He may have passed through the ranks of some Britain’s most venerable institutions – St Paul's school, Magdalen College, Oxford and the Conservative party, to name but three, but when Treasury Today received an e-mail announcing that George Osborne was set to take up residence at that other pillar of the Establishment – Barclays Bank – further investigation was required. Had the UK Chancellor tired of reeling in the country's run-away budget? It would seem so.