George Osborne in his Autumn Statement last week tried his best not to sound triumphant.

But he did sound happy.

Britain’s economic plan is working, but the job is not done. We need to secure the economy for the long term, and the biggest risk to that comes from those who would abandon the plan. We seek a responsible recovery, one in which we do not squander the gains we have made, but go on taking the difficult decisions, and one in which we do not repeat the mistakes of the past, but this time spot the debt bubbles before they threaten financial stability. We seek a responsible recovery, in which we do not pretend we can make this nation better off by writing cheques to ourselves, and instead make the hard choices. We need a Government who live within their means, in a country that pays its way in the world.

Three and a half years ago, I set out our long-term economic plan in the emergency Budget. That plan restored stability in a fiscal crisis, but it was also designed to address the deep-seated problems of unsustainable spending, uncompetitive taxes and unreformed public services for which there are no quick fixes. Over the last three years we have stuck to our guns and worked through the plan. We have done so in the face of a sovereign debt crisis abroad, and at home in the face of opposition from those who got Britain into this mess in the first place and have resisted every cut, every reform, and every effort to get us out of that mess. We have held our nerve while those who predicted there would be no growth until we turned the spending taps back on have been proved comprehensively wrong.

Andy Burnham MP managed to rock up to watch this spectacle, which he probably did not enjoy as much as being a spectator at his beloved Everton football team.

But curiously Burnham had one thing on his mind.

Burnham has a curiously big following on Twitter. His remarks were ‘retweeted’ over 500 times. So his comment that Osborne’s “turgid” speech is not as insignificant as it might first appear.

When Leighton Baines fractured his toe in the 221st Merseyside Derby, there were many fears within Evertonians that losing such an influential player would severely dent their top four ambitions.

However his replacement Bryan Oviedo, coming in as somewhat of an unknown quantity, has seized his opportunity with both hands. Bryan Oviedo was said to be beaming with a massive smile after finally getting a chance to impress at his favoured left back spot. This is not particularly surprising as the left back has had a wait nearly two years to get the chance, but the toe injury to Leighton Baines meant the talented defender finally got a chance – and he took it.

“Oviedo baby” had put in a superb performance. Oviedo told Everton TV: “I am very happy to have scored my first goal in the Premier League and also to play my first game at left-back.” “I’m also happy that the team played well today. This is a very good chance for me. Leighton is a great player but I have waited a year and a half for this chance and I am so happy to play again.”

It could be that Andy Burnham couldn’t get this recent Everton news out of his head.

Or he genuinely feels that George Osborne is a ‘star turn’ who has blossomed.

Nah……