Given that just last week Will Hutton’s Work Foundation (formerly the Industrial Society) went into insolvency and had to be bought out by a third-rate university, it seems a little odd that they are still managing to sponsor events. Pitched as “the leading independent authority on work and its future”, the think-tank’s future is far from secure and Hutton, it’s well paid head-honcho, is just about still in work. The Foundation has a £27m black-hole of unfunded pension liabilities, which makes Hutton’s claims that the country’s debts are not a problem a little hard to swallow.

Given the particularly miserable breed of lefty is now a government advisor on high pay, will he be pointing out that his own vast salary couldn’t have made life easy for the ailing think-tank? A while back Guido reported that Hutton was earning more than £180,000, there’s still no sign of an up to date set of accounts, but last year’s figures highlight the irony and hypocrisy of the whole situation. If Hutton wants to keep his job, he should probably consider a pay cut…