Stability is the new prudence. In his first Budget speech, Alistair Darling used the new watchword more than 23 times. “Prudence”, however, never crossed his lips. This is a telling shift: prudence is a policy; stability is an aspiration. Having abandoned Gordon Brown’s sweetheart, the government hopes for the best. The UK economy should be able to weather the storms ahead. But it would have been better if the ship were carrying a smaller cargo of fiscal deficits, given the uncertainties, both global and domestic, looming ahead.

Mr Darling is Mr Brown, without the manic energy. His speech contained the usual comparisons with other members of the Group of Seven leading high-income countries today and with the (admittedly dire) performance of the Conservatives in the early 1990s. It contained a number of gimmicks for poor children, pensioners, small businesses and the environment. None looks significant, not least the vaunted policy on climate change. Overall it was a “do-next-to-nothing” Budget, with net tax increases in 2010-11 of £1.865bn, a little over 0.1 per cent of gross domestic product. Mr Darling had no room for manoeuvre – and it showed.