International

SP Member of Parliament Farshad Bashir describes himself as ‘delighted’ by support from Parliament for his motion calling on the Secretary of State for Finance to work towards international agreements forcing multi-national corporations (MNCs) to declare how much tax they pay in each country in which they are active. Such an obligation would mean that a public discussion could occur on the issue of the tax constructs used by MNCs to enable them to pay less tax.

The lobby of banks and insurance companies has an unreasonable amount of influence in Brussels. Today, however, saw the establishment of Finance Watch, an organisation which intends to even things up. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, who has been involved during the last year in setting the group up, explains: ‘In very few other sectors is the power of the corporate lobby so strong as it is in the financial area, and at last we have an organisation which can counter the one-sided information which we get from the bankers.’