A reluctance to lay down the law created a lost generation of revenue. But the times they are a-changin’, says Edward Fennell

Outrage over the Savile and associated revelations has failed to acknowledge that most of this happened during what was self-consciously called “the permissive society”. The old boundaries were overthrown and the cynical took advantage of the reluctance of those in authority to lay down the law about where to stop.

Pretty much the same, it might be said, has happened in the past decade over payment of tax by corporate giants. A permissive tax regime has allowed large corporates to pay little or no tax in the countries where they make their profits, and until recently politicians and tax authorities