"The issue is not whether direct rule from London is possible or not - we only have to look at the British takeover of the Turks and Caicos Islands several years ago to conclude that the British have no problem instituting direct rule over its colonies to replace the delegated power it grants to these dependencies through the constitutional orders - all the while preaching to the world, and to the territories themselves, that the territories are 'self-governing'.
Thus, the call for direct British rule by the 'progressive anti-colonial leader' of the U.K. Labour Party should convince the territories that their self-government is an illusion. The reply by the chair of the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies All Parliamentary Group that a U.K. takeover would be unnecessary and unjust' because the territories are 'self-governing' belies the reality that a takeover can occur at any time, for whatever reason." - OTR
UK could impose direct rule on tax havens, says Jeremy Corbyn
the guardian
The government should consider imposing direct orders on British overseas territories and crown dependencies to stop them acting as tax havens, Jeremy Corbyn has argued.
The Labour leader, speaking to the BBC in Harlow, Essex before a speech to launch the party’s local election manifesto in which he will accuse the prime minister of “pussyfooting” on tax matters – said the Cameron family’s own tax affairs should form part of an investigation into offshore avoidance.
Corbyn argued that the government should tell administrations in places like the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands: “Hang on, you are a government of a British dependent territory, a crown territory, you must obey UK tax law, you must not become a harbour for tax avoidance and tax evasion.”
There was precedence for direct rule to be imposed, Corbyn argued, and it should be done. He said: “The point is that they are not independent territories. They are self-governing, yes, but they are British crown dependent territories. Therefore, surely, there has to be an observance of UK tax law in those places.
“If they have become a place for systematic evasion and short-changing the public in this country, then something has to be done about it. Either those governments comply or a next step has to be taken.”
This could be done “almost immediately”, Corbyn said.
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