This week's opinion

I was delighted to present the Tax Personality of the Year trophy to Andrew Tyrie at last week’s Taxation awards. When the judges met to decide on this year’s winners he was still the chair of the Treasury Select Committee. But because he decided to retire as an MP at the dissolution of parliament before the general election he will not be returning as committee chair. So it felt even more fitting that the judges could recognise his achievements through this award.

Mr Tyrie demonstrated throughout his chairmanship that it is possible to bring rigour and proper analysis to the scrutiny of the tax system without turning it into a personal crusade or being needlessly aggressive and antagonistic. He has shown that the old-fashioned values of courtesy combined with forensic analysis a desire to evaluate the evidence and an ability to challenge people from all sides of the debate can...