{"id":43096,"date":"2018-09-17T06:54:38","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T05:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=43096"},"modified":"2018-09-17T06:54:38","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T05:54:38","slug":"the-tours-been-disrupted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2018\/09\/17\/the-tours-been-disrupted\/","title":{"rendered":"The tour’s been disrupted"},"content":{"rendered":"

I suggested last week<\/a> that I was starting what seemed like a mini-tour\u00a0over the next few weeks. Well, not everything\u00a0goes to plan. My father died on Saturday night and suddenly what seemed important last week is less so now.<\/p>\n

This is not the place for an eulogy\u00a0about my father. But amongst the many things I might say about him is one that is relevant to the themes\u00a0I address here.<\/p>\n

My dad was an electrical engineer, and from what I can tell, a very able one. He went to university in WW2 because it was thought that the country needed engineers and his national service was then an engineering apprenticeship because he was a chronic asthmatic throughout\u00a0his life, which did not stop him reaching\u00a092. Once that apprenticeship was done he joined the then new nationalised Central Electricity\u00a0Generating Board. Ten years or so later he switched to a regional electricity board, still specialising\u00a0in power distribution. He felt most comfortable\u00a0with 440,000 volts. 240 volts always seemed to worry him much more, rather oddly.<\/p>\n

But my point is this: he brought me up thinking that working in the public interest was the best thing anyone could do. He actually did not want me to be a private sector accountant because he doubted this was best for the public\u00a0interest. And when Thatcher came along he was baffled that people suddenly required what he thought to be extraordinary salaries for roles that the very same people had so recently been doing for far less.<\/p>\n

I think he was right. And he heavily influenced my thinking. And my belief that money is a very poor indicator of value.<\/p>\n

Right at the end of his life - just a few months ago - he said he was proud of what I'd done. He recognised being an accountant could be in the public\u00a0interest, after all. We made our peace on that one.<\/p>\n

We did not always agree, but I'll miss him.<\/p>\n

And if moderation gets a bit amiss on occasions in the next week or two, this might also be why. There are other things to think about right\u00a0now, as well as the tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I suggested last week that I was starting what seemed like a mini-tour\u00a0over the next few weeks. Well, not everything\u00a0goes to plan. My father died
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