Appalling actions by the Lib Dem group

At July’s full BANES council meeting, I put forward a motion on “Standing up on responsible tax conduct” which was immediately supported by the Conservative and Labour groups.

Pathetically, the motion was amended by the ruling Lib Dem administration, and I was appalled to note that even on a motion in favour of ‘fairer tax,’ they had to play party politics.

Globalisation has brought countries and communities closer, and the world has become a tiny global village.

However, there is a toxic side of globalisation: “corporate tax avoidance”.

Corporate conglomerates and multi-nationals can all too easily relocate their headquarters and production to whatever jurisdiction levies the lowest taxes. Simple and easy for them.

According to the IMF, various governments lose almost 500 billion USD every year in this way.

OECD countries have taken some measures to tackle the problem with their Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative. However, some experts question if it goes far or wide enough.

The world is facing multiple problems: climate change, transport challenges, generating enough money to fill in our potholes, funding to support education, and much more.

A government both at the national and local levels depleted with resources cannot address the problems properly. Unfair tax avoidance by these corporations makes our government, and thus our communities, poorer.

■ Four in five (80%) people in our country according to a survey believe that all businesses benefiting from government bailouts should have to agree to a set of conditions that prohibit tax avoidance and enforce responsible tax conduct.

■ Nearly four in five (77%) believe all companies, whatever their size, should have to publicly disclose the taxes that they do or don’t pay in the UK.

■ Over two-thirds (66%) believe the government and local councils should at least consider a company’s ethics and how they pay their tax, as well as value for money and quality of service provided when awarding contracts to companies.

We all need to stand up for responsible tax conduct by companies and corporations.

It is extremely sad to note that a motion like mine, which has been already approved by 25 local councils across the UK, was defeated by the local Lib Dems, just to make a selfish political point.

While they insisted on the submission of the draft of my motion 2 weeks in advance, and submission of any statement by a resident or a councillor a full 2 days in advance, they sent an email to the council

lors amending the motion less than 2 hours before the council meeting.

This is the underhand way the current Lib Dem administration avoids addressing the pressing issues facing our council and country. It’s yet another example of why I left them. Appalling!

Cllr Dr Yukteshwar Kumar, Bathwick, Conservative