Atax on sugar in soft drinks, the proceeds of which will go to encourage sport in schools, was the one headline-catching item in Wednesday’s Budget by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, which was to everybody’s taste – except perhaps the manufacturers’. There is no doubt that they have behaved irresponsibly by packing their drinks for children with large quantities of habit-forming sugar, thereby fuelling an obesity crisis. This Conservative Government, said Mr Osborne, is not afraid to use taxation for socially beneficial purposes.

That raises the issue, however, why he favoured this socially beneficial purpose over any others, which were hardly mentioned. He made it marginally easier for young families to save up to buy a home, but with little in the policy pipeline to improve the supply of housing, such people may find themselves running to stand still.