Whether we like it or not unfortunately tax havens and the offshore system are a major part of the world economy. They are like the internet and are a global entity, and new tax havens have an habit of popping up out of nowhere like Meerkats. You have probably heard about the ones in Panama, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda or the British Virgin Islands but how about Dubai, Latvia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Holland, Switzerland or even Kenya being tax havens? That’s right, there is now an offshore financial centre in Nairobi.

These countries operate on a strict client/service provider secrecy rule, turn a blind eye to criminal or dirty origins of money and thrive on the shadow banks who use tax havens as an offshore playground and launder money for the rich and powerful on an industrial scale. Discreet Shits in Suits, Solicitors and Company Secretaries in plush, air-conditioned glass office buildings promise to take their clients’ names to the grave because of their Client Confidentiality Agreements. We all know what goes on here, of course, there is no need to fabricate the story or spice it up because the facts speak for themselves .

It is INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE ON AN EPIC SCALE befitting a Bond villain’s evil plan to take over the world, only this is real life and not based on a spy novel turned mega film franchise. However, it is only a matter of time before this becomes a major film that will rock the world and the very foundations of the Political Establishment.

The New York millionaires Leona Hensley once said that “Taxes are for the little people.” Unfortunately, that is how many politicians view tax as well, yet they are able to avoid paying it like they ought to.

The problem, as we know, is transparency, or the lack of in politics. For far too long politicians in power have been able to get away with avoiding taxes by hiding their supplementary incomes in elaborate and sophisticated trusts, optional shares, and Non-Exec Directorships of fracking and mining firms, and consultancy positions for big corporations who use them for lobbying in Parliament so that they can avoid paying Corporation Tax. Like the late, great American comedian George Carlin said: “It’s a big club…and you ain’t in it!”