Kitty Ussher is the new economic secretary to the Treasury, the post previously occupied by Ed Balls.

She takes charge of 'City' affairs, apparently, and you might be interested in a piece she wrote in 1999 for the Centre for European Reform.

In it she argued that tax harmonisation was the stuff of Eurosceptic scare stories and nothing more.

I'm not sure how well that stands up today, in a Europe in which plans for a common tax base are proceeding at pace (the suggestion that a majority of countries, for instance, are against tax harmonisation would I think be denied by EC officials today. When I spoke to people involved with the tax commissioner's office earlier this year, they argued that the UK and Ireland were pretty much the odd ones out).

More than that, corporates are themselves breaking down the barriers of tax in Europe through the group litigation orders. The eurosceptic opposing them? Ussher's new boss, one Gordon Brown.

Ussher is understood to be very pro-Europe (she is also very able, it should be added, and has shone in committee meetings). She may need to review her outlook on tax and the European challenge.