Be careful what you wish for

When it was trailed last month that the multinationals were to get their own forum on tax, more than a few people had cause to wonder over why no one else was worthy of a forum. There are, after all, an estimated 31.7 million taxpayers in the UK, according to this year's Budget Report, and a good number of those contribute a damn sight more to the UK coffers than the MNEs.

It has now being announced that the MNE forum will go ahead, with membership of the forum comprising eight CFOs and one CEO from the likes of HSBC and GSK, four economists, and the Director General of the CBI. The first meeting will be convened just as soon as the civil service can locate a room big enough to accommodate the collective egos of the forum members.

But whose ear will these self-proclaimed masters of the financial universe get to bend ? The Chancellor's perhaps, or how about that of the Minister for Trade and Pie Eating, Lord Digby Jones ? No, they get Jane Kennedy, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the third highest ranked Treasury minster or, put another way, the fourth most junior.

Ms Kennedy's curriculum vitae, in keeping with the standard job spec for a Treasury minister, contains no business experience whatsoever. Doubtless, though, her trades union background will go down a storm with the forum members and, when it comes to a consideration of the cross border taxation of intellectual property, her education in finance, law, macro-economics residential child care is sure to be most useful.

Rumour has it that the next bunch of taxpayers who dare to get stroppy will be given the choice of  either attending a new forum to be chaired by Yvette Cooper or the softer option of gouging out their own eyes with a rusty spoon.