The UK economy is growing strongly – far more strongly, I am pleased to admit, than I expected. Is all well, then? No. The economy is unbalanced and growth prospects are poor. The UK must not mistake a recovery for a triumph.

This is not to deny the good news. Forecasters expect the economy to grow 3 per cent this year, according to data from Consensus Economics, IS THIS CORRECT?against 2.2 per cent in the US, 2 per cent in Germany, 1.5 per cent in Japan and a miserable 1.1 per cent in the eurozone. The Bank of England has done a better job than the European Central Bank of hitting its inflation target. In the year to April, inflation was 1.8 per cent in the UK, against 0.7 per cent in the eurozone. Unemployment is down, too. In the three months to April it stood at 6.6 per cent; it was 7.8 per cent a year before.

Fast growth, falling unemployment and inflation on target: what is there in all this that one should not like?