shadow chancellor and Morley MP Ed Balls met campaigners in his constituency to hear about their bid to highlight how global tax dodging is hurting the poor in West Yorkshire, the UK and beyond.
The meeting came ahead of the arrival of the Tax Justice Bus to Leeds next month.
The bus, part of Christian Aid and Church Action on Poverty’s national campaign, comes to Morley Town Hall on Thursday, October 11.
Eddie Wilson, Gildersome resident and chair of the Christian Aid Group in Morley, said: “It is a scandal that tax dodging by some unscrupulous multinational companies keeps some people poor whilst others get richer.
“We met with our MP, Ed, to ask him to help us put pressure on the Prime Minister to act to end the financial secrecy that enables tax dodging to happen.”
The issue of tax avoidance has been placed sharply in public focus in recent months, and politicians across the parties have spoken about the issue. Just this week, the coalition’s chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, told the Lib Dem conference that the Government was “on track” to raise £4bn this year via schemes to crack down on tax dodgers.
Mr Balls said after the meeting: “Campaigns run by organisations such as Christian Aid have had a huge impact on politics over the years. It was great to meet with the Morley Christian Aid group this week and talk to them about their work.”
The charities want people to ‘tick for tax justice’ by signing a petition that calls on the Prime Minister to push for measures that would require companies to report on the profits they make and taxes they pay in every country. It also wants tax havens to automatically share information about the money flowing through them with other countries.
Niall Cooper, from Church Action on Poverty, said:“Tax dodging is morally unacceptable. It amounts to robbing the poor.”
Follow the campaign on Twitter @taxbus2012 or visit www.christianaid.org.uk/tax-bus or www.church-poverty.org.uk/taxbus to ‘Tick for tax Justice’.
Comments