Anyone who knows Bill Blunt will tell you that he's not a man for moral crusades. I leave those things to the likes of Paul Foot and others.
Nevertheless, when I was in the snug of the Pin and Cushion last night, I couldn't help my hackles from rising. Charlie Bentmore was holding forth about his garage door. There he was, as proud as punch, crowing about the £200 he's saved in VAT by paying his old pal (Alfie Radcliffe) in cash for installing a new door to the place where he parks his Renault Laguna.
Fair enough, you'll no doubt be saying. That's £200 less to be frittered away on cleaning the moat of some bloated Member of Parliament who should know better when it comes to claiming expenses.
But it's also £200 less to be spent on a life-saving operation for some poor soul whose needs are obviously somewhat greater. I'm not sure Charlie would have bought that argument.
However... Charlie had - on a previous evening - been holding forth about the the failure of HMG to provide our troops in Afghanistan with basic equipment like body armour. So, when I pointed out that his failure to pay VAT might just have an impact on such matters, he was soon quieted.
Taxes are never pleasant. But there's always a moral consequence to avoiding them. Here endeth the rant.
