NEWS that one of the first actions of Guernsey’s special ‘friends’ in the UK government will be to try to make life difficult here for the bulk mailers in the fulfilment sector is a reminder to the chief minister that there are no real pals in politics.

Building a relationship with UK ministers and officials is the right course of action but it certainly does not win you any special favours, as the ‘more likely than not’ prediction that the low value consignment relief threshold will be reduced demonstrates.

While dropping it below the current £18 level – which has been in place for years – theoretically means that HM Revenue and Customs will collect more VAT from Guernsey exporters, in practice it is unlikely to.

What it will do, however, is increase the number of packets leaving the Channel Islands as the fulfilment sector breaks down orders into lower-value units to continue to be able to take advantage of the tax break.

The £18 threshold was put in place because the government of the day recognised that it cost more to collect than the cash value of the VAT itself, and that remains the case today.

Any change to the system, of course, is a purely cynical political ploy because the UK Government is hiking VAT to 20%, which will hit the few remaining high street CD and DVD vendors.

Although tightening the so-called VAT loophole might play well to a certain audience, it will be of no benefit to the independent retailers.

Their biggest competition comes not from these islands but from Tesco and digital downloads. Even if the Channel Islands stopped fulfilment completely, it would continue from Hong Kong, Switzerland and other jurisdictions. And Guernsey, at least, has an understanding with the UK that actively seeks to minimise any harm.

The sector locally employs around 600 people, pumps money into the local economy and helps to maintain cargo links here. Yet for reasons that defy logic or rational explanation, the UK will happily jeopardise that on a whim.

Seen in that light, Guernsey’s special relationship with the coalition government looks a little one-sided.