‘Would we let our coins be made in New York?” Jacob Rees-Mogg was asking himself this question as though it were a rhetorical one — as though the obvious answer were “no”.

The answer is plainly “yes”. The Royal Mint makes coins for many foreign countries. De La Rue, which manufactures in Mr Rees-Mogg’s Somerset constituency, makes notes for countries all around the world, and used to make notes for the eurozone. The last thing they or the Royal Mint want is for the Rees-Moggs of Botswana or Qatar to start asking the equivalent question.

Surprising, then, that Rees-Mogg took that stance? Surprising that this fairweather cheerleader for free trade would castigate the award of a contract to manufacture Britain’s new “blue” passports to by