Vince Cable has treated Senator Frank Walker of Jersey with the respect he deserves. According to a Jersey Evening Post report:
LIBERAL Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable has ...said that the failure of the British government to offer protection to Islanders who had money in Icelandic banks which are now in administration spoke volumes about a growing lack of patience with territories that engage in tax avoidance.
Mr Cable was reacting to criticisms levelled at him by Jersey's Chief Minister, Frank Walker, for making 'inaccurate and ill-informed' comments about the way in which the Island's finance industry is regulated. However, Senator Walker is even more annoyed at Mr Cable's latest outburst. 'There are none so deaf as those who do not want to hear,' he said.
Mr Cable. . was uncompromising in his message, saying: 'Rather than react to pompous statements from the Chief Minister, I would simply point out that far more important people than me are preparing to move against offshore tax havens. US President-elect Obama has made clear his intention to do so.'
Quote so.
I suspect Vince Cable sees Sen Walker for exactly what he is.
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The Islander’s probably do deserve compensation: from their own government, and the Icelandic government, that were responsible for regulating the banks in question.
I also think your earlier comments about British expats with accounts in the Channel Islands were a bit unfair. It is difficult to open accounts in Britain itself unless you are resident – they either explicitly require new customers to be British residents, or they use credit reference agencies that only cover the UK. What choice to they have?
Other financial services companies are the same. One expat asked me to suggest an execution only stock-broker they could use, and almost all are only open to British residents.
AFAIK many (most?) non-residents have little to gain from banking in the Channel islands rather than within Britain itself, but the banks limit their choices.
Richard Murphy tells the Chief Minister to get stuffed in Jersey, but I am sure the response back to him and his Tax Justice Network is likewise. 😀