Nick Cohen argued in the Observer this weekend that the Left did not see the crash coming. Worse, he sys its intelligentsia did not mount counter argument to the dominant market based themes that prevailed in the UK for far too long:

Liberal Britain stayed silent as tyranny swept by because it too wanted the quiet life. Normally, left-wing eras end because the left loses itself in ideological excess and careers off into the margins of politics. The left of the early 21st century was an exception. It failed not because it was left-wing but because in crucial respects it was not left-wing enough. It forgot the lessons of the Great Depression and failed to regulate runaway markets.

Wrong Nick. Those of us who started the Tax Justice Network were entirely counter-cultural way back in 2002/03 when we got that show on the road.

We said tax havens were gutting finance.

We warned that the opacity they promoted undermined democracy.

We said they were a threat to the credibility of the market system.

We were right.

I wish people had listened a bit earlier. I wish those in 10 and 11 Downing Street were listening now.

But you can't say all of us missed the boat. Some of us were willing to stand out from the crowd when it was completely out of fashion to do so.