Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Cable: Impose direct rule to restore trust
VINCE Cable yesterday called for direct rule over the UK’S crown dependencies to restore “integrity” in the wake of the tax avoidance scandal.
The Lib Dem leader demanded the “unacceptable” tax practices of the UK’S crown territories be halted immediately.
Sir Vince said that when the coalition Government had introduced an open register for greater transparency over company ownership, the crown dependencies had simply refused to implement the policy.
He said: “What I’d recommend is that the territories that depend on British protection should be required to observe basic standards. Those that don’t … should be blacklisted.
“We have a fairly straightforward sanction which is the imposition of direct rule ... in that way we eliminate some of the cynicism which exists around tax policy.”