The Barclay Brothers are, of course, as owners of the Daily Telegraph key supporters of the Nasty Party. They're living up to their reputation on Sark. As the Guardian (and many others) report today, they're not just closing their own businesses on Sark as they throw a tantrum after the electors of that tiny island rejected their candidates in the first ever election on the place. They're forcing other people who are their tenants to close their businesses too, and are making it clear they will not allow others to open in their place. Put simply they are seeking to economically destroy the place because the locals will not do their bidding.
I noted this, and thought it appropriate:
Reg Guille, the judge and returning officer, said the last time the islanders had been told how to vote was in 1940, when the Nazis occupied. Speaking on Radio Guernsey, he said: "We got our independence back in 1945 at the point of a bayonet."
I think he may have a point, but a different weapon is needed this time. If Sark has any sense they'll nationalise the properties the Barclays are refusing to use. That or they'd place an 'empty property tax' of something like 1,000 times their worth a year on them. It might do the trick.
I'd be amused.
And no I don't, by the way, see any contradiction in my position's here. I do not, and never have had, quarrels with the people of the Crown Dependencies, or elsewhere. I argue with those who come into these places and seek to abuse them. Usually those people are called bankers, lawyers and accountants or they have familiar names such as RBS or whatever. Here they are called the Barclays. But in all cases they have acted as if occupying forces and the interests of local people have been ignored. Of course life may not be as materially rich without them. That may also be true when the UK ceases to be dependent upon many of the repugnant and rapacious activities of the City of London: but material well being is not everything. It's a lesson we're only beginning to learn now. Sark may be ahead of us.
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I notice that the Barlcay’s newspaper on the island told voters not to back people who wanted tax reform! I wonder why…
The people of Sark can succeed without the Barclay brothers – they are after all, only two men with a lot of money.
They could nationalise the businesses, as you’ve said. I think they should do this immediately. The profits could go towards providing the things the rest of us in the UK take for granted – welfare provision and healthcare free at the point of use.