Shabana Mahmood MP, Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister, responding to HMRC evidence at the Public Accounts Committee admitting how much has been raised this financial year from the Swiss tax agreement, said:

“We warned two years ago that this deal had more holes than Swiss cheese. And now we learn that half way through the year the Government has raised just a fraction of the £3.1 billion George Osborne promised.

“If all this money does not materialise it will be a further blow to a deficit reduction plan which has already stalled because our economy flatlined for three years.

“After the decision not to close down the eurobonds tax loophole, this is yet more evidence that David Cameron’s Government is totally failing to tackle tax avoidance. At a time when families face a cost of living crisis and the deficit is high, this simply isn’t good enough.”