By Mark Battersby From International Adviser

Isle of Man Government chief minister Allan Bell has predicted a wave of negative campaigning focused on the Isle of Man and the other crown dependences, if Jeremy Corbyn wins the leadership of the UK’s Labour Party.

Bell identified Corbyn’s chief economic adviser as the offshore critic Richard Murphy, an economist who advises the UK’s Trades Union Congress on economics and taxation, and a long-standing active member of the Tax Justice Network.

“As a crown dependency we have got to expect a ratcheting up of anti-offshore activity”, he said in a report on Isle of Man Today.

Labour’s leadership voting process closes today, with the results announced this Saturday 12 September.

Bell said the island had for many years developed a good working relationship with all the UK political parties, in government or opposition, and that he had met many of the leading players.

“Mr Corbyn has not been on our radar. No minister has met him – I certainly haven’t. If he is elected it will represent a very substantial shift to the left for the Labour Party. That shift is something we will have to be conscious of.”

“We have got to expect a ratcheting up of anti-offshore activity”

He added: “Whoever wins the Labour leadership election is going to be an important player in Westminster. Myself as chief minister, and the cabinet office, will do our best to establish relations with the new leader as soon as possible.”

In 2011, International Adviser reported that Tax Justice Network had launched a campaign aimed at calling public attention to the impact low- and no-tax jurisdictions have on the lives of people living in higher tax countries.

Murphy said at that time that “Italy loses €183bn to tax evasion a year. Its current debt of €1.9trn represents just over 10 years’ tax of tax evasion on this basis. If only more had been done to tackle rampant tax evasion, Europe would not be facing a crisis today.”

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