"HM Revenue & Customs has been accused of "double standards" after the disclosure that its 83,000 staff do not have to submit receipts to cover claims ranging from meals to hotel accommodation and travel and are entitled to expenses without forking out any money.
[...]
Clive Gawthorpe, a UHY Hacker Young partner, contrasted the "generous" policy with the way HMRC handled expenses claims from individuals or companies.
He said: "Accountants who frequently face challenges over expenses for as little as £10 will find it ironic that HMRC runs such a liberal 'no questions asked' system for its own employees."
Unfortunately this new outbreak of double standards is part of a broader pattern. Politicians and civil servants rarely think of their own behaviour when launching some new crackdown. Politicians are putting in place corporate manslaughter laws while the NHS they run is killing thousands through hospital infections every year. Housing for 'key workers' always seems to mean housing for those working for the Government rather than in the private sector. The Government insists that electricity companies do something about the effect of high prices on ordinary people while putting in place regulations like the Renewables Obligation that push prices up. It really is one rule for them and another for the rest of us.