Hartlepoll mention in current Private Eye.

[mk1]

Interesting comment in the current Private Eye


FREEPORTS   IN   A STORM
   A GLANCE at some of the countries that already host freeports of the sort favoured by
both possibIe next prime ministers -Luxembourg, Switzerland, Singapore, Monaco and the US state of Delaware - shows
what a step the special tax-free zones are towards the UK acquiring fully fledged tax haven status.
     The history of freeports is one of tax dodging and asset concealment. Four months ago the European parliament called for "the urgent phasing out of the system of freeports in the EU'' (although the commission under Jean-Claude Juncker, who as Luxembourg leader had created one, did not sign up).
     "Freeports are conducive to secrecy,'' a European parliament study argued last year. "With their preferential treatment, they resemble off-shore financial centres, offering both high security and discretion and allowing transactions to be made without attracting the attention of regulators or direct tax authorities.''
     In 2011 the World Bank remarked of special economic zones: "Anecdotal evidence turns up  many examples of investments in zone infrastructure resulting in 'white elephants', or zones that largely have resulted in an industry taking advantage of tax breaks without producing substantial employment or export earnings."
      So why are Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt so keen on this beggar-thy-neighbour practice?
      The idea has been pushed by an all-party  parliamentary group (APPG) chaired by hard Brexiteer Martin Vickers, Tory MP for Cleethorpes, who's straight out of the tax-haven  supporting right wing of the party. In the past year, while voting against gay marriage and the inclusion of same-sex relationships in school teaching, Vickers ha.s found time to make nice with the governments of the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Cyprus and Jersey on expenses-paid trips to those centres of freedom.
     Last October Vickers' fellow hard Brexiteer and Freeport APPG member, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Simon Clarke, secured a parliamentary debate on the subject, citing a "report commissioned from Mace group'' outlining fantastic economic benefits.  That's the same Mace construction and consulting group that boasts how its "integrated service delivers innovative, tailored solutions for ports". Small wonder it recommended creating them at Hull,
Hartlepool, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester Airport. The boom would be similarly handy for one of Johnson's larger
donors, the JCB digger company.
     The freeporters certainly have friends in the right places. As Eye 1433 noted in 2016, Liam Fox's chief economist at the Department for  International Trade, Richard Price, has spoken approvingly of the idea. Tax haven Britain could soon be open for business. .

Roll on the new  low-wage deregulated Britain England ................