The not so enchanting tale of Brownocchio and Honest John the Banker

Once upon there was a puppet who dreamed of becoming a real PM. The problem was that the puppet was a very bad but prolific liar. He lied about everything and thought that he was too clever to be caught. He was also convinced that he was a bit of a guru when it came to economics and he was friends with a crooked banker called Honest John.

This Honest John also told the puppet that he was really good at economics and showed him a good time when the economy was going well.

When the economy collapsed however and the banker was broke, the puppet gave him all his money to help him out of trouble. He made a bit of a mistake though because he didn't even ask the banker to stop all of the bad things he did to make the economy collapse in the first place.

When the banker started to make money again he didn't want to pay back the money and he continued to do all the bad things he was doing before. He wanted to pay all of the money to his real friends who were also pretty crooked. He also decided to ignore the puppet and withdrew his support. He sent the puppet away turned him into an ass. The puppet tried to escape but he was swallowed by a giant whale...

...and we all lived happier ever after...

...well after the blue fairy came to power, banished the crooked banker and redistributed the power and the wealth fairly amongst the people. Ah well, one can but dream.

Cable: Barclays tax documents in public interest

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable today criticised Barclays for obtaining a court order banning The Guardian from publishing documents showing how the bank set up companies to avoid paying hundreds of millions of pounds in tax.

He has offered to provide a witness statement to support the press in court.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will later today meet with the Group CEO of Barclays, John Varley, where he will discuss a number of issues including tax avoidance.

Commenting, Vince Cable said:

"These documents are clearly of immense public interest, suggesting as they do a systematic attempt to avoid paying tax.

"At a time when banks are receiving massive support from the Government, the public has a right to know if those same banks are also trying to avoid paying their tax bills.

"Barclays is negotiating for substantial government backing under the Asset Protection Scheme. The Government must make it an absolute pre-condition that tax avoidance at the expense of the taxpayer should stop.

"The scale of tax avoidance by banks has not been previously exposed because it is so hard to report on. These documents provide chapter and verse on the banks' activities. Banks have been able to hide behind commercial confidentiality and threats of legal action to prevent their tax avoidance becoming known.

"There needs to be an open discussion of the banks' tax avoidance and its role in causing the financial crisis. Allowing independent tax professionals to examine these documents is vital to regulating the banks in a way that properly protects the UK taxpayer."