Britain's most senior official in charge of collecting tax was named yesterday as the most wined and dined mandarin in Whitehall. According to an investigation, David Hartnett, the permanent secretary for tax at HM Revenue and Customs, accepted invitations to eat and drink 107 times over the past three years.

Prominent among those extending corporate largesse were the top accountancy firms, which are paid by big business to find ways of avoiding paying tax.

Hartnett, 59, who lists his recreations as food and wine in Who's Who, has been accused of being too cosy with large corporations. He emerged top of the league in an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a not-for-profit body based at City University London, which collated more than 3,000 instances of hospitality given to top civil servants in the past three years.

I think Frank Herbert had it right in "God Emporer of Dune", the two biggest sins in the GE's religion were corruption by a civil serverant, the second biggest sin was attempting to corrupt a civil server, both were punishable by death...