CENTRAL Devon MP Mel Stride was at the dispatch box in the House of Commons recently for the Second Reading of the Government’s 2017 Finance Bill.

Mr Stride, who was promoted to Financial Secretary to the Treasury in July - the third most senior minister in HM Treasury and one rung below the cabinet - stood next to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and set out in greater detail further measures to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and non-compliance.

This includes the abolition of permanent non-domicile or “non-dom” tax status, new penalties for those who use tax avoidance schemes or enable their use, greater action to prevent individuals from using artificial schemes to avoid paying tax owed on their earnings and updated company interest rules to ensure big businesses cannot use excessive interest payments to reduce tax.

In commending the Bill to the House Mr Stride said: “This bill is about addressing imbalances in the tax system and making it not only fairer but more sustainable.

“It is a bill to ensure that the taxes that are due are paid, preventing opportunities for avoidance and evasion and it is a bill to take the tax system forward into the digital age while ensuring that the pace of change works for businesses large and small.”

Speaking after the debate Mr Stride added: “The Government has already taken significant action to tackle tax evasion and avoidance – raising nearly £160 billion in additional tax revenue since 2010 through closing dozens of loopholes and introducing numerous new measures.

“But there is more to do and this bill will make it even more difficult for large multi-national companies to use complex methods to avoid paying the taxes that are needed to fund the doctors, nurses, police and prison officers, teachers, fire fighters and other public services that we all rely upon.”