Review of the Papers, Wednesday 18 April

Government  

• Tax dodgers who kept their money in Britain are to get a similar amnesty to those who hid money offshore. A long-awaited deal unveiled on Tuesday offers a reduced penalty to anyone who comes clean over unpaid tax. People who evaded tax and kept their money in Britain will be offered a deal similar to the "offshore disclosure facility" announced by Revenue & Customs for people who hid money overseas. They have until June 22 to tell the Revenue that they intend to pay their tax, and until November 26 to pay a penalty of 10 per cent of the tax due, along with unpaid tax and interest. The small print of the deal suggests that someone with irregular tax affairs in the UK "can expect the same treatment" as someone with an offshore account. Revenue & Customs said it had felt obliged to offer the same terms to everyone. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/dd973606-ed24-11db-9520-000b5df10621.html
• Labour's immigration minister has conceded that the record inflow of immigrants could be harming the worse off and has ''deeply unsettled the country''. Liam Byrne admits in an article today that the issue is now near the top of the list of voter worries - and could cost Labour power. He says it is ''not racist'' to debate immigration - even though Labour attacked the Tories for raising it during the 2001 general election. Mr Byrne's comments, in a pamphlet published by the Policy Network think-tank, marks the latest milestone in a staged Labour retreat from the immigration policy it has embraced since 1997. A few years ago, David Blunkett, the former home secretary, said there was ''no obvious upper limit'' to the numbers that could come legally to Britain. But Mr Byrne says: ''We have to accept that laissez faire migration risks damaging communities where parts of our anti-poverty strategy come under pressure. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/18/nmigrants18.xml
• It appeared inconceivable last night that David Miliband, the environment secretary, would run against Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership, after he stated that he was "not a candidate" for the job. In a BBC interview, Mr Miliband once again fell short of categorically declaring that he would not run against the chancellor in any circumstances. But with three weeks to go before Tony Blair's expected resignation announcement, Mr Miliband's repeated insistence in public that he will not put himself forward as a candidate is killing off any sensible speculation that he will run for the job. In his first public comment on the issue after the Easter break, Mr Miliband res-ponded to questions: "I've meant what I said, I am not a candidate. "We've got an ex-cellent prime-minister-in-waiting in Gordon Brown, and I'm getting on with my job as environment secretary." http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5ab80588-ed49-11db-9520-000b5df10621.html

EU

• Brussels will today promise a tough new approach to gaining market access for European companies in countries such as China, Russia and India, including beefed-up teams on the ground to identify trade -barriers. Peter Mandelson, European Union trade commissioner, will set up "market access teams" in key European markets to spot potential barriers before they appear and to tackle existing obstacles to trade. Mr Mandelson wants to update the EU's faltering 10-year-old market access strategy to focus on "behind the border" non-tariff barriers - including regulatory restrictions - which hinder European trade in its key markets. The move will be presented by the liberal commissioner as proof to his critics that his commitment to free trade includes opening markets for European companies abroad, as well as exposing EU markets to greater competition. "EU business relies on growing markets abroad to fuel economic growth at home," he will say. "We need to ensure that European companies are able to compete fairly in those markets." http://www.ft.com/cms/s/88f827e8-ed49-11db-9520-000b5df10621.html