Wednesday April 13th 2016
Scottish Labour candidate for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Bernard Harkins says that politicians need to restore public faith in politics after the revelations in the Panama Papers raised questions about tax evasion and tax avoidance.
Mr Harkins said:
“Trust in politicians is always an issue.
During this election as I have been knocking on doors and speaking to voters in the street, the issue of trust in politicians has come up time and again.
In the past week the revelations in the Panama Papers have highlighted the issue of tax avoidance and tax evasion and called into question the financial affairs of politicians.
The public are rightly questioning whether there is one rule for them when it comes to paying tax and another rule for politicians
Therefore, in the interests of transparency I am publishing my Tax Summary for 2014-15.
I hope that this will go someway to restore public faith in politicians and those seeking political office.
In the interests of the wider political debate I would ask other candidates standing in Midlothian North and Musselburgh to consider doing the same.”
The tax summary shows that the only income Bernard receives is from his employment in the Civil Service.
Bernard Harkins Tax Summary 2015
