If further evidence were needed that Alistair Darling’s autumn statement was ill-judged, it came in the flurry of e-mails yesterday from overexcited accountants. The Chancellor’s tax changes, according to one from Carolyn Steppler, private client tax director at KPMG, meant that: “Second-home owners, or investors holding buy-to-let property, scored a hat-trick of good news.” Capital gains tax has, in effect, been cut by 22 per cent for people with country homes; couples can make the most of the new inheritance tax rules, encompassing potential profits on second property investments; and VAT is coming down on home improvements. What next, a tax break from a Labour Government for buyers of Sunseeker powerboats and Boeing business jets?

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