CAMPAIGNERS welcomed a Labour plan to crack down on tax avoidance yesterday — but said “tinkering around the edges” was not enough to deal with an estimated £25 billion in annual losses.

The party announced a raft of measures yesterday which would impose significant fines on tax cheats, going well beyond lacklustre coalition efforts.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said the policy, initially flagged up by Labour leader Ed Miliband on Thursday, would include forcing people caught using aggressive tax avoidance schemes to pay not just the tax they owe, but up to the same amount in sanctions as well.