The Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales, Keir Starmer, will give a speech on Tuesday on how the Crown Prosecution Service will dramatically increase the number of tax cases it takes on.

He will say tax evasion is not a victimless crime and middle-class evaders will be prosecuted in larger numbers.

Speaking to the Today programme, Keir Starmer said:

"Big tax avoidance schemes, if they are dishonest, will be prosecuted, and we proved last year in an important case that we are capable and able to prosecute those schemes."

When asked why action is being taken now, Mr Starmer said it was partly down to "the economic environment in which we find ourselves".

"It is of course always important to prosecute tax evasion but never more so than in this sort of hardship that we find ourselves in now."

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