Mark Andrews on today's Budget: Sombre preamble as Chancellor begins his farewell tour

Had Mr Hunt been through some Life on Mars-style transformation, and returning to his time as Foreign Secretary, was now about to about to make a declaration of war? A huge sigh of relief, then, when it became clear he was announcing a war memorial for Muslim soldiers, rather than the impending end of the world.

Well that's one way to get the public's attention. The Government would commit £1 million towards the cost of a monument, following representations from outgoing Bromsgrove MP, and former chancellor, Sajid Javid, Mr Hunt told a hushed Commons.

The solemnity lasted for all of two minutes.

"Despite the most inclement economic headwinds..." he began the business end of his speech, to predictable jeers from the Labour benches. Normal service had resumed.

"You can't get excited yet!" shouted Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing, reminding the honourable members that the convention is to ridicule the Chancellor after he has spoken. Even so it was asking a lot for them to keep quiet when he boasted that he and the Prime Minister had inherited inflation at 11 per cent. And, er, who had been in charge before that? Sadly, with all eyes on the guffawing opposition benches, we did not get the chance of seeing the reactions of Liz Truss or Kwasi Karteng, but I'm sure they would have nodded in dutiful agreement.

Madam Deputy Speaker, who had announced the start of the budget in the sort of melodious tone usually reserved for flight safety demonstrations, was now going full schoolmarm.

"This is not amusing anymore," she growled in a cultured Scottish brogue. "I can tell who is making the noise, and you won't get the chance to speak later," she warned, probably threatening to take their conkers of them as well.

Unlike his predecessor, who thought the Office for Budget Responsibility worked best with a mute button, Mr Hunt rolled off a stream of OBR forecasts, and the news was generally good – well sort of. Inflation would fall to below two per cent in the next few months, a year ahead of previous forecasts, and headline debt would drop to 'just 94 per cent' of GDP, although it perhaps says a lot about the times we are in that debt levels of 94 per cent are now considered cause for celebration. In fairness, the UK had the second lowest debt levels in the G7, which makes you wonder what life must be like in other countries.

Presumably with an eye on trying to salvage as many marginal seats as possible, he continually rolled off a list of MPs who had successfully lobbied for policy changes. So, according to the Chancellor, we should raise a glass to Marco Longhi, MP for Dudley North, for persuading him to freeze beer duty, although the credit for that must also be shared with a councillor in Mr Hunt's Surrey constituency, and even the landlord of his local pub. Maybe he should start taking listener's dedications as well.

As always seems to be the case these days, the changes announced were something of an anti-climax. The 2p cut to National Insurance, the freeze on fuel duty and taxes on vapes and tobacco had all been leaked days before. There was certainly none of the theatre you used to get with Nigel Lawson, whose swingeing tax cuts were met with rousing cheers.

Perhaps setting traps for a future Labour government, many of his cost-of-living 'goodies' will expire in February next year, giving his probable successor the unenviable decision about whether to extend help or to end it.

How bittersweet, therefore, must he have found the OBR forecasts which suggested encouraging levels of growth over the next five years. Unfortunately for him, he is unlikely to be around to bask in the credit.