In light of all this debate about labour’s tax plans, lets talk a bit about UK particularly relationship to tax. Is it a coincidence that so many tax havens are former or current UK dependencies (Cayman, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Bahamas etc)...

British empire was particularly uneven in its organisation-colonies, protectorates, overseas territories etc-each with a great deal of freedom with accounting, corporate and tax laws

At the end of empire, remaining imperial outpost served as an escape vaulve for British capitalism to hide the wealth acquired in the colonies

The empire not just soldiers but also lawyers, bankers and accounts who when leaving new decolonised nationalist sates and returning to a now welfarist UK, were able to use the maze of imperial outposts to protect their wealth

‘Offshore Britain’ played a huge role in drawing the whole world into a race to the bottom on tax levels. It also normalised a culture in the British elite of seeing any increase in tax as illegitimate

This is the class of people who own the papers and fund the think tanks that will spend the next few weeks telling you any rise in tax will destroy society. Don’t believe the hype!