Which brings me to my point: why does it take a 'capability review,' someone to come in from outside, to tell HMRC what it has known for a long time?

The confused accountabilities of the post-merger structure were often brought up by those who knew about Whitehall and what was going on at HM Revenue & Customs. The structure was said to be Sir David Varney's, and the real question is why Paul Gray didn't get on and reverse it when he took over.

In a sense, of course, the fact that few seem to want to take the lead in the civil service without an official report to tell them to do things explains a lot: why they're so fond of consultants, to start with. Or am I being harsh?