I get a bung from the unjust steward — he must be due for an audit

Gordon Brown is a son of the manse, so he will have been brought up on the Parable of the Unjust Steward. As stewards have been known to do, this one, we are told, had been fiddling the figures, and realised that his accounts would soon be audited. When that day came, he knew, he would need friends — so now was the time to ingratiate himself with his customers. He hurried about to offer them rebates and discounts. Can it be that the Chancellor has borrowed this idea from holy scripture? First of all he sends me an entirely welcome tax rebate. Then he follows it up with a straightforward £400 bung. Half of it, he explains, is a winter fuel payment to help me pay my heating bill. The other half, rather bleakly described as an age-related payment, is to help with my council tax bill. The whole bung is tax-free, so that when grossed up it will be quite worth having, and I don’t have to spend it on council tax or fuel.