A FEW weeks ago I met with campaigners from the Tax Dodging Bill coalition at the Christian Aid office in Oxford.

As a Parliamentary candidate, this is now the issue about which I have been lobbied the most - remarkably, even more than the NHS, which is saying something. And according to a poll last November, 85 per cent of British adults regard tax avoidance by large companies as ‘morally wrong, even if it is legal’.

Tax is an obligation to society rather than a cost to business and corporate tax dodging has real and direct consequences on the lives of all of us. In the UK, Tory/LibDem spending decisions mean we have hospitals without enough nurses, schools with inadequate buildings, and this is the same in developing countries (often the least able to protect themselves and also more dependent on corporate tax revenue) where civil society is crying out for more investment in public services.

Only a systematic joined-up approach will work, and Labour’s proposed Finance Bill will close the loopholes that cost the exchequer billions of pounds a year, increase transparency and toughen up penalties.

So I’m proud to have been part of the campaigning to make tax fair for years.

And I’m absolutely committed to continue to do so; hopefully from within Parliament after May 7.

SALLY COPLEY Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Oxford West & Abingdon Vicarage Road, Oxford