Alistair Darling must frequently feel that he cannot win on tax. The chancellor’s efforts to exempt multinationals from taxation on their profits, bringing the UK into line with much of the rest of Europe, have provoked anger and alarm among many of the supposed beneficiaries.

“I have never seen an issue cause so much resentment and concern as this issue has caused among UK corporates,” Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, the advertising agency, declared earlier this month. He warned that his company was still considering relocating to a more tax-friendly domain unless the government changed its stance.