The lead story is the same in today's Telegraph and Times. It is that average household incomes fell last year after tax and benefits. This is very unusual; it has not happened for over a decade. Since the economy has continued to grow, it appears to be a direct result of the huge tax rises imposed on it, including the Chancellor's much-favoured 'stealth' taxes.

With an election imminent, the timing of these figures is bad news, and rather undermines the 'everyone is better off' claim. It is particularly bad news for the economic analysts who have spotted that the black hole in the nation's finances mean that taxes will have to increase after the election. That will probably lead to a further fall in the spending power which has sustained the economy. Time to jump ship?