In legal terminology, a false prospectus is a document containing untrue or misleading information intended to gull people into investing in a dubious venture.

As well as actual falsehoods, it includes statements which deliberately create a false impression and/or dishonestly hide material facts.

To distribute one is an extremely serious offence in both civil and criminal codes and can lead to the perpetrator being heavily fined or even imprisoned.

At the end of Sir Keir Starmer’s first full calendar year in office, it becomes ever clearer that the Labour manifesto was just such a document.

Despite his pious pledge that he would bring integrity back to politics, his administration has been marked by dishonesty. He presented himself as a man of substance who would put the national interest first and ‘govern for every single person in this country’.

Instead, he and his gimcrack Cabinet have broken key promises that were in the manifesto and introduced a raft of divisive, unpopular policies that were not.

As prospectuses go, it could hardly have been more false. In any other walk of life, the fraud squad would now be banging down doors.

Its most egregious falsehood was that Labour wouldn’t raise taxes on working people. The manifesto set out increases of £8.5billion by 2028/29, to be funded by raids on non-doms, private schools and oil and gas firms.

Despite Keir Starmer’s pious pledge, his administration has been marked by dishonesty. And under his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the tax take has soared by £66billion in just two budgets

The postponement of elections, David Lammy’s planned assault on jury trial, stuffing the Lords with yet more patsy peers, the introduction of digital identity cards

Under his hapless Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, a woman clearly drowning in the enormity of her role, the tax take has rocketed by a staggering £66billion in just two budgets.

She insists on blaming the Tories for leaving a ‘secret’ £22billion black hole in the public finances but no one believes her. Even if it were true, what about the other £44billion? Where was that in the manifesto?

These are Labour choices which have crushed the very growth and enterprise the party’s manifesto promised to turbocharge.

The burden has fallen on all sections of society – employers, workers, farmers, pensioners, property owners, electric car drivers, those who enjoy a flutter – and that’s before upcoming sharp increases in council tax.

There have been spectacular U-turns, of course, notably over cutting winter fuel allowance and disability benefits and the inheritance tax threshold on family farms.

Sir Keir claims they showed he had been listening to the dissenters. Another interpretation is that he and Ms Reeves don’t really know what they’re doing.