Economics

Appearance on LBC Radio: Iain Dale interviews me on Left Unity

Round 3 with Iain Dale on his drive time LBC Radio show. This time, as Labour’s poll ratings are falling, I made the case that the public want to see a genuine alternative to austerity and that if Labour won’t provide that, we in Left Unity will. I’m beginning to enjoy being Dale’s token lefty

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Salman Shaheen Sky News

Appearance on Sky News: Debating Dan Hodges on Miliband’s welfare reform plans

I was on the Boulton & Co show on Sky News last week, debating the Telegraph’s Dan Hodges on Ed Miliband’s welfare reform plans. Both Hodges and I have traditionally been critical of Miliband, but from opposite directions. Now Hodges appears to be warming up to Miliband as he lurches to the right over welfare,

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Catherine McKinnell IF Campaign

Catherine McKinnell backs country-by-country tax reporting to tackle hunger

I was honoured to chair last night’s IF Campaign debate with David Gauke, the Conservative Exchequer Secretary, Catherine McKinnell, Labour’s Shadow Exchequer Secretary, and Stephen Williams, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Treasury Committee. The debate threw up a lot of interesting questions around tax and transparency and Britain’s crucial role in reforming the international financial

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VAT’s enough

My editorial from the April issue of International Tax Review. The annual circus of jibes, justifications and recriminations visited Britain again last month when Chancellor George Osborne unveiled his latest budget. Osborne faced a particularly rough ride this year, even with a tax agenda which has been broadly welcomed by British business. After all, with

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Tax havens

Appearance on Voice of Russia: The social cost of tax havens

A massive leak exposed in the Guardian yesterday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists identified thousands of the world’s super-rich who have hidden trillions of dollars in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands. In the wake of the expose, I was asked to discuss the social cost of tax havens on Voice

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Tax credits

Osborne may need to rethink anti-tax avoidance measures

Around this time last month, George Osborne was in Moscow meeting his fellow G20 finance ministers to talk about tax avoidance. Describing tax avoidance as “morally repugnant”, Osborne has commendably acknowledged the extent of the problem as a drain to public finances. Unfortunately the key weapon in Osborne’s arsenal to tackle the problem – the

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