My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this debate. I very much appreciate the comments that the noble Baroness, Lady Stern, made in moving this amendment. She is probing at this stage. We want to find out exactly what has happened—because, unlike the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, I do not think that progress has been made quickly. We have been making demands on these issues since 2013.
When we are talking about cost, it is not just criminal activity that we are talking about but tax evasion. Sometimes it is called tax avoidance but the cost of tax evasion to developing countries runs to billions of pounds. Again, I come back to the vital point that those who can least afford it are suffering the most from the activities of territories that hide people’s activity. We should not be racing to the bottom. Transparency is about good business and doing good business. That is what this amendment is about. It is not about trying to punish territories or communities that have been trying to develop or extend their economy.
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I have represented workers in the Gibraltar and the Isle of Man; I have been a trade unionist in those places. I understand the importance of the financial
sector and I would not want to undermine it. But building a sustainable financial sector is the key to the territories’ growth, not relying on dodgy money. That is the key to this amendment. I accept the point that this is not a matter simply for the overseas territories. Certainly, the European Union has to get its own act together. If we were to apply its own criteria to member states, four EU countries would be blacklisted—so we are not just picking on British Overseas Territories.
I return to the point that we have a moral responsibility—this is not domestic policy. The noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, on a previous Committee day, made the point that overseas territories will have to comply. The first half of this Act will apply to overseas territories. There is an international law obligation, but there is also a moral obligation to ensure that our territories are not involved in hiding money from the poorest countries in the world.
It is also about giving notice. We have been arguing since 2013 that we need to address this issue, so let us use the Bill to give notice to the overseas territories that, if they do not get their act together and if more rapid progress is not made, we will have to ensure—in terms of global economic activity and our reputation—that we stand by these changes.
I hope the Minister will be able to give a concrete progress report. He had to dash away from the last Committee session to meet members of the overseas territories on the joint ministerial committee. Let us hear his assessment. But I give notice from the Opposition—and I know this has cross-party support—that we will be returning to this matter and we will push it strongly, because everyone wants to see firm action and we do not want to wait another seven years.