Sir David Varney was the man who said when he was the chairman of HM Revenue & Customs that ''If I want something done, I go to Customs; if I want help with a crossword, I go to the Revenue.’

Business is worried about the increasing aggression of HMRC, and the dominance of Customs in particular.

So if you were to set up a review of the department's links with business, why on earth would you appoint Sir David to do it?