Taking Stock - Labouring the point of credibility.

What has our government got to worry about? It seems that our New Labour party does not take too kindly to criticism from respected members of our profession. First, PwC and Peter Wyman were rubbished by Tony Blair over tax burden estimates and concerns over double tax relief. Then Gordon Brown called into question the impartiality of an Ernst & Young report on the escalating income tax burden. Now, it seems, Chantrey Vellacott’s Maurice Fitzpatrick has been rubbished by the Treasury as being a Lib Dem sympathiser and not suitable for independent commentary. The problem started after The Sun’s Trevor Kavanagh ran a story quoting Maurice warning readers to look out for the fine print after the last Budget. Maurice’s credibility was then called into question by the Treasury. In what can only be described as a frosty letter, Maurice has since written to the Treasury warning them he will write a diary piece for a national paper if he hears of any further innuendo about his political independence. ?: