This week's opinion

I deplore the attempt to drag HMRC executive chairman Edward Troup into the Panama papers story simply because ‘somebody’ ‘some time’ in the firm where he was once a partner may have had ‘some’ sort of business relationship with ‘somebody’ in Mossack Fonseca. Anyone who thinks that every partner in a firm automatically knows what other partners are doing every waking moment has no idea about how large partnerships work. Besides what does it matter? Just as ex-HMRC staff bring a new perspective to private firms HMRC has been strengthened by the recruitment of Edward Troup and other senior figures with experience at the sharp end in the private sector. It would be a shame if prospective HMRC recruits were put off applying because somebody in a firm in which they once worked was involved in tax planning which might in a different climate excite...