So we're spending like the boom will never end and one of the biggest winners is the Exchequer. It may be somewhat disconcerting but it has passed the stage of being surprising.

One of the more startling elements of the figures released for the first six months of the year this week was the Exchequer take from the boom in motor vehicles. The number of cars sold in the first six months of 2000 was up 44 per cent on the same period a year previously - in itself a record. With the Revenue getting 45 per cent of the price of a new car and sales soaring despite relatively high prices, it is no wonder there is no demand in Government circles to reduce this punitive level of tax.