If one had closed ones eyes and were not well versed in Scottish accents, Gordon Brown might still have been chancellor. Alistair Darling was at least Brown-light – briefer and less bombastic. But he offered thin gruel. This pre-Budget report must have been designed as the first shot in an election battle. If so, it offered little that was novel. It showed New Labour’s traditional virtues and familiar flaws, including an inheritance tax “change”, aimed at spiking the Tory guns, that was barely a change at all.

Mr Darling was entitled to point to the continued good performance of the UK economy. It is the government’s proudest boast. As he noted, inflation is again expected to hit the target this year; while growth is expected to be 3 per cent, a faster rate than in all the other members of the Group of Seven leading countries. His forecast for next year is 2 to 2.5 per cent, half a percentage point lower than forecast in the Budget last March, with little subsequent rebound. This is plausible. But nobody knows what the credit freeze will do to the economy.