George Osborne's axe falls early

What month is it again? We all thought George Osborne's axe was hanging in the air until the coalition's austerity package lands next month. But recession or no, it feels like austerity Britain. Last week, defence group BAE Systems said it was cutting nearly 1,000 jobs, while 700 more were lost at Connaught, the social housing group that fell into administration last week. BAE chief executive Ian King's comments at last week's defence select committee were chilling. He claimed the cancellation of a £5bn contract for two Royal Navy aircraft carriers would jeopardise Britain's entire shipbuilding industry – an embarrassment for a government intent on replacing casino banking with good old manufacturing. Is this the first time Whitehall has delivered efficiency gains ahead of schedule? If that's the case, it might do us more harm than good.