Will Knifecrime Island have the biggest boot sale ever? "Sell off the Queen's swans. Make lawmakers work for free. Force prison inmates to generate cheap power on the treadmill. As Britain's government decides how to make the toughest spending cuts in decades, it has asked the public for help. The result? A list of wild ideas on how to save money – proposals that Treasury chief George Osborne insists will be seriously considered as he draws up a five-year austerity plan."

I understand the difficult budgetary position in which the current British government finds itself, but I would be extremely cautious about making some of these proposed changes. [...]