Forgive me please if I exhibit a lack of understanding of basic English law. But if Ms Hazel Blears, who performs some peripheral function in what passes for the UK Government, is planning to hand over a cheque for around £13,000 to Her Majesty's Customs & Revenue in respect of capital gains tax previously unpaid, is she not by definition making a very public admission that she evaded such tax in the first place? If so, she has committed a crime. Tax evasion, unlike tax avoidance, is illegal.
In which case, should not the police arrest her and interview her, and the Crown Prosecution Service begin building a case against her, and the governor of Holloway Prison begin preparing a cell? Somehow the thought of the personage who is increasingly known as Squirrel Nutkin sewing mailbags is strangely cheering.
And if an act that is illegal somehow falls within the rules of the Houses of Parliament, does that suggest that we have finally moved through the looking glass? Any last vestige of credibility that the so-called Mother of Parliaments had is finally gone. Hercules would have trouble finding a river deep and fast-flowing enough to clean out the UK branch of the Augean Stables!
