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Serious Crime Bill [HL]

I hope that the Minister can respond to the following example. Tax evasion is fraud; it is as clear as that. I am sure that no Member of the Committee has any truck with tax evaders, not least because every pound evaded means a pound more for the rest of the law-abiding population to pay in taxation. Could there be monitoring and profiling of people who make visits to tax-haven countries? Would that trigger an inquiry into those individuals’ bank accounts to see whether they had paid for those visits and so forth? Would it lead to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs undertaking a detailed inquiry? The Minister assured us at Second Reading that there would not be trawls of this nature. Will she deal with that example and let us know what happens if patterns or trends are discovered? If it is decided to monitor visits to tax-haven countries, what would happen as a result?