Will he? Won’t he? In, out, shake it all about…the absurd little dance that the UK Chancellor, George Osborne, has appeared to do over pensions tax-relief in the past week or so is deeply worrying and not just for the palpitations it has given journalists and policywatchers in the industry.

It also underlines how policymaking, on an issue of critical long-term importance to the country, is now apparently being driven by a very small circle of people in the Treasury.