The last government were extremely proud of the car-scrappage scheme that they borrowed from Obama. They spent £400m to ensure the UK scraped out of recession – which it did, just, with January’s paltry 0.1% growth figure. The scheme was then extended until February.

Today’s figures reveal that new car registrations are up 10%, without the government incentives to buy, raising serious questions about the need for the scheme in the first place, or the extension, both of which were against Treasury advice. The fact that the subsidy equally went overseas to German and Japanese manufacturers was glossed over by Mandelson.

The numbers pour water on Labour’s current attempts to deny that they were spending more and promising the world because it was an election year. How can they possible jusitify this £400m political spending, forced through only to ensure the UK came out of recession before election day?