Another new tax

Scientists at the Gordon Brown Institute for Financial Mismanagement have discovered a new strain of the Tax virus and are planning to release it into the water supply unless their demands of utter and abject grovelling subjection of the English nation are met.

This new strain of the Tax virus belongs to the "State Theft of Assets" family and symptoms include the British government taking 20% of the profit from sale of land to property developers.

Dr Blind-Panic, professor of Made-Up Statistics at Oxtail University, warned that the Tax virus is fast becoming a pandemic and is expected to be responsible for thousands of deaths next year.

Those thought to be particularly at risk are the elderly and infirm, many of whom die each year as a result of the Council Tax virus.