Ken Clarke is at 16/1 to fall asleep during tomorrow’s Budget speech, while bookies will only give 8/1 on Vince Cable yawning during the set-piece parliamentary event.
Bookies Ladbrokes believe Mr Clarke, the former Tory chancellor, might find George Osborne’s speech a little too much to handle and might fall asleep completely. They believe that Mr Cable, the business secretary, will probably stay awake – but might not be able to stifle the odd yawn.
Among other odds, Mr Osborne is at 33/1 to mention the phrase “big bucks”, while Ladbrokes have just narrowed the odds on the use of the phrase “long run” from 6/1 to 4/1 (it also happens to be the name of the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner).
Early money indicates that “red tape” (6/4 from 2/1) and “earthquake” (2/1 from 3/1) may be mentioned, although "deficit" remains the 1/50 favourite with “frontline services” a solid 1/2 shot.
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In the tie colour market, purple is a steady 2/1 favourite with red a live outsider at 12/1. “Perhaps Osborne had a few quid on the Gold Cup winner," said Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes, "as punters seem to think he'll name-drop him in his budget speech!” Ladbrokes latest betting What will he say? Exact words or phrases the chancellor uses in his speech: Deficit – 1/50 Budget for growth – 1/5 Economic stability – 1/5 Frontline services – 1/2 Tough choices – Evens Hard-working families – 6/4 Red tape – 6/4 (from 2/1) Climate change – 2/1 Earthquake – 2/1 (from 3/1) Sound public finances – 2/1 Double dip – 2/1 We're all in this together – 2/1 Tuition fees – 5/2 Meltdown – 5/2 Libya – 3/1 Humility – 3/1 Rescue mission – 4/1 Big Society – 4/1 Long run – 4/1 (from 6/1) Labour's mess – 5/1 Plan B – 6/1 Socialism – 6/1 Twitter – 16/1 Big bucks – 33/1 Champagne – 33/1 Length of speech: Under 55 minutes – 5/6 Over 55 minutes – 5/6 Colour of chancellor's tie: Purple – 2/1 Blue – 3/1 Green – 7/1 Pink – 10/1 Grey – 12/1 Red – 12/1 Yellow – 16/1 Orange – 25/1 Brown – 25/1 Black – 25/1 White – 33/1 (Applies to predominant colour of tie. Dead Heat Rules may apply. Others on request.) Other specials: Vince Cable to yawn during speech – 8/1 Ken Clarke to fall asleep during speech – 16/1 George Osborne to drop the red briefcase – 20/1 Ed Miliband's phone to go off during speech – 33/1Donate to us: support independent, intelligent, in-depth Scottish journalism from just 3p a day
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