23 MAY 1998, Page 27

White, pure white inside

I OPEN a harmless-looking letter in a pure white envelope and find that it is from the Inland Revenue. It might at least have made a ticking noise. We all know the tax- men's brown envelopes and have worked out techniques for not opening them putting them behind the clock or in the fire bucket or (as I prefer) in a larger brown envelope. Now the enemy is using camou- flage. His white envelope contained a cheque, but that can only be a come-on.