The Budget _#

Been sat getting on with some work with the Budget on in the background.

Is it me or are the numerous silly little on-screen graphics getting out of hand? It's like they discovered a few years ago they could have David Dimbleby walk around some virtual swingometer on voting day, and every year since the graphics have just become more & more obscure and (dare I use that clichéed phrase) dumbed-down.

Today's presentation included a strange Lego model of Gordon Brown walking around on the desk doing nothing in particular, followed by a bunch of 3D Lego models of ambulances and other symbolic gestures to show where the money was going.

What do these things actually achieve? What's wrong with a caption 'Health & NHS: 10% increase' and a description by the presenter about the implications.

Instead we get 'ooh look it's a Lego Gordon Brown' and a bunch of dribble about how smart their graphics are.

I didn't get the chance to switch over to other channels' coverage, but given ITV's news coverage normally seems to feature a presenter in a faux blue room with huge graphics swirling around I've hardly got much hope of a better alternative.