Bullies Beaten

Some obliging friends of Goldman Sachs have been persuaded to drop one of their harsher measures against a certain sort of wealth creator. In an unprecedented fit of concern over the tax affairs of the wealthy, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs wrote a letter to a tax-dodger asking him to promise not to do it again. The pledge would have had no legal status, and was merely intended to make tax-dodgers "think again" - much as the welfare cap is intended to make scroungers think again, except that an implied slur upon the tax-dodger's honour is substituted for the far less stressful threat of starvation and homelessness. Nevertheless, HMRC has now been persuaded that this particular method was far too rigorous and inhumane to be applied to the delicate sensibilities of wealth creators; so it appears that our cherished and civilised values are just about safe for now.