Letter is ‘notice of closure’ for finance industry
Thursday 16th April 2009, 2:30PM BST.
A UK government-ordered report into Guernsey as an offshore centre will prepare the island for a post-tax haven existence, it has been claimed.
Richard Murphy, founder of the Tax Justice Network and an avid campaigner for an end to jurisdictions that prosper because of tax avoidance, said the report by Michael Foot – which was commissioned by HM Treasury – will be about building a future for the Crown Dependencies without their finance industries.
Mr Murphy was responding to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s letter to the island, in which he warned that international efforts would shift from dealing with tax transparency to focusing on tax avoidance.
‘The UK is telling its havens that the days of evasion and avoidance through them are over – and I have good reason for thinking trusts will be at the forefront of attention,’ he said.
‘This announcement can best be seen as giving them notice of closure. They cannot and will not survive the planned process of change – it will ensure they have nothing left to offer and the UK Government knows that.’
Mr Brown (pictured) told Guernsey that the Foot Review would provide ‘support to the Crown Dependencies on these matters over the coming months’.
Mr Murphy added: ‘What is made clear is that the Foot Commission will look at these issues and means business.’
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Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Greed does eventually bring a harvest
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Richard Murphy has a fundamental prejudice of the Channel Islands, regular readers of his propaganda (sorry blog) will note that he regularly avoids responding to direct questions from commentators where the response (the only valid response) is counter to his argument which for all intense and purposes is based loosely on fact but mainly upon rhetoric and socialist views. Where he is unable to respond he counters by personally attacking the commentator.
IMO the Guernsey Press has an obligation to the population of Guernsey to balance Richard Murphy’s views with an pro Channel Island commentator who is external to the islands.
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Daniel
And your argument is based on what? Short term vested interests? The counter arguments always come from vested interests – fund managers, accountancy firms, lawyers. You never hear the poor, the third world subsistence farmers, the workers that make our clothes and our luxuries haave much of a say on anything, and yet tax abuse directly affects their lives.
As more and more people realise that global action needs to be taken to abolish secrecy and promote sustainable business rationale, then the more the apologists for tax abuse sound like spoilt children.
Our shiny cars are no recompense for encouraging other countries’ wealth not to be taxed and so bring their standard of living down.
If as KPMGs Mancini says, we don’t do aggressive tax avoidance, then come on, prove it. After all the big four firms have hardly surrounded themselves with glory over the last 18 months, I mean, who audited the failures?
Why do we still listen to these guys?
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