The challenge facing Alistair Darling as he presented his first Budget was to reclaim his reputation in business for being rather dull. His brief spell in office had transformed him from a mild-mannered time-server into the Byronic Chancellor: mad, bad and impoverishing to know. This was the man who had ravished the shareholders of a mortgage bank and condemned non-domiciled residents to higher tax with a cavalier flourish of his quill. The plea from business as he stepped up to the despatch box on Wednesday was: “Underwhelm us.”

The timing was promising for this. A man who schedules an important presentation for Cheltenham week, suggesting no one had invited him to an on-course jolly, is unlikely to say anything wild. As Mr Darling droned away, one could not help sinking back into one’s seat like a collapsing soufflé. A possible charge on plastic shopping bags? Fair enough. A £12m fund to encourage women entrepreneurs? Sure. A showroom tax on gas guzzlers? Whatever.