Attorney hits back at critics

The Attorney General this week answered his critics in the accountancy profession who said a cross-government convention on prosecutions had ended their open relationship with the Inland Revenue, writes Jon Bunn.

Writing exclusively in Accountancy Age, John Morris QC says the convention, signed in February after a fatal chemical spill in Wales, was designed to allow government agencies to adopt a co-ordinated approach to decision making after such incidents.

He insists the convention was not created with the tax collection authorities in mind, although the Revenue, Customs & Excise and the Crown Prosecution Service are all signatories. He adds: ‘It does not create any additional role for either authority, but it enables more effective lines of communication where there is overlap.’

Officials said he had been taken aback by the strength of the profession’s reaction.

Attorney General’s article, page 2.