Gordon Brown has delivered his last budget of this Parliament. If you’re a pensioner, have children, want to buy a house for up to 120k or have moderately wealthy relatives about to shuffle off this mortal coil then you’re quids in. If you want to have a beer to celebrate it’ll cost you a penny more. If you want a glass of wine you’ll have to drink that yucky sweet stuff, or pay an extra 4p a bottle. If you’re single, living in rented accommodation and have no family and are in need of a fag, it’ll cost you 7p more a packet.

Howard says that it’s a ‘vote now, pay later’ budget, which does seem appropriate as we’re supposed to be a credit culture. The rest of Howard’s speech was very dodgy. That isn’t an assessment of it, he just shouted it a lot.