Tax Justice Bus: All Aboard In Bristol

Bristol’s political and church leaders boarded the Tax Justice Bus last Monday 3rd September when it stopped in the city as part of a 53-day tour of the UK and Ireland.

Brought to the city by Christian Aid and Church Action on Poverty, the bright red bus parked outside the cathedral and was welcomed by local MPs, church leaders and other local Christian Aid supporters. They all learned how global tax dodging hurts the poor in the UK and beyond and had chance to ask David Cameron to do something about it.

Tax dodging is a high-profile injustice that keeps some people poor while others get richer. It robs countries of the taxes they are owed: money that could be spent on health, education, or welfare.


Bishop Mike Hill said:

“I heard from Christian Aid and Church Action on Poverty about how tax injustice impacts on the poorest people around the world and here in the UK.

“It was a great opportunity to examine this important issue in more detail and see how we might respond .”


The Prime Minister and Chancellor have condemned aggressive tax dodging as morally wrong.

Christian Aid and Church Action on Poverty are urging David Cameron to use his global leadership to end financial secrecy, so tax dodgers have nowhere to hide. They want people to sign a petition asking Mr Cameron to push for measures that would require:

• companies to report on profit they make and taxes they pay in every country in which they operate
• tax havens to share automatically with other countries information about the money flowing through the tax haven.

Niall Cooper of Church Action on Poverty, said:

“At a time when spending cuts are having a devastating impact on the UK’s poorest people and communities, tax dodging is morally unacceptable.

“It amounts to robbing the poor. If the Government just collected the £35 billion of tax they know is going uncollected, they could invest properly in tackling UK poverty.”


Lydia Nash, Bristol Regional Coordinator for Christian Aid, said:

“We estimate that tax dodging by some unscrupulous multinational companies costs developing countries at least $160 billion a year: that’s one-and-a-half times the total global aid budget.

“This is money that could be used to make huge improvements to public services such as healthcare and education, better enabling people to sustain themselves. By making changes to the tax system, people across the world can live healthier, happier and less hungry lives.”


The Tax Justice Bus will make more than 100 stops from Falmouth to Inverness and Dover to Belfast. Politicians, church leaders, thousands of campaigners and members of the public will be invited to step aboard and show their support for an end to tax dodging.

To find out more about the Tax Justice Bus tour, follow us on Twitter @taxbus2012 and to take the ‘Tick for tax Justice’ campaign action, visit www.christianaid.org.uk/tax-bus or www.church-poverty.org.uk/taxbus