by Chris Jockel:
“Many people have contacted me for my response to HSBC helping the super-rich dodge their tax, and the current ConDem government’s failure to stop this.
As with my previous statement made well before the latest news on HSBC broke, I am deeply concerned about the impact of tax avoidance. I said then and I will say now that I think that by its shear ‘industrial’ scale and the way it relates to a transfer of resources, sovereignty, power and control away from nation states and the people, tax avoidance genuinely threatens the life of our nation and our democracy. I called it then and I call it now a global menace. I pondered at the time why it was not making the news on every TV channel and every newspaper every day. Now it has, let’s now make sure it stays there.
In general I agree with the brilliant and in depth analysis of situation made by the Tax Justice Network. The Green Party policy is to close any existing loopholes so that company profits earned in the UK are taxed here and is to lead/support EU and international cooperation in taking action at that level. This is not just talk or an easy and empty election promise. By way of example, my colleague Molly Scott Cato MEP (former Stroud District Councillor) is working as hard as anybody to hold big business, the super-rich and their bankers and accountants to account on tax avoidance every day in the European parliament.”