If, as Andrew Rawnsley says, Johnson`s "fellow Tories think that something seismically scandalous - probably to do with money" has to be revealed if he is to be prevented from becoming our next prime minister, is it not surprising that transparency about recent tax payments has not become an issue in this leadership contest (The dirty secrets of Boris Johnson`s seduction of Conservative MPs, 16.06.19)? Surely, out of desperation if nothing else, one would reasonably have expected one of the outsiders to have thrown down the gauntlet to the others, and made public recent tax records.
Much of the press, Guardian and Observer included, made a big deal out of the Dutch historian, Rutger Bregman, taking billionaires to task for not paying their fair share of tax at the Davos Economic Forum, and similarly have criticised the government for the UK and its "corporate tax haven network" for being, according to the Tax Justice Network, the world`s "greatest enabler of corporate tax avoidance" (UK and territories are "greatest enabler of tax avoidance, study says, 28/05/19). Yet when it comes to the selection of our next prime minister, the subject seems most definitely to be off the table!
The British public does not have a clue about any of the candidates` proposals to deal with the billions lost every year through tax avoidance and evasion, and are even being denied any knowledge of their own tax arrangements. With trust in politicians at an all-time low, what better way of showing the electorate that faith can be restored than by proving they pay all the taxes due. Out-Faraging the Brexit leader cannot be the only way to win this leadership contest!
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