A group of activists recently gatecrashed the retirement dinner of former HMRC boss, Dave Hartnett. They gained entrance to the event by pretending to be representatives from Vodafone and Goldman Sachs. Watch them present him with a fake award for his services to “corporate tax avoidance”. It took a while for the audience to realise they were being punked.

Along with footage of the incident on YouTube, the group also gave this motivation for giving him an award:

HMRC boss Dave Hartnett is the man responsible for cutting dodgy deals with Vodafone, Goldman Sachs and other large corporations that have cost the taxpayer billions in lost revenue. When we discovered that he was making his retirement speech at an elite tax avoidance conference, we couldn’t resist popping in. We donned our best Goldman Sachs and Vodafone costumes, bought some flowers and knocked up a fake award. This is what happened.

In the video below you’ll see them present him with a the Golden Handshake award, before launching into a rousing rendition of: “For he’s a jolly good fellow… and so say Goldman Sachs.”

After the penny drops, the group is told to leave, with one man declaring: “You will depart immediately before we set the dogs on you!” Another guest then adds: “You are trespassing scum. Go!”

[Source: Daily Mail]