To combat tax avoidance, tough talk is not enough

To combat tax avoidance, tough talk is not enough

The prime minister has given us plenty of tough talk about cracking down on tax avoidance. Whether he can deliver a concrete agreement will be a crucial test of his leadership. In 2005, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown emerged from the Gleneagles summit with a concrete agreement to write off the debt owed by the world’s poorest countries. If he matches their success, it will be a substantial achievement. If he fails on the world stage, he must commit, as Ed Miliband has done, to taking tough action at home to ensure a fair and just tax system for all.

Margaret Hodge writing in The Guardian on how the G8 must prioritise a crack down on tax avoidance. Ms Hodge suggests a number of ways this could be achieved and offers advice to David Cameron on how to negotiate with the crown dependencies involved.