Mark Thomas on Newsnight

Mark Thomas was great last night on Newsnight (watch it here from about 26 minutes in). He managed to summarise what he perceives as the main problem that the G20 should tackle (tax havens) in a very short space of time. He even seemed to know more about the situation than Paxman. He made a comment that the government actually rents some of its buildings from companies that operate from tax havens and Paxman asked "Is that true?".

Unfortunately Wee Douggie Alexander did not respond to this but instead emphasised that global action is needed. He has a fair point but everything he said was hedged with "I hope we can do this." emphasising how limited the British Government's power is on this.

Before Mark Thomas even opened his mouth I knew he was going to go for tax havens. I have been listening to his podcasts recently which are very much focussed on the recession within the context of fairness and tackling corruption. He clearly thinks that the crisis is an opportunity for fundamental reform and I agree. For each podcast he interviews a different person such as Vince Cable, Caroline Lucas and many other activists. They usually make for fascinating listening and I have learnt plenty I did not know before. You can get them on iTunes or from here.