How the new spending chief can tackle tax without being a prat

Wendy Bradley, PhD student of tax simplification and better regulation at the University of Sheffield, comments on the challenges Labour MP Meg Hillier will face in her new role as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. How the new spending chief can tackle tax without being a prat. By Wendy Bradley, 24 June 2015, posted on The Conversation Meg Hillier, Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, has been elected Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. In what is arguably one of the biggest jobs available to an opposition MP, she is in charge of overseeing all public spending by the government. And she has big boots to fill as successor to Margaret Hodge who became known for her lively investigations into tax avoidance and evasion. Hodge's chairmanship of the committee offers some important lessons for Meg Hillier. Hodge included among her titles both "tax prat of the year" and Tax Personality of the Year when in office.