A reader, Barry Edwards, points to Barack Obama's intervention in the bailed-out US banks and asks whether a similar approach in the UK, directed at tax avoidance, might work:
I note that US President Obama is trying to place a salary cap on executives of US companies receiving aid from US taxpayers. Is anything similar happening in the UK and, in particular, is there any attempt being made to ensure that companies receiving assistance from British taxpayers are paying corporate tax back into the UK coffers? I would also argue that the same should apply to the individual tax affairs of their employees.
There's no sign of any action yet. The Treasury's review of British tax havens looks lukewarm on tax avoidance and UK Financial Investments, the body set up to manage the taxpayer's stakes in banks, promises not to interfere too much. Meanwhile the majority taxpayer-owned RBS is now chaired by a banker from Lloyds TSB, itself no stranger to the offshore world.
But all British politicians are desperate to emulate Obama, who has his face set against tax abuse. So maybe there's a slim hope yet.
