Tory MEPs today failed to vote for the conclusions of the European Parliament Panama committee, which recommended several measures the EU and national governments should take to fight money laundering and tax dodging.
The proposals include a blacklist of tax havens and sanctions against them; more transparency; a ban on companies domiciling in low-tax regimes while conducting their business elsewhere; a global definition of a tax haven; and a global summit to fight tax avoidance, evasion and aggressive tax planning.
Neena Gill MEP, member of the European Parliament Committee of Inquiry into Money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion, said:
“This is just the latest example of Tory MEPs failing to support action against tax dodging. Time and again, whether it’s on workers’ rights, the environment or tax avoidance, the Tories take the side of the greedy elite and not ordinary hard-working people.
“Trillions of euros are being siphoned off through loopholes to avoid tax, while public services are starved of money – there is an estimated €6 billion (£5.3bn) held in tax havens. Yet today instead of backing action to recover some of this money to invest in our schools and hospitals, the Tories have chosen to sit on their hands
“This is an ongoing and urgent problem, one that can only be solved by global action, and it is the European Union, not Tory MEPs and the Tory government, that is leading on it.”