Business expressed concern at Gordon Brown’s signal of a potentially dramatic rise in climate change targets, but insisted it was “quite comfortable” with the rest of a speech welcomed by the unions as a lurch to the left.

The seemingly paradoxical reactions from the business groups and trade unions – both welcomed the prime minister’s apparent support for their members – appeared a sign of battles postponed, rather than an outbreak of consensus. Once Downing Street spells out what lies behind the rhetoric, it seems inevitable that some of the expectations springing from the speech will be confounded.