Today it was announced that the European Parliament is to set up an inquiry into the Panama Papers which exposed wide scale tax avoidance. The setting up of an inquiry committee is a huge success story for me and my Green colleagues, and for EU citizens everywhere. We have been pressing hard for a proper investigation into the Panama papers scandal and the implications at EU level. An inquiry committee is the most powerful tool available to the European Parliament and can investigate breaches of EU law by member states and check if the Commission acted in accordance with its duties under EU treaties. I am pleased that as MEPs this inquiry will provide us with the necessary resources to expose the actions of wealthy elites and those complicit in supporting them. The extraordinary result of our petition shows the degree to which the citizens of Europe are behind us in our efforts to root out the causes and perpetrators of tax avoidance. Now what we need is for David Cameron and his party to get behind our calls for tough action on tax dodging and the legal-limbo of British Overseas Territories that have for years facilitated this practice for the wealthy and powerful.