When public finances are under pressure, increasing business taxes can seem like costless revenue-raising. After all, companies cannot vote. But now some British groups are voting with their feet, deciding to relocate headquarters to lower-tax regimes. The Treasury’s review of corporate tax is therefore a welcome move.

Shire, a pharmaceuticals group, decided recently to relocate its headquarters to Ireland for tax reasons, while the publisher, United Business Media, announced this week its decision to do likewise. Some other large UK corporates are looking at whether it would be tax efficient for them to follow suit.