A year ago Posted 31 March 1998 The PM of the UK, Tony Blair, will spend a fortune educating young people to tackle the millennium bug, he said yesterday, with a task force ready by April next year. But that will give the estimated 20,000 bug busters only eight months to fix systems in the UK, meaning that after the British Government has spent an estimated £100 million after this month’s budget, the trainees will be left with largely useless Cobol skills. The light at the end of the tunnel is that in 2042 there will be another problem with dates, on Unix-based systems, but it is expected few if any of the trainees will feel like brushing up on their long-forgotten skills. Blair is devoting no money towards the estimated £3 billion that the UK public sector needs, but instead is targeting small to medium sized businesses. Blair has looked increasingly harassed by his task as head of Cool Britannia. During the Budget Speech, earlier this month, he looked worried as his Chancellor, Gordon Brown, spelled out the future for UK citizens. The Register wonders whether, like Dorien Grey, he has a picture of UK comedian Jasper Carrott in his attic at 10 Downing Street. ®