Gordon Barlow

Every few years one or other of the mainstream media organs in Britain sends a young intern out to do an "investigative" once-in-a-lifetime report on Cayman's tax haven. This time it was the BBC. The documentary has some of us laughing, others highly indignant. The boys are told to take plenty of photos of flashy cars, flashy self-promoters and flashy girls in bikinis lounging about on boats. No expense spared. I'm sure many BE members will have family or friends who have seen the silly programme, so they might be interested to read a couple of the local reactions.
https://cnsbusiness.com/2016/01/25/g.../#comment-1971

As a former Manager of the local Chamber of Commerce, I am most bothered by the lack of preparedness of our three highest officials - the British Governor and the chief Caymanian politician and the chief Caymanian tax-haven spokesman. All three made themselves look incompetent. Sigh. Ah well, you can see for yourselves.

jatraveller

I too watch the documentary...was not very impressed, I have to say. It was clear the reporter had an agenda - to show Cayman as a money laundering island for the wealthy. Beautiful aerial shots of the island though.

Gordon Barlow

ja. I wouldn't mind one of those fancy cars. Worth about what my house is worth! How the Other Half lives, eh?

Orangepants

I was down in Cayman last week when it aired and know Marcus and his family really well, been on that boat - it is beautiful! He is a great guy, very giving and a hard worker and made to look like a fool as was Mike J. Not an investigative piece at all, just trotted out all the cliches.
Yes unfortunately the govt officials did not come across well.

Gordon Barlow

It's always tempting to give interviews when asked politely, but it's often a risky business. All journalists have their own agendas, and so do their editors. I learned my lesson many years ago when, as Manager of our local Chamber of Commerce, I was interviewed by Euromoney. It was (and no doubt still is, if it's still going) - a very prestigious magazine, and I was flattered to be asked. The actual interview was reported accurately, but it appeared immediately below a sub-heading chosen by an editor. The sub-heading was - in heavy dark print - Cocaine, followed by the words "Gordon Barlow, Manager of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce..." Huh. Thanks a lot!

uk_grenada

I once worked for barmy brent council. Some dodgy electrician managed to connect one phase negative to another phases positive and blew up every piece of it kit in an office block. Seriiously, on or off, if they were plugged in, they startedsmoking. Anyway, i had it all replaced over about a week, worked well with suppliers etc, and some reporter from the FT of all papers wanted to interview me. Its went swimmingly, i got half a page, lovely photo with me in front of a union jack outside the town hall, all very new statesman like if you remember the tv show. Problem was, the other half page was about our council leader, who was red ken livingstone at the time, and his poor choices. The page header - the good the bad and the ugly... I might have been good?

Gordon Barlow

This link is to a good article by Paul Byles, whose opinion is always worth taking note of.
http://www.caymancompass.com/2016/02...media-culture/

Gordon Barlow

According to a report on the Spain thread on BE, Channel Five has just done a similar hatchet-job on Gibraltar. As with the Cayman nonsense, the TV station catered to the ignorant. The BBC is certainly not what it used to be!

uk_grenada

Aunty beeb is harassed on many fronts these days, they arent allowed to up the license fee, they arent allowed to sell iplayer etc to johnny foreigner [us] and they have to do the ever changing bidding of government. However they really are richer than god, and they do spend a lot on rubbish programs, and they dont make enough of the good stuff themselves.

Anyone know what jeremy clarkson was doing in barbados for his new car prog just recently, mokes?

Gordon Barlow

Here is a local news report on Oxfam's latest attempt to persuade all the world's countries to levy the same taxes. That organisation must be part of the New World Order we read about, I expect. Mine was one of the comments published below the report, and there has been a follow-up from our elected politicians today.
http://cnsbusiness.com/2016/12/cayma...rst-tax-haven/

During my term as Manager of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, I was heavily involved in the fierce battle to fend off a proposed local income-tax in the late 1980s, and I remain a very strong defender of "Offshore" tax-havens.

uk_grenada

Grenada has just cut local income tax from 15 to 10%, name me the countries that have done that recently...

Gordon Barlow

Well done, Grenada! Excellent move. Although... the NWO bullies will no doubt put you on their list of "unfair tax" jurisdictions. (Oxfam, for God's sake!)

uk_grenada

A friend of mine was head of IT for oxfam, lovely BMW 6 series as a company car, he spent most of his time with marketing people looking after a huge database of potential victims [thats People companies and government officials who might be persuaded to give them money.]

Gordon Barlow

https://www.rt.com/business/371242-g...dance-bermuda/
This article doesn't actually mention Cayman, but the tax-avoidance scheme used by Google is a standard "offshore" practice - the kind that drives high-tax nations' tax-collectors bananas. I learnt about this practice in Nassau fifty years ago, and have written about it elsewhere; I guess the oldies are still the goodies! The anti-"offshore" folk let it continue, because their politicians take advantage of it themselves. Pffft!