In a major new series for BBC Radio 4, Evan Davis ventures into the maze that is our tax system.

He finds out why it's so complicated.

He asks how well - or badly - we make big decisions about tax.

And in this first programme, he explores how we have ended up trying to pay for a European-style welfare state with American-style tax levels.

He meets three former Chancellors - Alistair Darling, Nigel Lawson and Norman Lamont - who talk candidly about their stints steering the tax system.

He finds out why, since the Second World War, public spending has just kept on rising. Even when we decided that paying for it by putting up income tax was unthinkable.

He identifies the moment when that taboo descended, with the help of key players like Chris Patten and Neil Kinnock's Chief Economic Advisor, John Eatwell.

They recall the afternoon in 1992 when the Labour Shadow Chancellor made a fateful blunder. A blunder that still shapes our politics.

A senior advisor to Gordon Brown at both the Treasury and Number 10 reveals why he thinks New Labour missed a crucial, one-off opportunity to lift the taboo and transform the debate.

Michael Jacobs argues Labour failed to coax us away from seeing tax as a necessary evil towards embracing it as the foundation of a civilised society. Arguably, that's why the coming cuts will be so deep.

And Evan reveals the results of a poll commissioned from ComRes for the programme. This asked whether, if tax had to go up, people would rather see any other taxes rise rather than the basic rate of income tax.

Along the way, he encounters a senior detective from HM Revenue and Customs. This reveals a startling link between newsagents in the West Midlands and organised gangs of smugglers. Evan discovers what this tells us about the consequences of our tax confusion.

Producer: Phil Tinline. Show less