George Osborne performed his main role at conference: to produce some good news to deflect attention from defection and deviance. Abolishing death taxes while targeting tax avoiders sounds good and the Tory faithful loved it. And this is good news on the cheap.

The Treasury estimates that the move will cost £150m in a total government budget which is estimated to be £732 billion in 2014-15. It does not cost much because it will only benefit a small number of prosperous pensioners. And the conference also loved the freeze on working-age benefits; which means a cut in real terms for the unemployed and those on low incomes.

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