I am at a loss to explain why Northern Rock's Guernsey offshore banking subsidiary does not appear to embarrass the Government. The bank's website has a screaming exhortation that "investing offshore is the perfect solution for expatriates, foreign nationals, or UK residents wishing to take advantage of tax planning opportunities". Yet at the G20 summit, Gordon Brown promised tough action against tax havens.
I raised this with Government ministers a year ago in a Commons debate. My colleague Philip Hammond raised the matter again earlier this month in the Times. Yet no action has been taken.
CentreRight readers will recall that after I contacted the European Competition Commisioner Nellie Kroes, Northern Rock was forced to close its Danish subsidiary last year. William Hague, on my tip-off, raised in the House why Northern Rock (Guernsey) was actively soliciting deposits from Zimbabwe last year, and the practice ended later that same day, so Northern Rock can be made to act.
Let's be clear about what Northern Rock (Guernsey) Limited is - it is a UK taxpayer-owned bank, encouraging UK taxpayers to avoid paying UK taxes. Remarkably, the deposits are also covered by the UK taxpayer guarantee. How can all this be justified?
