative destruction necessary for a dynamic economy. I've been saying that we'll look back in five years and be surprised how Eurozone has progressed. But a little flutter inside worries me: that too little is being done to reduce the bureaucracy and free up economies. The QSL is from Radio 10 Gold, the AM hits station in Holland, heard in London in 1995 but also audible in South Africa at the time.