Home What's New Speeches & Articles Newsletter - Sep 2008 Biography Diary Contact Information Photo Album Parliamentary Highlights Publications Links MEPs' Transparency   Conservative Party Latest News from Conservatives.com Conservative Party Website
		MEP signs low tax pledge Friday 13th May 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer, a constant advocate of low taxes and tax competition was today the first MEP to sign a pledge committing him to the task of working for lower taxes within the region. The pledge, designed by the Europeans for Tax Reform (ETR), commits its signatories never to vote for tax increases, to work for lower and fairer taxes and to oppose EU tax harmonisation. The ETR argues that lower tax rates, far from reducing tax revenues and leading to cuts in services, actually promote growth and prosperity, creating the wealth needed for better public services. Low, flat taxes reduce both the incentive and the opportunity for tax avoidance or evasion and can bring people back into the mainstream from the black market. They also encourage participation in the employment market, while allowing for capital formation leading to investment and new enterprise and enhancing inward investment and growth. According to the ETR, experience in dozens of countries over decades has proved that lower taxes can enhance both revenues and growth. Flat taxes are currently taking central Europe by storm, and OECD figures show dramatically higher growth rates in flat tax countries. Tax payer groups are growing up in the most advanced economies to demand lower taxes and the prosperity that goes with them. In the USA, Americans for Tax Reform, run by Grover Norquist, is extremely active, while The Taxpayers' Alliance, has been established to fight the burden of high taxes in the UK. Commenting on the pledge, Roger Helmer said: "It may be counter-intuitive, but the truth is that lower taxes mean more government revenues, not less. They can make us all more prosperous. That is why low taxes are not just electoral window-dressing. They are an economic and moral imperative".