The Charities Advisory Trust is advising people to give money to Her Majesty’s Treasury. Director Dame Hilary Blume said that she might be “the maddest person in Britain”, but that her crazy idea might just work.

It has produced a Christmas Good Gifts Catalogue, which lists such great gifts as goats, piglets, water tanks, trees and a special £20 voucher to “whittle down the national debt”. Blume claimed that she would give the vouchers to her children and grandchildren, who may or may not be thrilled to know that they are paying back to the government for Christmas.

The catalogue claims that it is a wonderful present for children and grandchildren, as it helps relieve the debt burden they will be saddled with in the years to come.

We say: An interesting idea, but Great Britain is a country that produces more than enough money without us coughing up even more to give to the government. We are to all extents and purposes, a rich country, who is overspending, but is well provisioned for with a decent health service, a half-decent infrastructure and plenty of people living in mansions. Go to Concern Gifts or WorldVision instead and buy a gift for someone in a country that doesn’t have a national health service or a healthy middle class. That will really make a difference, and it will put a smile on someone’s face.