Britain 'may be forced to bail out tax havens'

The Guardian, UK. ^ | Sunday 13 September 2009 21.00 BST | Nick Mathiason

[OldSpice]

• Collapse of offshore centres could cost UK many millions

• Liberal Vince Cable says it is wrong to reward mismanagement

Britain could be forced to bail out one or more of its offshore tax havens at huge cost, according to early drafts of a Treasury report, because the economic crisis has wrecked their finances.

Offshore expert Michael Foot will next month set out a number of options to government ministers in the report as anxiety grows within Whitehall over the health of Britain's overseas territories and crown dependencies.

Senior insiders say early drafts of Foot's report suggest that the government may need to make provisions for the financial failure of British tax havens. Experts suggest the failure of a major tax haven could potentially cost the UK tens, if not hundreds, of millions of pounds.

Government officials say they are aware that some British overseas territories are facing serious problems which could get worse. In the event of further economic deterioration, they could become failed states and be dragged into the illegal drugs trade, Whitehall insiders warn.

Two weeks ago, the Guardian revealed that the Cayman Islands, the capital of the world's hedge fund industry and the fifth biggest banking centre, was so cash-strapped it may not be able to pay its own civil servants.

The Caribbean tax haven was forced to ask the Foreign Office permission to borrow £278m to repair huge deficits. The Foreign Office refused, advising the island's authorities to impose property or payroll taxes. Talks are ongoing over a £30m emergency loan package.

[cranked]

And all this time we thought the US was broke or going bankrupt, the UK is already there, especially if they ‘bail out’ those offshore tax havens.

[Brilliant]

We have the opposite problem—bailing out spending disfunctionals.

[RC2]

I’d like to see the British people put together Tea Partys like we saw in Washington DC. They need to take their country back also. If they did this, you would probably some big changes with their immigration and to their benefit. Join the US England and start your Tea Partys.

[OldSpice]

Who are the English Defence League?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8250017.stm

A mysterious group has been leading “anti-Muslim extremism” demonstrations around England this summer - who are they and what do they stand for?

The crowd of men surges forwards from the pub doors and is repelled by the police. The chant goes up in the heart of Birmingham’s shopping centre.

“Muslim bombers off our streets, Muslim bombers off our streets!”

Then comes the response from about 50 equally mobilised people 200 yards away.

“Nazi scum out of Brum, Nazi scum out of Brum!”

Amid the increasingly chaotic scenes, someone throws a bottle - I don’t see who - followed half-an-hour later by a rain of rubble from young Asian men who have turned up to join a stand-off.

More at link. Please use appropriate filters- this is from the BBC.