Germany’s Gerhard Schroeder managed a narrow election win this autumn on the back of natural disaster (his response to severe flooding earlier in the year had been widely praised) and anti-American posturing. He must now be cursing his good luck. The economy looks ever sicker (not helped, of course, by years of over-regulation) and yet the ’stability pact’ that accompanied the imposition of the Euro has now led the hapless chancellor to the conclusion that he should raise taxes – an unconventional approach to take in the face of a slowdown, to say the least.

Many Germans are not impressed. As this report reveals thousands are now quite literally mailing Schroeder the shirts off their backs. He’s selling them and giving the proceeds to the unemployed. This is just as well – the number of unemployed has just passed the psychologically and politically important 4,000,000 number – nearly ten percent of the work force