The chairman of PwC in the UK has said that takeover deals based on tax inversions – which were brought to the fore in Pfizer's aborted battle for AstraZeneca – should be welcomed.

So that's a welcome for tax haven UK then, where transactions are artificially relocated purely to save money. The report went on:

In other words, it's good for a few, and the rest of you must not question it, or as he put it in his implied threat to those who might differ:

“London is a global financial centre . . . and I think if we start to damage that by changing the narrative, then things become difficult,” said Mr Powell.

Read that another way and he's saying to Labour, toe the line or we'll throw our toys out of the pram, and then you'll notice. And as if to emphasis the point:

However, he went on to say that key to attracting overseas companies to the UK is certainty, and that the recent furore among politicians and parts of the media was unhelpful.

“Companies are coming here for Patent Box grants and other tax schemes, which are offered by the Government, but then don't want to be criticised for taking advantage of legitimate benefits,” he concluded.

So, in other words, don't any of you threaten to take our toys away before we've had time to throw them.

And don't tell us off either, or we'll cry.

One wonders if he realised how stupid he'd sound when this was reported, or is his bubble so thick he hasn't realised there is a world outside it?