An RT News interview revealing details in this blog
There have been a number of parliamentary select committees that have severely criticised HMRC for failure to prosecute any tax evaders following the release of the Herve Falciani list from HSBC Swiss accounts. And recently the Office for Budget Responsibility stated:
These hearings are a fraudulent charade to placate the public. HMRC’s hands are tied because in 2013 the Government signed a declaration with the Swiss Confederation that it will “not actively seek to acquire customer data stolen from Swiss banks”: This document can be see here, on this page UK-Swiss Confederation: Taxation Co-operation Agreement.
On Wednesday 13 April 2016 SNP Leader Angus Robertson challenged David Cameron over the statistics I had researched and tweeted in 2014 (I should have said investigating tax evasion by the wealthy):
The data went viral especially after someone made a graphic to illustrate the disparity:
From the Guardian
From Hansard:
The figures were immediately denied by every embarrassed Tory MP, particularly David Gauke, the Financial Secretary who declared the figures “rubbish”. However, two days after the Declaration with the Swiss was published, David Gauke issued a press release: “HMRC’s affluent unit recruits 100 new inspectors”. The PR states in “Notes for editors”:
By my calculation 200 plus 100 equals 300, although things may have changed under the Tories. I have recently discovered (thanks to Tim Wilkinson) these are the units dedicated to offshore enforcement, and this is staff count.