You have to admire Mervyn King’s chutzpah. The governor of the Bank of England has been speaking lately with customary self-confidence about Britain’s economic challenges. His prescription is simple: we should all agree that the Bank knows best.

Alistair Darling, it is fair to assume, is less than thrilled. The chancellor has only recently seen off Gordon Brown’s attempt to shuffle him out of the Treasury. Secure until the election, he might have seen a chance to set out his own stall.