Mr Stewart also explained to us what is meant by “optimism bias”, and he recommended that we ensure against it when dealing with public finances, but he might also have been recommending that approach as a general principle for life.Ted Brocklebank told us a ferry story—for the benefit of the Official Report, I point out that that is spelled F-E-R-R-Y—and thus proved that he is older than I am, and possibly even older than the minister.