MP's vote of confidence in offshores

From Manx Radio:

A member of the United Kingdom parliament is defending the contribution offshore centres make to the British economy.

Writing on the Financial Director website, London and Westminster's Conservative member Mark Field says jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey have been taking unfair criticism in the UK.

He says many small centres are stable, well-regulated and neutral jurisdictions which provide liquidity and investment opportunities to Britain.

Mr Field also dismisses claims the offshores engage in harmful tax practices, saying the The Foot Review showed that's not the case.

And he says the Isle of Man is currently among the highest rated jurisdictions globally for complying with international standards.

Comment:
anrigaut on 17/Nov/2011 11:02
Mark Field is MP for Westminster. The City of London is, by all accounts, the biggest 'offshore' centre of all. So it's hardly surprising he defends the activities of tax havens. That doesn't mean what he says is the truth. Awareness of the real harm done by the offshore system's facilitation of tax avoidance (and worse) is growing. Rather than trying to sustain the myth put out by the all-powerful finance industry and the government in thrall to it, Manx Radio might consider looking at the other side of the coin. A good place to start would be the recent "Tax Havens" thread on manxforums where some of the less fooled Manxies are beginning to raise serious and intelligent questions. As one of the contributors neatly put it: "Are we kidding ourselves? We know we are a tax haven. It's how we earn a living. We may wish it were not so but there it is." Now that at least was honest. http://www.manxforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/49432-tax-havens/page_...