International

The G8, the club for wealthy industrialised countries, meeting today in Northern Ireland, hit out at tax evasion by multinationals. Yet as SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong points out, ‘these fine words stand in stark contrast with the actual facts. In the EU during the last four years, fully 50,000 tax inspectors have been made redundant, many of them by these same G8 governments who now talk of action. An effective approach to tax evasion and tax avoidance can only be achieved by increasing the numbers of tax inspectors. That’s why the SP supports the European tax inspectors’ week of action for fair and equitable taxation and against extreme austerity policies.’

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is extremely concerned over recent developments in Turkey, and has condemned the excessive police response to the demonstrators. ‘Last weekend the violence against the demonstrators in Istanbul and other towns and cities escalated still more,’ he says. ‘Now there’s even open talk of sending in the army against them. That would, however, be an extremely dangerous step. I’m calling on our Foreign Minister, Frans Timmermans, to speak out unequivocally against this when he visits the country on Wednesday.’