Gordon Brown is now coming under sustained fire. Hardly a day goes by without some section of the media questioning his competence, his trustworthiness or his judgement.

The latest attack is on one of the moves in his very first budget, in the heady days of July 1997, when the new chancellor changed the tax treatment of pension funds. It was an early stealth tax, costing pension funds up to £75 billion. Last Friday The Times won a two year battle with the Treasury to obtain documents that show Brown ignored advice from officials detailing the damage the move would do to Britain’s pension system. The Times and Daily Telegraph have been quick to suggest that Brown is now seriously damaged by the ‘scandal’.

There’s no doubt that the risks inherent on the policy were obvious back in 1997. I was then a PR manager for Eagle Star, an insurance company with 80 years’ expertise in pensions. Our pensions experts were keen to expose how much damage Brown’s raid would do. Rather shamefully, we chose not to upset the new government. A decade later, few are prepared to listen to Labour’s explanation, especially after it tried to prevent the papers being released under Freedom of Information. But anyone who wants to find out more about this dry but vital subject should read Evan Davis’s account on his BBC blog.