Last week, KPMG’s Loughlin Hickey made a John Lennon-style plea for peace, love and understanding in the tax world. He called for the media, in particular, to be responsible in its reporting of tax issues: ‘To genuinely understand what’s behind actions rather than taking the short sharp headline grabbing view.’

Loughlin won’t mind, then, if TS makes takes a peek into the cause of his disagreements with Richard Murphy of the Tax Justice Network.

Obviously, there are many issues involved, but is there something in the fact that the two used to work together in the early 80s? Hickey and Murphy worked out of the same branch of what was Peat Marwick, at Puddle Dock. Is there history here? We must be told.