Thank you to all those who have contacted me about the tax reforms suggested by Tax Justice UK.

In my view, the best way to deliver more money for our public services is through economic growth. However, I note the range of reforms Tax Justice UK suggests. I can assure you that, while I do not support some of the proposals put forward, I will keep the issues you raise in mind as we approach the Budget on 30th October.

More widely, I am committed to addressing unfairness in the tax system. I therefore welcome the steps the Government has set out to raise revenue for public services and ensure everyone pays their fair share, by closing loopholes and tackling tax avoidance. This includes several measures that address some of the issues raised by Tax Justice UK.

I am pleased, for example, that the Government has set out how it will deliver on its plan to introduce 20% VAT on private schools, as well as to remove their eligibility for charitable business rates relief. This will provide funds to invest in our state schools and recruit 6,500 new teachers.

I also welcome that the Government will abolish non-dom status once and for all, replacing it with a modern scheme for people genuinely in the country for a short period. This includes ending the use of offshore trusts to avoid inheritance tax and scrapping the 50% foreign income discount in the first year of the new regime.

In addition, I support the Government’s intention to act against the carried interest loophole for the private equity industry, to close loopholes in the windfall tax on oil and gas companies and to take action to tackle the tax gap and take on tax avoidance by large businesses and the wealthy.

Beyond this, I recognise that at the Budget there will have to be difficult decisions on tax and spending. This is due to the £22 billion funding gap left by the last Government, which knowingly overspent departmental budgets, with billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. I welcome that despite this, the Chancellor has stuck to the pledge on which I was elected, not to increase taxes on working people, with no increases in income tax, National Insurance or VAT.

Thank you once again to all those who have contacted me about this important issue.