MPs are right to be concerned about the potential for further tragedies linked to loan charge - Greg Wright

Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Loan Charge & Taxpayer Fairness Group have written to the Interim Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), in connection with 10 confirmed suicides of people facing the loan charge and to express their “serious concerns” at the way they believe the system, including the IOPC, is failing to address this issue.

The tenth suicide was confirmed in a letter to the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Harriet Baldwin MP in January. In a nutshell, the letter from the APPG asks the IOPC why they haven’t investigated the 10 suicides but referred them back to HMRC to investigate themselves.

In the letter to the IOPC, the APPG said it has had direct contact with three of the families of those who have died by suicide while facing the loan charge, and two advisers whose clients had also died by suicide. In all these cases, the families and the advisers were clear that the loan charge was the reason for the death of their loved one or client, according to the letter signed by the MPs.

The family stated of one man’s suicide: “I believe that the entire loan charge situation, the build up to date, the false hopes of an end, for an answer, just consumed him.”

The letter from the APPG added: “The process is clearly failing both to identify the reasons for these suicides or to help prevent further such needless tragedies, which are both predictable and, if the Government finally listens and acts, avoidable.” It asks: “Has the IOPC looked at each of these 10 suicides in isolation or have they been looked at as a group of suicides, which was what they are?”

The IOPC said it appreciated the concerns raised by the APPG, adding: “Since March 2019, we have received a number of referrals relating to individuals who had been subject to HMRC investigation. After careful assessment, in some cases we decided HMRC should investigate to determine if its contact with an individual as a vulnerable customer was appropriate.

"We returned other referrals to HMRC to proceed with as they consider necessary.” HMRC has said it takes the wellbeing of all taxpayers very seriously and, for those who may need specialised help, advisers encourage them to contact organisations such as the Samaritans or Mind.

The MPs are right to be concerned about the potential for further tragedies. The APPG has continued to receive emails from distressed people, with some reporting suicidal thoughts as they face life-changing bills. The IOPC has said it will explain its role, remit, and the rationale for its decisions in a written response to the MPs. It will be interesting to study this response as pressure grows on the Government to find a fair resolution to this tragic saga.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post

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