Tax avoidance: This is a crisis rooted deep in Tory attitudes | John McDonnell

Last Updated: April 6, 2016By
Embattled: David Cameron being driven away after holding a Q&A with staff at PwC in Birmingham [Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images ].

Embattled: David Cameron being driven away after holding a Q&A with staff at PwC in Birmingham [Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images ].

The Panama Papers highlight the growing concern that there is one rule for the very rich and another for everyone else. For when individuals and companies manipulate the tax rules to reduce their tax bill, this understandably outrages those ordinary people paying the price of deficit reduction, and businesses who play by the rules. They, reasonably, expect a level playing field. The Panama Papers have destroyed any illusion of fairness in our tax system.However, it goes even deeper than that. For the papers expose the Tories from top to bottom as a party that is not only failing to tackle tax avoidance, but deep down doesn’t really want to either. David Cameron, for example, says he has “some savings” from which he “derives some interest”, but does this mean any of his “savings” come or have come from Blairmore or any offshore tax arrangements at any time? He should just put the record straight rather than try to wriggle around, fooling no one.

The revelations also bring into question the government’s record in tackling tax avoidance and tax havens in particular. The UK has a huge responsibility to deal with this. Many of the tax havens fuelling the problem are British overseas territories or crown dependencies, relying on British financial, foreign policy and security support. Three years ago Cameron promised to get the UK’s own houses in order, but he has failed.

Virtually no progress has been made in ensuring the UK’s overseas territories and crown dependencies meet the UK government’s demands. But then, there is no evidence that the Tories were committed to this in the first place. Since the general election, they have dropped their commitment to public registers of beneficial ownership, despite Cameron claiming two years ago that “making company beneficial ownership information open to the public is by far the best approach”.

Source: This is a crisis rooted deep in Tory attitudes | John McDonnell | News | The Guardian

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6 Comments

  1. Christine Cullen April 6, 2016 at 11:18 am - Reply

    Interesting to see how Cameron is squirming over this one, and rightly so. Also the whole Panama Papers affair seems to woken up an anger in the general public which is all too often apathetic.

  2. Mark April 6, 2016 at 11:31 am - Reply

    I don’t think this is indicative of a deep-rooted ‘Tory’ attitude as much as it is a deep-rooted attitude of the political and elitist classes (altough it may be more pronounced with Tories). They all suffer from being unable to comprehend that if something is good enough for them, it might just be good enough for eveyone else. ‘Double standards’, ‘brazen hypocrisy’ – call it what you will – but it boild down to proof that such a mentality is not fit for public office and the parroted mantra of ‘serving the public’ is nothing of the sort. Until the public wake up to the very real fact that governements are not on ‘our side’ anymore than a slave owner was on the side of his slaves, this nonsense will continue.

    It is not just ‘a few bad apples’ but the whole system (and everyone who is part of it) that is necessarily corrupt.

    • Mike Sivier April 6, 2016 at 1:25 pm - Reply

      Are you trying to cover up this Tory behaviour by making a specious claim that it is shared by all politicians? Please. Think again.

  3. Terry Davies April 6, 2016 at 6:51 pm - Reply

    the ‘attitude’ in question is confined to blue and red tories.
    we need deselection by petition – enshrined in UK parliamentary legislation.

  4. Lynnette April 7, 2016 at 5:30 am - Reply

    My hus band was hassled continuously for so called non payment of tax (a piddling amount by tax standards by the way)which he did not owe after a protracted battle by our very particular account (which we struggled to afford as a small one man business )we won ,in fact it turned out they owed us money which took us a while to get back.my point is they badgered and stressed an innocent business man for a very small amount which must have cost the tax office far more to get back than the so called debt was worth,so why do the tax avoidance schemes continue to flourish. Surely team money would be better spent persuing the REAL CRIMINALS? ???

  5. mrmarcpc April 7, 2016 at 2:33 pm - Reply

    The British have been far too apathetic since Thatcher’s time, too spineless, voiceless, absolutely useless, it’s been long overdue for us to finally rant, rave and to hold our scumbag government to account!

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