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Financial Management

I am grateful for that observation. It is right to tackle tax havens and to share information with offshore centres as much as possible. That effectively means obtaining information about what happens in those centres. Whether that is a European issue, or whether it is best done by member states, it is clearly important. I do not know how central that is to our debate today, but I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his observation. We sometimes go through the motions in such debates. None the less, the issue is hugely important. British taxpayers are becoming increasingly frustrated, and look to the Government to do something about it, but year after year we return to the issue with little sign of progress and no clear sense of direction from the Government. One detects weariness on the Government's part that there is little that they can or will do. That is unacceptable. Greater efforts should be made, and there is a need for greater transparency in the system.