Derek Flint Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 2 hours ago, Rog said: Just wait until BREXIT kicks in and the UK government decide they want all of the --- tax efficient --- business in the finance sector and set about closing out competition where it can and the Crown Dependencies will be first in line. HMG can and will. Perhaps the strategy should be to prepare the Island for absorption into the United Kingdom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 4 minutes ago, Derek Flint said: Perhaps the strategy should be to prepare the Island for absorption into the United Kingdom? I honestly believe it should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Flint Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 4 minutes ago, Rog said: I honestly believe it should. People rail against this, but the truth is that the Island has always had to sway with the market forces that prevail. Whether it was the boom days under smuggling, or the heady days of creaming off more VAT than we were entitled to, things change. It’s all about survivability, and the Manx are survivors. I just hope that there is a realistic plan, whatever it is. Left to its own devices in the current world climate, it won’t end well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hissingsid Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Moving people and businesses to a stones throw of a possible war zone does not seem a great move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Non-Believer Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 2 minutes ago, Derek Flint said: Whether it was the boom days under smuggling, or the heady days of creaming off more VAT than we were entitled to, things change. It’s all about survivability, and the Manx are survivors. I just hope that there is a realistic plan, whatever it is. Left to its own devices in the current world climate, it won’t end well. It depends just how lazy and initiative-less we got whilst we were creaming the VAT (and if we've managed to start creaming it again?). Survival is all about needing and wanting to live. If we've forgotten how to, then it may take a while to restart if we've got to start relearning the knowledge. Plus all the vested interests busy looking after the preservation of their own little Govt silos will hamper the process if they're obstructing the bigger picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesultanofsheight Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 5 hours ago, Non-Believer said: It's just yet another bite out of what we've built our economy and local industry on. If it is our politician's failings in any areas it is the failure to act on or make provision for what has become increasingly obvious in the last 8 or so years. The UK offshore business is under pressure and rulings from EU and elsewhere are rendering much of what we "do" as unacceptable or unlawful. These big firms still have options open to them which they will exercise. But those options don't involve staying on the IoM to beat their heads against a wall and try and stem the onslaught. They will go where they can continue to do business with least restrictions. The first duty is to their shareholders. They are on the IoM in the first instance for very few reasons. And none of them are loyalty to the Island. It’s been on the cards for a while. There’s been a team out there working on the migration for a while I hear. As you say there isn’t really a future for growth in the IOM so they have to look at how they best manage costs instead. It’s cheap to employ back office staff in Dubai and they have pretty much no employment rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushen Spy Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 It's really not a surprise. They've been reducing their numbers for around a decade. The company has increasingly been using contract workers sourced from off-island, many of them going home to the UK for the weekends. The new building was never big enough to facilitate all staff they had which likewise precluded any idea of growing their numbers. They are pretty shit employers anyway from what I have heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushen Spy Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 6 hours ago, hissingsid said: Moving people and businesses to a stones throw of a possible war zone does not seem a great move. The underlying reason for spreading out operations across multiple-jurisdictions, aside from obvious tax and legal benefits, is to keep employment costs at a minimum and guarantee continuity of business. It means they're not subject to the employment legislation of any one jurisdiction and can play them off against each other. The same goes for the tax and legal aspects. This gets right to the heart of the neoliberal transnational project: they are able to play nations off against each other and bypass national laws. It has many parallels with the age of pirates and smugglers sailing the oceans. There's an interesting geographical continuity in the bases of operations as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevster Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 12 hours ago, Rushen Spy said: neoliberal transnational project Definitely TJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 20 hours ago, Rog said: I honestly believe it should. Well, for that to happen you'd have to convince the one body that has the wherewithal to scupper anything on Mann...... the Manx CS. Big fish in a little pond springs to mind. They won't take too kindly being told what to do from someone across the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 4 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said: Well, for that to happen you'd have to convince the one body that has the wherewithal to scupper anything on Mann...... the Manx CS. Big fish in a little pond springs to mind. They won't take too kindly being told what to do from someone across the water. Well unless a flying saucer lands with aliens that eat --- Born Again Christians* --- and wee petrol then in the near future those same Government employees will have very little choice. Always assuming that HMG will accept the huge liability that the island already represents. * Changed to avoid upsetting racists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushen Spy Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 We have too many liabilities in relation to revenue. Civil Service needs to be reduced by at least 50% for the island to become solvent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 On 6/24/2019 at 1:23 PM, Derek Flint said: Perhaps the strategy should be to prepare the Island for absorption into the United Kingdom? Why would the UK want to take responsibility for the costs of running an island that would virtually be unable to support itself anymore? Health, education, policing, local government etc would shift to say Lancashire. The only jobs would be those that the community could support, I think the population would fall dramatically and we would become very run down, very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushen Spy Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 10 minutes ago, Max Power said: Why would the UK want to take responsibility for the costs of running an island that would virtually be unable to support itself anymore? Health, education, policing, local government etc would shift to say Lancashire. The only jobs would be those that the community could support, I think the population would fall dramatically and we would become very run down, very quickly. They have a responsibility given most of the people living here are from the UK. It's literally the other way around: the Isle of Man has taken on responsibility for thousands of UK citizens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Max Power said: Why would the UK want to take responsibility for the costs of running an island that would virtually be unable to support itself anymore? Health, education, policing, local government etc would shift to say Lancashire. The only jobs would be those that the community could support, I think the population would fall dramatically and we would become very run down, very quickly. Yes. We would be like a Scottish island only more remote. It is not in the UK's interest to interfere with the status quo. We know they need their tax havens so why would they change it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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