Nothing wins votes quicker than a review of share buybacks. So, no wonder Theresa May has made it such a highlight of her 86-page meddlers charter, otherwise known as the Conservative party manifesto.

The PM wants to ensure buybacks can’t be “used artificially to hit performance targets and inflate executive pay”. And, yes, they can be used for precisely that. But why does she need to get involved? Does she think company investors are too stupid to spot a chief executive on the make and only Nanny May can ride to the rescue?

It’s symptomatic of the entire document. There’s barely a single area of our lives in which Mrs May isn’t planning to interfere, bringing her special brand of small-minded, sanctimonious nannying. And, when