The Chancellor’s announcement of £2.3bn extra for research and development is a con.

This £2.3bn only just about replaces the money British firms were receiving from the European Investment Fund, so this is merely substitute money.

British firms are already finding their funding is drying up as Brexit looms, yet there is hardly a British tech company that hasn’t benefited from the European Investment Fund.

It is no surprise that the pound plummeted during Philip Hammond’s speech – if the Chancellor were on I’m a Celebrity, he would have been voted out of the Jungle.