This week, the EU’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee proposed a basket of measures to tackle tax avoidance. These measures will be voted on December 16th by the European Parliament, and if passed, the Commission has three months to consider them and respond.

Among the measures is a proposal for “introducing a Fair Tax Payer label”, based on the Fair Tax Mark, which aims to set a new standard in responsible tax practice.

Everyone at the Fair Tax Mark has been really pleased at the progress to date. We have certified sixteen businesses since our launch in February 2014. Just last week, Britain’s largest co-operative, the Co-operative Group, became the latest to be accredited, joining Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), which in October became the first FTSE 100 company to sign up.

This latest development proves the Mark is achieving amazing cut through. Of course, the “label” is by no means in the bag – but the fact that such a cross-political committee has urged its development across Europe is a real milestone.

So, thank you for all for your wonderful support. It sounds corny, but we really couldn’t be making such progress without you.