This week's opinion

The great and much lamented Alistair Cooke (think Letter from America rather than the homophonous cricketer) once found himself up against a deadline during the fast-moving final stages of the Watergate saga. He knew that something decisive was about to happen but also that the story would not break until after he had to record his programme. So he set out the developments to date speculated on the implications and ended with the words ‘the rest you know’ hoping that by the time the programme was broadcast the news would indeed be out. He was lucky because the story did indeed break between recording and broadcast.

I feel that I could use that technique today. I have left writing this column until the last possible moment in the hope that I will be able to say something meaningful about what the election result will mean for tax policy...