Eye-ing up another profitable trough.

UK`s future as a state comprised of feudal fiefdoms owned by rich oligarchs who can impose their own laws, currency, and laws governing slave labour. Welcome to the "new" medieval Italy in the North Sea. People voted for this!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maps-of-uk-freeports

“The more I read about Keir Starmer, the more my loathing meter keeps going up”

by EuropeanPowell on Substack

@UKLabour

“All the signs and symptoms are quickly emerging that Starmer is very bad news for Britain. Watch Labour privatise the UK as zone fever and capitalism without democracy eclipses all public services and dissenting voices are silenced.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/europeanpowell/p/the-more-i-read-about-keir-starmer?r=27oltk&utm_medium=ios

I'm quoted here, talking about Freeport tax cuts.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/dunfermline-press/20241121/281968908231712

The logic from the Scottish Government is that if the tax cuts cause job creation, then the income tax etc from the jobs will outweigh the tax cut - except they've never actually estimated how much they'll lose vs how much they'll gain.

Britain shifts radically to a tax and spend economy http://dlvr.it/TFw7G1 #budget #Business #BusinessCommerceMiscellaneous #Freeports

And then they weren't....

That plan to establish another five Freeports.... err, seems like Labour are now saying that was never the plan & it was a 'cock up with the comms'.

So its just continuing with the current Freeports then, despite extensive evidence that they generate no new investment, just displace investment from other paces... in other words they are a scam to reduce corporations tax exposure & little else....

Reeves should have been winding them down...

#Freeports
h/t FT

#Freeports
#CCS
#Reparations (not)
#2ChildCap

As I said, #Labour's "Change" is mostly Lampedusian:
"Everything must change so everything can stay the same".

Zombie policy ahoy:

the FT is reporting, despite their lacklustre performance as engines of regional growth in the past (and when I say lacklustre, I mean negligible), another five Freeport's look like being announced next week in the budget....

When there a real polices that could be enacted, why does our political class still think Freeport's are the 'answer' to anything (other than money laundering & tax evasion..... oh wait..)

Its a policy that just won\t die

@JackTheCat Yep, just another rich man's scam with no benefit to the rest of us
#Freeports

"Critics of #freeports say there is little evidence they attract new investment or help the economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility said in 2021 that tax breaks in England’s freeports would cost the government £50m a year and that their impact on GDP was likely to be so small it would be “difficult to discern even in retrospect”."

#UKpolitics #Labour

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/25/new-uk-freeports-budget-labour-starmer

"Freeports are both a massive folly, and a deeply misguided and even dangerous attempt to recreate offshore tax environments within the UK."

#UKpolitics #Freeports #TaxAvoidance #TaxHavens

https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/26/freeports-should-be-abolished/

You'll recall that the Tories thought freeports would be a post-Brexit boon for a newly 'independent' UK....

And, you'll like also recall that critic pointed out this had been tried before & UK companies really weren't interested.

Well, since 2021, just six firms have taken up the freeport facilities across four ports.

As Freeport's impact on the UK economy is therefore so small as to be difficult to measure at all... we can see the critics were right!

#freeports #trade

h/t FT

#freeports the unintended consequence #bees #insects #sustainability from the Guardian.
Colony of invasive red dwarf honeybee found for first time in Europe
Discovery of Apis florea in Malta raises fears of devastating impact on native bee populations
"The proximity of the colony to Birżebbuġa freeport, Malta’s major cargo hub, suggests the bees may have arrived via a commercial vessel." https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/30/colony-invasive-red-dwarf-honeybee-first-time-europe#:~:text=Colony%20of%20invasive,native%20bee%20populations

Understanding Special Economic Zones (SEZ)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zzd9c8zP070&feature=shared

#SpecialEconomicZones
#FreePorts

Tories set loose legislation that grant Special Economic Zones (SEZs) absolute control over anything & everyone in the vast zones, some up to 75km wide.

The can set taxes, change laws & abolish rights, & can compulsory purchase land, property & assets at will.

You have no say.
#SEZ #Freeports

There's something wrong here xxx
#freeports

MPs call for audit office to scrutinise Teesworks - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnke7gl8zexo.amp

Worth reading...

...& likely to make your blood boil.
#Freeports
#SEZs
#CharterCities
#NeverVoteConservative

Charter Cities: The Real Reason for Brexit and the Bigger Picture:
https://medium.com/@cormack.lawson/charter-cities-the-real-reason-for-brexit-and-the-bigger-picture-4de80dbb69fb