The idea of a universal citizen’s income may seem utopian but it’s in fashion. Swiss voters have just considered it in a referendum (though they rejected it by a wide margin). John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said last week that Labour’s next election manifesto might include a commitment to pilot such a scheme.

The point of a basic income is to provide an unconditional flat-rate payment to all citizens regardless of their employment status. It’s a proposal that has broad political support from free-market libertarians, who want to shrink and simplify welfare, to left-wingers such as Mr McDonnell and the Greens, who believe that a universal payment will ameliorate the problem of low pay and poverty. It also has more mainstream political supporters, including my