Anti-smoking lobbyists ASH wasted no time in condemning last week’s Budget, calling it “another missed opportunity to clamp down on smuggling”.

The 2 per cent duty increases would “do little” to reduce the scourge of smoking, chief executive Deborah Arnott complained.

Perhaps they wrote the figures on the back of a fag packet, as three hours later red-faced press officers released another statement clarifying that the tax increases would be “based on a forward projection to September 2009 of a negative rate of inflation (ie deflation)”, so were “in line with ASH’s calls”. So that’s clear then.