Robert Peston – with his bizarrely pompous (some deliciously call it “ragged and querulous”) delivery manner and risible dyed hair – is Britain’s hack du jour.

If there’s a financial story to be broken he’ll break it, despite apparently having the economic gravitas of Derek Trotter.

So it’s amusing to note that, last Friday afternoon, this prediction appeared on Peston’s blog:

So which taxes will rise?

Well my prediction is VAT…  [A] deferred increase from 17.5% to 22.5% in the VAT rate would raise around £20bn.

Captain Darling, House of Commons, 24 November 2008:

I therefore propose to cut VAT from 17½ to 15 per cent until the end of next year. This reduction will come into effect next Monday, 1 December.

Hard to believe the BBC could find a business editor more absurd than Jeff Randall, but…

This is the Ministry’s 500th post.  Help yourself to a cigar.