A stall advertising an infamous tax haven is on display at this year’s Conservative Party Conference.
Several attendees have posted pictures of the Cayman Islands stall which looks to have garnered considerable interest among the conference’s suited delegates.
Hosted by the island’s tourism board Visit Cayman Islands it appears to promote tourism to the island from the outset, but a deeper look shows a more sinister side to the organisation.
Listed under the page “operate your business” their website promotes the Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) in Grand Cayman, which boasts government concessions such as “100-percent foreign ownership, 100-percent exemption from taxes, 100-percent exemption from import duties, and five-year work/residency visas for staff”.
The CEC also provides a 10-day setup of operations that covers obtaining trade certificates and work visas, allowing companies to easily establish a physical presence with offices in Cayman that generate income from a tax-neutral jurisdiction.
While nurses try to make ends meet
— LondonNurse2016 (@LondonNurse2015) October 1, 2018
delegates at Conservative Party conference seek advice on how they can avoid paying tax
Cayman islands stall pic.twitter.com/xd5pEN9r3Y
The Conservatives have received significant pressure to clamp down on such havens following the Panama Papers leak in 2015.
Cayman Islands were heavily implicated in the release of the sensitive documents, but there has been little response from Britain’s ruling party despite promises to crack down on the abuse.
Last year’s Tory Manifesto contained no detail on the party’s plans for tackling tax avoidance, despite Labour publishing a 10-page booklet devoted to policies for tackling tax avoidance by wealthy individuals and corporations.
RELATED
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
