Work is good. Work generates wealth, makes people happier and, maybe, delivers salvation. The Protestant work ethic is much disputed among sociologists and economic historians, but most people accept that some level of work is both necessary and desirable. This makes it all the more troubling that, buried in the OBR data under the Budget, are signposts to a future Britain where fewer people work at all – and where those who do are working less.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says the labour force participation rate is forecast to fall ever so slightly, from 63.5 per cent in 2024 to 63.4 per cent in 2029. A tenth of a percentage point over five years is not huge. But thinking about the economic future, does anyone think that Britain needs the share of the population that’s not working to be rising?

The story of the Budget is the faintly tragic tale of a country drifting away from work

And the OBR’s footnotes tell a sobering story: participation is falling because Britain is ageing and getting sicker. Long-term sickness keeps rising and is pushing up incapacity benefit caseloads. This is not the country becoming more efficient and so able to make do with fewer workers; it’s a nation quietly becoming........

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