For those of you unfortunate enough not to receive the joy of Border TV or BBC North West, you may have missed the mild stramash that Alastair Darling has created in the heart of the British Isles, by cutting the Isle of Man's budget by a WHOPPING 24 %.
Labour Chancellor Darling's latest cost cutting exercise threatens the Isle of Man's status as a tax haven and completely undermines its economic viability.
Cutting £140 million out of a budget of £572 means that the Manx Government are in danger of losing their Triple AAA credit rating. The cut according to the Government of Keys is non-negotiable.
The island was the first crown dependency to slash corporation tax to zero for all companies except financial institutions, which pay 10%.
The zero percent tax rate saw an influx of new business to the island, whose 80,000 inhabitants enjoy one of the highest living standards anywhere.
The teensy weensy little Isle of Man makes more films per year than the rest of the UK, because of the tax breaks available to production companies. Since this first started the Isle of Man has built up a fully functioning well trained film workforce. This is now under threat.
What is increasingly interesting is the grumblings of the Manx people talking about Independence.
The fact that tax exiles like Nigel Mansell, Rick Wakeman, Norman Wisdom (possibly Hovis) and sundry industrialists like John Whittaker the publicity shy property developer billionaire behind plans for the contentious new Hunterston coal power station could be at the heart of an Independence movement is worthy of a great big guffaw.
Darling boobs again.
Oops he did it again.
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11 comments:
I like your new header Mr Monty, definitely more appealing than that oozing brie you had before...I believe George Macdonald Fraser was a tax exile on the Isle of Man. Not known for his liberal or nationalist views as I recall...
Nice capture Murkin..
Im not that well tuned up on IOM/Manx politics but if the UK gov meddles in its affairs then i suspect parties like VicMann (Summit like that) will pick up ground.
As one Manxs local said. " He who can not see the coast of the doonhamers from our island is a very lucky man indeed"
I too have no idea how the Isle of Man is financed or how its relationship with the UK operates. I've been there and it's a nice wee place with friendly people (although Douglas is a bit 'Blackpool')
How the hell can that weirdo cut the country's budget by that fantastic amount? It's diabolical. One thing is for sure; this government could cause disruption and poverty, ruin businesses and people's lives better than most. (I suppose it's good to know they are good at something.)
I hope the Manx tell them to ...erm go away. Independence works like a dream for most microstates.
By the way, shouldn't BBC North West really be covering the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland? They seem somehow to cover somewhere way to south.... weird!
Twenty four percent? My god - are they mad? There'll pissed aff Manxmen the day.
My heart weeps. Poor wee Manxmen and Manxwomen. You do know they eat their young dontcha?
I rest my case.
Speaking to friends of mine on the Island, the shock is palpable. Folk have two choices: throw in the towel & become effectively an English county, or build on their present constitutional position and move from Crown dependency status to unfettered independence.
Go for it Ellan Vannin.
And all because Brown couldn't run a piss up in a brewery....
Ms Panglos, Sir, I think you'll find the Manx stopped eating their young at the same time as the Sellafield outflow was bunged up, besides they lost out on the lucrative S&M market when they stopped using the birch, legally.
So how's life in the shire, I thought you were going to the Sneck conference?
The Isle of Mann is rightfully a Scottish possession and will revet to Scotland after independence. Discuss.
A little foretaste of what will come to Scotland if the SNP threat falters.
The IOM has no natural resources and no current plans to leave the UK so it's fair game for any cuts that Westminster feels like applying to the Island's finances.
The only thing which keeps the Barnett differential which is applied to Scotland's block grant untouched is the fear that oil-rich Scotland will turn to the SNP and leave the UK if the screw is turned too hard on Scotland's public funding.
If Westminster decides that the nationalist threat in Scotland is over then it will be the night of the long-knives for public funding in Scotland as well.
Mr Montague, It somehow feels as if you're talking to someone standing over my left shoulder. The only shire I'm familiar with is Edinburghshire, and I'm not really sure that counts as a shire. Well it is, but ye ken whit ah mean.
I've never been to the Manx Isle, and I've never met a Manx man. They just give me the creeps and I don't know why. I realise that Mann is more Scottish than anything else, but couldn't we negociate it away for something useful, and perhaps more aesthetically pleasing, like Gibraltar or Cheryl Cole?
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