Hapless incompetent darling, placed there as the scapegoat for a decade of brown's building of debt. Now they're flailing around trying to get the UK to spend its way out of the crisis. The UK is not the US. When will the Brits see through these fools and Mandelson's hollow spinning

A J Britt, Brussels, Belgium

If anyone actually believes the comments Darling is making he is either an optimist or a fool. The facts are simple - Labour has made a hash of the financials and our children have already received their legacy. A layman understands the financial carnage and so does Darling

julian, newbury, england

Things won't improve till this bunch of crooks and ne'er do wells with their ridiculous policies are kicked out of office.

Paul, Milton Keynes, UK

The problem for the UK is that it does not 'make' anything any longer, not even enough food for itself , Russians have the gas and oil and Europe is not going to help. Get back to self sufficiency and be independent. Oh and while you are about it get rid of Brown et al.They never did have a clue.

Grey, Auckland, New Zealand

The most depressing news is that Darling claims actually to think. What of?

Dave, Slough,

We have been in this "hole" since the Northern Rock crises of Sept 2007. Early last year, businesses were screaming for interest rate cuts while the government insisted that inflation was more relevant. Darling conveniently ignored the obvious in the Nov 08 budget, was he honest?

Femi, Ilford, UK

Wake up Mr. Darling. I wrote a news letter for my company in Nov 08, stating that the UK economy and indeed the world economy will not see any recovery until 2010-2011. I am just a mere mortal, how can anyone with the most inteligent advisors in the world make such a bad call?

Tim Grosvenor, Bury St Edmunds, UK

I own a small business and if it fails where will the bail out come from? Same old story - bankers create the mess get baled out we all have to suffer the consequences. Never trust them again and ask for the bonuses back as we didn't share in their boom times!

Richard, Manchester, UK

Leave the UK while you can, I did. Without the financial services industry to back it up it is a dead duck. It will somehow have to bring back manufacturing jobs from eastern europe to create new jobs. Many of the tippety-tappety service jobs will go...I see a burgeoning bankruptcy for the UK.

Richard, Strasbourg, Francwe

Dear old Mr Darling; he looks like a shortsighted wooly sheep and behaves like one. Talk about the blind leading the blind. this mess will take ten years to sort out just as did the Wilson/Foot/Callaghan era of annual 25% inflation in the '70's when it took Margaret Thatcher a decade to put right.

John Bentley, Loule, Portugal

Evidence? Everyone was screaming at them last year and they did nothing. Now companys have had to give up.

What they mean is they hoped we would recover on our own so they could claim victory. Now it turns out we actually needed leadership they failed every business in Britain.

rich, worcester, worcestershire

There will be a bottom at the end of this long drop, but what shape will the UK be in when it hits it given the country is bouncing off the walls on its way down?

James Dene, Dorking, UK

Every treasury forecast since Brown took over in 1997 has been hopelessly optimistic. Why should anyone be surprised about this last one. Darling just hasn't got a clue.

Ian, London, UK

At least Darling is being honest. Who knows how long this recession will be and how deep? Certainly not the financial analysts. Certainly not the ECB, who seem to be completely reactive to events, not proactive. Look for no recovery until at the best late 2010.

Peter, Guildford,