Defeatist talk at Tesco points to a long, hard turnaround Underlying turnover from the foreign shops grew by a measly 0.5pc, with the low-lights including slowing sales in China and Hungary and a fall in Turkey. In America, where Tesco's Fresh & Easy stores are yet to make a profit, the previous quarter's 12.3pc growth is down to 3.6pc. While a slowdown was expected after three years of rising sales, the magnitude surprised. Clarke points out, fairly enough, that with the eurozone in meltdown, it's no surprise to see the brakes go on in the factories of eastern Europe and China, with a knock-on effect on local consumers. It's true too that, with the cost of a tank of petrol up from £45 two years ago to £70 today, shoppers have less in their pocket for all those Tesco goodies. But the defeatist talk is not what you expect from a Tesco boss - not least his admission that once rivals like a resurgent Sainsbury's started dishing out the coupons, the market leader had no option but to follow. Over time, the under-invested UK looks fixable. And Clarke is right that, when the world economy eventually turns, few retailers are better placed than Tesco to capitalise. But, having delivered his Big Price Drop routine over Christmas, taking 16pc off the shares in a single day, Clarke has plenty to prove. The shares closed as flat as the market at 302.8p. Vodka can only numb so much investor pain. A bailout's a bailout, whatever Spain's Humpty Dumpty PM might claim When he's finished as Spain's PM, an acting career awaits for Mariano Rajoy. He'd make a fine Humpty Dumpty in any staged version of Through the Looking Glass: "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." He tried that this weekend with the word "bailout." And, look where it got him. True, there was a rally yesterday morning on news the Eurogroup could pump up to €100bn into Spain's bombed-out banks. But, with much of that priced in already, the market worked out sharpish that any bank bailout amounted to just that for Madrid. As the CEBR noted, Spain's debt-to-GDP ratio was now heading for 87pc by the end of 2012 versus the 78pc previously forecast by the IMF. Who cares if the money technically comes in via the FROB, Spain's bank bailout fund? But that's just for starters. Whatever Rajoy may pretend, Spain's banking crisis and sovereign debt crisis are inextricably linked. And Credit Suisse reckons the banks could need almost €250bn. Then there's the typical eurofudge over whether the money will be advanced by the existing bailout fund - the European Financial Stability Facility - or its replacement, the European Stability Mechanism. Where private bondholders rank as creditors could turn on how exactly the ESM is ratified. No wonder Spanish bond yields are still hovering around 6.5pc. The boozing and betting industries have a point when it comes to job creation Business in Sport & Leisure may be talking its book. Its members span the boozing and betting industries. But it does have a point. In a report due on Tuesday, it says the leisure sector employs more than one in five 16-25 year olds. But the Government has slapped it with extra taxes and regulations costing £3.2bn since 2010. VAT at 20pc on hotels and attractions, for example, is just about the highest in Europe. BISL urges a VAT cut to 5pc on such leisure pursuits and national insurance exemptions for companies employing jobless youngsters. That would help create 440,000 jobs in the industry, it reckons, by 2020. For a Government that needs a growth policy, the report's worth a look.