As Guido is reduced to knocking back the cheap €2 rosé instead of the Margaux this summer he is heartened to know that official figures show the government stockpile of booze is worth £647,000. The ‘Hospitality Wine Cellar’ holds some 35,000 bottles.

The average bottle in the cellar costs more than £18, nearly four times the price of the average taxpayer’s tipple. Us alcoholics pay £7.7 billion a year in booze tax, whilst politicians drink the best vintages at our expense. Snouts in the trough slurping up the wine…