Escape from scandal

Britian | Cricket helps take the mind off bleak economy and politicians' malfeasance | Daniel Olasky

Christopher Lee/Getty Images for Abacus

LONDON—The format of a British tabloid forces you to choose your priorities. The front page shouts "RECESSION!" and "SCANDAL!"—but many readers flip over the whole thing and start at the back, with cricket.

If talk about the recession is difficult to escape in the United States, in the United Kingdom it's a practical impossibility. The nation's economy has been hit hard, very hard, by the financial crisis, and on the ground the signs are everywhere. The Recession Special is the marketing ploy of choice this year, offering budget prices on everything from haircuts to electronics. The pound has fallen against the Euro and the dollar. An ugly, anger-driven scandal is breaking in the press, as a mole leaked copies of astoundingly bloated expense accounts of Members of Parliament from both major political parties.