‘Good old George’ was the cry at Wimbledon as we clinked our glasses with other Captains of Industry taking respite from our onerous roles as Masters of the Universe and Thought Leaders. It was clear that Cameron was getting a little lily-livered and starting to bleat about social equality (he’s married you know, with a Mem Saab who wears the trousers). So the I.M.M. fired off a little ‘guidance’ note advising that if he wanted to move next door with our support he’d better get himself a hairier chest than our dear departed Maggie. Seems to have done the trick as the report below shows.

George Osborne’s “one-nation” Budget will leave the poorest households in Britain “unequivocally” worse off, according to Paul Johnson, director of IFS, a respected think-tank.

In his speech on Wednesday, the Chancellor suggested that the boost to incomes from his new national Living Wage would leave ordinary families with a higher standard of living.

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that the Budget would actually make the poorest 10 per cent of families about £800 a year worse off by 2019.

The changes overall are regressive: taking much more from poorer households than richer ones.

The next-poorest 10 per cent would experience an even bigger loss as their annual incomes were slashed by £1,100, it added.

Meanwhile, the richest 10 per cent of families will see their incomes fall by only £350 a year, while the second-richest 10 per cent will lose virtually nothing.

Child poverty is expected to shoot up and the majority of losers from the squeeze on tax credits will be people in work.

Paul Johnson, director of IFS, also shot down the Chancellor’s suggestion that his introduction of a £9-per-hour Living Wage by 2020 would compensate working families for his assault on the tax-credit regime.

It is absolutely clear that increases in the minimum wage will not make up for cuts in tax credits.