The View | Why no one is talking about Hong Kong’s dirty money problem

The less than fragrant odour of hypocrisy has been wafting in great waves since the emergence of the Panama Papers containing juicy details of how the rich and powerful ferret away their money.

While the Great Unwashed, or the 99 per cent as they are now called, marvel at the sums of money involved, the usual suspects have been mobilised to inform us that there is nothing to worry about because this stuff is perfectly legal; some go further and self righteously declare that dodging around the taxation authorities is also somehow honourable.

In support of these claims we have been subject to a torrent of words patronisingly explaining the differences between tax avoidance and tax evasion. The former being legal while the latter is not.

The great taxation sages tell us that tax avoidance is what any sensible person does because taxation laws are both complex and onerous therefore if you are smart enough to find a way around them, you have struck a blow for freedom, not forgetting the added benefit of shovelling more cash into the obliging arms of the offshore bankers.

However, and this is a very big however, the fact remains that offshore accounts and a whole panoply of clever accounting means that rich people pay a far smaller proportion of their incomes in tax than the average working stiff who has neither the means or indeed the options available to duck and weave out of the tax net.

This is why the Panama Papers have fueled a burgeoning global movement against the privileges and arrogance of the so-called establishment. This anger will not be assuaged by assurances that the privileged are not breaking any laws; on the contrary, it reinforces the impression that the laws are designed for their benefit.