‘I know that maybe 6 per cent of my salary is deducted each month to go into the Media Corp pension fund, and that Media Corp puts in more than that.’

‘Correct.’ She nods, eager to show off. ‘And in twenty-five years’ time, that money’s going to come back to you as a pension, as a proportion of your salary just before retirement – probably two-thirds of it, if you keep up the payments. But what happens to your savings in the meantime?’

‘Please don’t patronise me.’

‘But it’s irresistible,’ she flashes back with a grin. ‘Anyway you presumably know that they invest the money in assorted assets, mostly in shares and bonds.’

‘Yup. I sort of knew that.’

‘And, twice a year, the shares they buy pay income to them, in the form of dividends.’

‘I’m still with you.’

Jess explains that the dividends are reinvested by the pension funds, to buy even more shares, which earn more dividends, so that the funds grow in value and the promised pensions can eventually be paid. She leans forward. ‘This is where it gets counter-intuitive and weird – almost as if the system was designed by Lewis Carroll.’

‘Like so much that comes out of the Treasury.’

‘True.’ She gives me a lesson on the subtle but important link between superannuation and fiscal policy. ‘When companies pay dividends, those dividends are taken from profits on which corporation tax is levied. But pension funds don’t have to pay tax. They are what is known as tax-exempt institutions, as are charities. And when a pension fund receives a dividend, the government tops up the payment by giving back to the pension fund the tax that the company has paid on it. To put it another way, each dividend comes with an associated tax credit, which the pension fund can turn into cash. I know this is complicated, but are you still with me?’ she asks.

‘To be honest, I am starting to lose the will to live.’

‘Sorry. But in the end all you really need to know is this: those tax credits are worth at least five billion pounds a year to pension schemes, probably more, in fact. And Clare seems to have come up with a plan to abolish those tax credits. Which would increase the revenues of the government by the corresponding amount. So at least five billion pounds a year.’

I am no longer bored. ‘You’re telling me Clare found a way to raise five billion pounds every single year?’ That, I can see, would be a big deal.