If you were suspicious of Danny Alexander’s conference promise of 2,250 extra tax inspectors “to launch raids on the wealthy” (Daily Mail) you were right to be.
My colleague Sue Cameron has got to the bottom of the announcement. She reports in FT’s Notebook column that existing HMRC staff will move from their present jobs into a new “affluent” unit. (The adverts are all internal).
Meanwhile the cull of HMRC staff from the present 66,000 to 56,000 in 2014/15 continues.
And politicans wonder why the public are sceptical about their promises?
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey