Crown dependencies hit back at UK opposition party over 'tax
haven' label
19 January 2012
The UK Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has
come under fire from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, after he
announced the party wanted the three jurisdictions persecuted as
"tax havens".
Earlier this month, Miliband told newspapers
he was asking the UK's coalition government to press for tougher EU
action against so-called "tax havens". According to an anonymous
party spokesman, Miliband wants "The UK's tax havens" to be
targetted first. He is urging the government to force the crown
dependencies to reveal the names of wealthy UK investors who use
tax planning, with the threat of putting them on the OECD's
blacklist if they do not co-operate. This policy, Miliband's
spokesman implied, would be included in Labour's 2015 election
manifesto.
Jersey Finance retaliated with a critical
statement, backed by a letter to the Financial Times by chief
executive Geoff Cook TEP. "It is disappointing when political
leaders choose to make inaccurate accusations about Jersey which do
not reflect the positive contribution that Jersey and the other
Crown Dependencies make to the broader UK economy", it said.
It also pointed out that the Foot Review,
commissioned and published by the previous Labour government, had
concluded that the amount of tax avoided by UK corporates using
crown dependencies and overseas territories was significantly lower
than the "wildly inflated figures produced by self-appointed lobby
groups such as the Tax Justice Network".
"The characterisation of Jersey as a tax haven
fails to recognise the regular endorsements that the island has
received from the OECD and IMF", it added.
The Isle of Man's chief minister Allan Bell
said Miliband was "ill-informed" and had made his statement to
boost his own image. "You must look at Ed Miliband's own position
at the moment, he has been under severe attack for lack of
leadership", Bell told Manx Radio. "He is looking for
scapegoats."
This interpretation was echoed by Guernsey's
treasury and resources minister Charles Parkinson, who dismissed
Miliband's comments as "without credibility".
"They are political posturing by a Labour
leader who is struggling in the opinion polls", he said.
Sources
Telegraph
BBC News
(Jersey)
BBC News
(Guernsey)
Jersey Finance
Manx Government
IsleofMan.com
BBC News
Independent