May 12 – Chief Minister At Anti-Corruption Seminar In London
The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo was invited to speak at the UK Anti-Corruption Summit chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron in London today. On arrival at Lancaster House and, after passing through a tight security cordon, the Chief Minister was met by Hugo Swire, Minister of State at the Foreign And Commonwealth Office.
During his brief visit to the Rock yesterday, the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Gibraltar is “one of the good guys” when it comes to tax transparency.
Speaking to the press at Gun Wharf, he said: “I will congratulate him on Gibraltar’s commitment to tax transparency and the leadership the Chief Minister has shown, and I will be asking him to use that leadership role as an example to British Overseas Territories elsewhere as we see to persuade them of the importance of this agenda.”
In response to Gibraltar being labeled as a tax haven in some sectors of the foreign press, Mr Hammond said: “The British Government appreciates what the Gibraltar Government has done on tax transparency, it is an exemplar to other overseas territories and I will be speaking to Mr Picardo today about how he can act as a leader among British Overseas Territories in setting the way forward.
“We believe good progress has been made here, but that doesn’t mean to say that there aren’t always further things that can be done.
“The Government’s view is that the Government of Gibraltar has made good progress with this issue and Chief Minister Picardo has been invited to London as an exemplar of how to move forward on these issues.
“He is not in the dock, he is one of the good guys and who is coming to share his experience and explain how progress can be made on these issues.”
The Prime Minister David Cameron is leading the two-day summit which is being attended by presidents and prime ministers from around 50 countries.
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