It is not yet a break-up, but things will never be the same again. The relationship between British business and Gordon Brown’s Labour government – always fragile – has been seriously weakened by last year’s decision to raise capital gains tax sharply for entrepreneurs.

Last week, the outcry from business forced the government to announce an “entrepreneurs’ relief” that keeps the tax unchanged for the first £1m ($2m, €1.3m) of lifetime gains. But the inept way in which the original proposal was announced and the delay in offering a concession still seen by most as inadequate has undermined Mr Brown’s claim to be pro-enterprise.