Due to archaic Westminster rules, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is permitted a glass of something stronger when delivering a budget in the House of Commons.

Kenneth Clarke was the last to take advantage of the rule, opting for a dram in 1996.

I would never condone drinking at work, but Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget last week was so utterly underwhelming and sleep-inducing, it left me wishing he’d produce a hip flask to liven things up.

In all seriousness, the scale of challenge the UK faces needed a big response; an unleashing of ideas to help struggling families, address the cost-of-living crisis and boost the economy. What we heard was tinkering by a Chancellor out of touch and out of ideas.

Let’s consider just how bad the situation is after 13 years of UK Tory stewardship.

UK National debt under the party of ‘strong and stable’ government is £2.6 trillion - £91,000 per UK household. Interest payments to service that debt will be £120 billion this year - more than six times Scotland’s entire annual NHS Budget

UK inflation, which pushes up the price of everything we purchase, is at a 41-year peak and higher than other developed countries.

Energy bills are double last year’s, while the International Monetary Fund forecasts that the UK will endure steeper economic decline than Russia this year; a country bogged down in a brutal war of its own making and under international sanctions. UK household disposable income will fall 5.7 per cent in the next two years, the steepest decline since records began in 1957.

I could go on, but the editor advises me that the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald needs to keep some ink for next week’s paper.

There is no question that the aftermath of the pandemic and war in Ukraine has created difficulties for every economy.

However, the Tories are just a little too keen to hide behind ‘international events’ to camouflage their incompetence and the impact of their chaotic Brexit, which the Office for Budget Responsibility says will cut exports by 15 per cent this year. While the UK performs worse on almost every front than other advanced economies, Scottish households, businesses, charities and public services pay the price.

Investment in public services, infrastructure, skills, innovation, training and small business support were all lacking.

The Chancellor should also have insulated households and businesses from spiralling energy bills. Instead, he ended the £67 monthly payment on which many households have relied since October, meaning bills will actually increase.

I’m sure many readers wonder why an energy rich country like Scotland - which hit the jackpot in the 1970s in the North Sea and then won it again in the renewables age - can have so many households struggling to stay warm.

Not until Scotland takes full control of its resources and has the powers to legislate on energy policy can we expect significant change.

Until then, Scotland’s people will continue to endure policies on energy, cost of living and the economy we did not vote for.