On Thursday in the House of Commons, I spoke from the despatch box in the Second Reading debate on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. As Labour’s Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers, I had responsibility to close the debate from the Labour frontbench.

Economic Crime includes things like fraud and money laundering, and the National Crime Agency estimates that it costs the country over £100 billion each year. The Government first promised action on economic crime back in 2016, and it is shameful that it has taken until now for the Government to bring forward this legislation.

The Bill will reform Companies House, making it harder for fraudulent businesses to abuse our open economy for money-laundering services, and it will toughen-up sanctions and regulations with regards to economic crime.

Over the next month, I will be sitting on the ‘Bill Committee’ in Parliament. In a Bill Committee, Government and Opposition MPs scrutinise the bill line-by-line, tabling amendments and making sure the bill is as effective as possible. I’ll make sure to keep you updated on my work on the bill holding the Government to account.

Yours,

Seema