UK plc’s finances might be in a sorry state but they are far from being a state secret. On the contrary, the March Budget made the extent of the country’s financial woes painfully clear. Despite the government’s attempts to get on top of its debts by raising VAT and cutting public spending, the annual budget deficit for 2012/13 was £120.9bn, a minuscule drop on last year’s shortfall of £121bn and one that was only achieved by delaying payments to the World Bank and the EU.

Meanwhile, the public sector net debt was £1.2trn (a terrifying 73.5% of GDP) at the end of February 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics. And the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned that the national debt will keep rising until 2016/17, when it will hit 85.6% of gross national output. Ouch.