The assiduous Chris Hope, Whitehall editor of the Daily Telegraph, has finally got to the bottom of how much Gordon Brown's decision to sell off part of Britain's gold reserves actually cost the country - a staggering £4.7bn.
That's more than twice previous estimates.
At the prime minister's Downing Street press conference in May last year, I asked Brown whether he regretted the move, but he insisted it had been prudent to ensure the nation had a more balanced portfolio.
According to today's report, Brown sanctioned the sale of 395 tonnes of the UK's gold between 1999 and 2002. Hope wrote:
The total proceeds from the sales was around $3.5bn. According to a parliamentary answer, if the gold was sold last month, on Dec 15, it would have fetched $10.5bn. The difference $7bn - would be worth £4.7bn if the proceeds were converted into sterling yesterday.
Phillip Hammond, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "Gold traders confirm that it was because the government announced in advance that it was planning to sell such a large quantity of gold that the markets became depressed. The low price Gordon Brown got for selling our gold wasn't caused by bad luck. It was a staggering display of economic incompetence."
