Back to Parliament this week and on Monday MPs were voting through amendments to the Finance Bill which will allow greater public scrutiny on the tax affairs of multinational companies. The Government added an amendment which proposed that multinational companies based in the UK or with a large presence here, should make public information about the size of their profits and what taxes they pay. Crucially a further amendment also included committed the Government to a public country-by-country reporting so that people can see where corporations are sending their profits and paying taxes.
Now many of these large companies support thousands of jobs across the UK. However I have always believed that everybody should pay their fair share of taxes. When I served on the Public Accounts Committee, I spent lots of time grilling the likes of Starbucks, Amazon and Google for not paying all of their taxes. Thankfully, the Government has made this a priority since we were elected in 2010 and HMRC has recovered well over £10bn of avoided tax so far. These latest changes will bring even more fairness and openness to our tax system.
Elsewhere I spoke in the Chamber to welcome recent success in prosecuting more disability hate crime, increasing the number of incidents which lead to prosecution by 41.3%. In 2015-16 more than four in five prosecuted hate crimes resulted in a conviction. This is good news for victims and I spent a lot of time in my ministerial role liaising with senior law officers to make sure that preventing and punishing disability hate crime is a top priority.
I also spoke in a debate on the future of local Government, raising the importance of attracting more ‘captains of industry’ to become Councillors. In order to achieve this, councils will have to look at innovative methods including shortening council meetings and scheduling more evening meetings to provide greater flexibility for those with busy jobs.
Towards the end of the week I held meetings with a number of different organisations including the Breast Cancer Now charity, UK Active to raise awareness of National Fitness Day and representatives from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to discuss our Local Enterprise Partnership. I was also pleased to welcome members from the Thamesdown Probus Club to Parliament where they enjoyed a tour and a Q&A.
Finally, I wanted to wish our amazing Paralympians the best of luck in Rio, especially our local girl Louise Hunt who will be representing team GB in the tennis. It was a fantastic opening ceremony and I was on Radio 4 praising the impact that these incredible athletes have on people’s perceptions. Prepare to be inspired!
