The government is desperate to stop
effective action against tax evasion. Tax evasion, remember, is illegal. It is
a criminal offence. The UK is lobbying to remove paragraph 10 of the Doha
Outcome Document. This provides a framework for sharing information,
simplifying tax laws and nailing the criminals.
John Christensen, director of Tax Justice
Network, said: ‘The European Parliament last week made a strong statement
demanding the commission support this document. Britain is out on a limb within
Europe. It’s the usual suspects of the US, UK, Australia and Canada. These are
the countries that created the toxic financial crisis undermining the global
economy. Seemingly lessons have not been learnt.’