I received a flyer for an event today. It’s for people seeking to avoid tax, entitled “Are you Paying Too Much Tax”. I had the usual feelings of revulsion for people who try to avoid paying their share back to the society that allows them to become wealthy. Then I had a look at the website of the organisation responsible for this, the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association. It looks predictably moneyed. There’s a guide on how to snare animals and one on “Good Shooting Practice”.

But it was the invitation to one of their members’ meetings that really shocked me.

They’re hosting The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander at a regional meeting.

That’s right. The man responsible for carrying out with some great enthusiasm the ‘savage cuts’ Nick Clegg is so desperately keen on is addressing a meeting by an organisation that runs events on avoiding tax.

The Liberal Democrats have spent the past five months lecturing us on the need to reduce the deficit. To reduce the deficit they’ve planned a wide range of unpleasant, unpalatable and downright nasty schemes. These schemes are mostly focused on attacking the poorest – as the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded.

There is, to borrow a phrase, another way. That’s to raise taxes. Or at least collect the taxes that the very wealthy owe. And if you can afford to take a day and spend £85 plus VAT on finding out how to avoid tax, I’m assuming you’re pretty wealthy. But this government seems positively keen to consort with people who’d rather avoid tax than pay their share.

We at Bright Green like to give people a chance. That’s why we’re calling on Mr Alexander to pull out of meeting with a tax avoidance organisation. His email is alexanderdg@parliament.uk if you’d like to drop him a quick message telling him how much better it would be if he stopped consorting with tax avoiders.

We wouldn’t want to be left with the conclusion that the Liberal Democrats are interested in destroying public services, would we?