Murray told a sceptical committee questioning his experience for the very senior role that he wanted to be ‘hands on’ with HMRC. He said this was why the Chancellor had taken the decision to make the Treasury appointment rather than an independent chair which has always been the norm in the past.

In a two-hour session, members of the Treasury Committee, chaired by Dame Meg Hillier, grilled James Murray, MP for Ealing North since 2019, and Exchequer secretary to the Treasury, and Dan York Smith, director general of tax and welfare at the Treasury.