Caroline Lucas, the Greens Party MP, tabled the following Early Day Motion in the House of Commons yesterday, supported by Plaid Cymru:

PANAMA PAPERS AND THE CONDUCT OF THE PRIME MINISTER RELATED TO HIS TAX AFFAIRS

• Session: 2015-16
• Date tabled: 11.04.2016
• Primary sponsor: Lucas, Caroline
• Sponsors:
  • Williams, Hywel 
    
  • Saville Roberts, Liz
    
  • Edwards, Jonathan

That this House notes the unprecedented leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the world's fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca; believes that these Panama Papers show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes; notes the Prime Minister's belated admission that he profited from the sale of shares in his late father's offshore trust, Blairmore Holdings; deplores the fact that Blairmore Holdings avoided ever having to pay tax in the UK, by hiring Bahamas residents to sign its paperwork; further deplores that in 2013 the Prime Minister personally intervened to weaken an EU drive to reveal the beneficiaries of trusts, creating a possible loophole that other EU Member States warned could be exploited by tax evaders; believes that it is now time for the network of destructive tax havens to be shut down; calls on the Government to immediately force full transparency by insisting that the UK's Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies adopt public registers of beneficial ownership in line with the UK's register; calls on the Prime Minister to reassure UK taxpayers by listing all the investments he has held since first elected as an hon. Member; and calls on the Government to use the International Anti-Corruption Summit in May to persuade other countries to adopt public registers of beneficial ownership.

Caroline ( who I know and have co-authored with and who is, like me, a me pager of the Green New Deal Group) has been a long term supporter of moves to tackle tax havens, bring about country-by-country reporting and beat tax abuse. I am pleased to note her continuing support.