{"id":31548,"date":"2015-12-08T07:18:41","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T07:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=31548"},"modified":"2015-12-08T07:18:42","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T07:18:42","slug":"jersey-provides-a-warning-to-the-uk-tax-cuts-and-finance-are-the-way-to-go-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2015\/12\/08\/jersey-provides-a-warning-to-the-uk-tax-cuts-and-finance-are-the-way-to-go-bust\/","title":{"rendered":"Jersey provides a warning to the UK: tax cuts and finance are the way to go bust"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Guardian's 'long read' this morning is headed as follows<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

Long term readers of this blog will have noticed I have been talking about the black hole in the island's finances that I forecast that it would face by 2015 from about 2006 onwards<\/a> (or right from the very beginning). And that, fundamentally is what this long read is about. To put is unsubtly, what the article acknowledges is that I was right.<\/p>\n

The star of the show is, however, very definitely my long term friend and\u00a0Tax Justice Network colleague, John Christensen, which is only right and proper as John is \u00a0a Jersey man, and has had to face enormously bitter attacks to campaign on the issues created within and by the island of his origin. I have always saluted John for that: I've always suspected he would still live in Jersey if he could. Exile is a high price to pay for your convictions.<\/p>\n

But when weaving the story Oliver Bullough, for the Guardian, does mention:<\/p>\n

Perhaps his most notable comrade in this struggle is the accountant and Quaker Richard Murphy, whom he met by chance in 2002. \u201cRichard and John have done magical things, absolute miracles,\u201d said Pat Lucas, a teacher on Jersey and another veteran campaigner against the offshore industry. \u201cThey have changed the whole narrative.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And adds:<\/p>\n

Christensen and Murphy are not solely responsible for Jersey\u2019s troubles but sometimes, when talking to officials, you could be forgiven for thinking they were. (At one point during my interview with the former treasury and resources minister Philip Ozouf, he appeared temporarily to forget he was talking to me. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong about that, Mr Murphy? That\u2019s good stuff,\u201d he said, as if fantasising about taking on the turbulent accountant.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before noting<\/p>\n

Christensen ... is not the kind of man to get into a slanging match.<\/p>\n

Murphy, on the other hand, is combative \u2014 he advised Jeremy Corbyn during his leadership campaign for the Labour party \u2014 and has no such reservations. \u201cThey have for 10 years refused to accept that, fundamentally, their business model is, to use a technical term, fucked,\u201d he told me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I won't be suing. And the description of the Jersey business model is accurate. This though is a little wide of the mark:<\/p>\n

If Christensen, Murphy and their gang had been Jersey\u2019s only opponents, the island\u2019s feelings would be hurt, but it would otherwise probably remain unharmed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article then notes the forces, such as the EU, assembled against the island. My doubt is whether they would have been assembled without us. It's a point to debate.<\/p>\n

More importantly, there is a serious point to the article. Having noted that Jersey clearly sees no way out of the mess it is in the comment is made that:<\/p>\n

Jersey bet its future on finance, allowing its other industries to shrivel, in the belief that it could live well in perpetuity from moving other people\u2019s money around. If that belief was false, then does its fate await another island off the coast of France \u2014 one that has also pledged its future to finance? In short, is Jersey\u2019s worrying present Britain\u2019s bleak future?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is no minor issue. As the FT notes this morning<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Few countries have been as enthusiastic about tax competition as the UK.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That's the classic sign of a tax haven.<\/p>\n

Are we heading the way of Jersey, with all that means? I think it possible. And it would be a disaster.<\/p>\n

Reading the whole article is recommended<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Guardian’s ‘long read’ this morning is headed as follows: Long term readers of this blog will have noticed I have been talking about the
 Read the full article…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jersey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}