It was, ludicrously enough, the chancellor’s stated intention of taking a ride in a driverless vehicle that said more than anything else about the parlous state of the British government in these trouble-torn times. Or, rather, the reaction of those who, laughably, are responsible for the government’s public image and who then felt it necessary to ensure that there would be no circumstances whatever, not the slightest possibility, no glimmer of an opportunity, for Philip Hammond to be allowed even to look at, let alone be photographed near, any kind of car, lorry, truck or van which did not have a driver.