In another life, outspoken fiscal commentators Dan Neidle and Prem Sikka might be kindred spirits. One is a former Clifford Chance partner who now runs his own thinktank, Tax Policy Associates. The other is an accountancy academic and now life peer who made his bones in the 1990s, highlighting the manifold iniquities of the beancounting profession.
Neither is publicity shy, nor found wanting when it comes to a dissenting opinion. Both actively court journalists.
All similarities end there. Self-styled ‘tax realist’ Neidle laid into Sikka with gusto last month over the peer’s ruminations on what to do about a national insurance fund surplus.
‘I don’t know if Sikka sets out to mislead, because he likes clicks, or if he simply has no clue about accounting and tax,’ sneered Neidle. ‘Either way, it’s deeply embarrassing he’s a member of the House of Lords.’
Ouch! Putdowns don’t get more ad hominem than that.
The professor, it will not surprise you to learn, was not slow to reply in kind.
‘Dan Neidle: Inheritance tax reforms would make UK a “dangerous place” for wealthy. Mustn’t bother the rich. OK to neglect the NHS, schools, transport, pensions, poverty. Neidle, former tax partner at Clifford Chance, advised wealthy people, retired at 50.’
Please, gentlemen, not in front of the staff! Why not do a podcast? Who better to make fiscal policy interesting?
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