Damien Moore, Member of Parliament for Southport, has today condemned both the Labour Party leadership and Sefton Council over claims of tax avoidance surface.
It has emerged that Sefton Council spent £32.5 million on the ‘New Strand’ shopping centre, a run-down commercial property in Bootle, via a Luxembourg-registered company. The move by the Labour-led Council has left the local authority open to accusations of tax avoidance. It is estimated that using an offshore company has saved the Council from paying £1.6 million in stamp duty.
The Council has previously been under scrutiny after failing to disclose the details of the deal.
The revelations of Sefton’s tax avoidance scheme follow the Shadow Chancellor’s remarks in June that corporation avoiding their tax obligations were “morally obscene”.
Damien Moore MP has said “It’s hypocritical of the Labour leadership to criticise others for avoiding tax when Labour controlled Sefton council has done just that.”
He added, “The decision to spend £32.5 million on the run-down Strand shopping centre in Bootle is a waste, and the money would be better spent in Southport – something which my constituents would support”.
Mr Moore has demanded that details of the deal be made transparent “immediately”, and has called on Sefton and all other local authorities to “be open to scrutiny”.
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