Who stands to gain?

Revealed: Farage’s Brexit Party chairman facing questions over offshore tax haven links

Brexit Party chairman, Richard Tice, is facing calls to “urgently” address concerns about his family’s links to offshore tax havens, after an investigation by openDemocracy today reveals that two offshore firms own large shareholdings in his family’s business.

The Brexit Party MEP has also been urged to stand down from the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, which oversees EU tax policy, until the matter is fully investigated.

Tice, a co-founder of Arron Banks’s Leave.EU, says he has no knowledge of who runs two offshore companies that have held shares for over 25 years in his family business, Sunley Family Limited, and which now own a combined 42% stake. Tice denies any financial interests of the offshore companies.

Politicians and international tax experts have today demanded Tice “urgently clarify” who is behind these companies. John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network said: “Tice and his fellow Brexit travellers have called for ‘taking back control’ yet nothing undermines parliamentary democracy in Britain more than offshore tax havens.”

www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/revealed-farages-brexit-party-chairman-facing-questions-over-offshore-tax-haven-links/

Brexit Party MEPs have been criticised for voting against a European Parliament resolution backing stronger EU action to counter election meddling and disinformation from Russia. The party's representatives, including Nigel Farage, rejected the proposal which called for "monitoring of the impact of foreign interference across Europe" and put forward a plans to "address the threats of external intervention in our European elections".

The motion called for the EU East StratCom Task Force - which focuses on disinformation from Europe's eastern neighbours – to be upgraded to a permanent mission. It also asked the European Commission to shine a light on "the question of foreign funding of European political parties and foundations" by external actors. The Brexit Party said that claims of Russian interference in elections were "baseless propaganda and scare stories used to shut down debate". But other MEPs criticised the party's vote and said disinformation was being "weaponised by hostile foreign actors".

“In the aftermath of the Skripal attack, Russia reportedly published 138 contradictory accounts of the nerve agent attack, with disinformation reaching UK citizens through social media accounts," said Antony Hook, a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee. "I am shocked and appalled that MEPs from the Brexit Party today refused to support measures to better tackle fake news and disinformation, which is weaponised by hostile foreign actors."

In June the Brexit party was asked to check £2.5m it has received in donations to ensure the money had come from legitimate sources. The UK Electoral Commission warned that the structure of the party “leaves it open to a high and ongoing risk of receiving and accepting impermissible donations”. In June EU officials said Russia had tried to disrupt May's European Parliament elections by spreading disinformation and using fake stories to "promote extreme views". Russia's government denies that it acts in this way.

EU member states have seen a series of allegations of parties - most from the far-right of the political spectrum - being funded by Russian sources. In July Italy's then deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini was forced to deny that his far-right League party had sought millions from Russian investors in a secret oil deal. In Austria the leader of the far-right Freedom Party resigned after a sting operation showed him promising government contracts to a purported Russian oligarch in exchange for positive media coverage.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russian-election-nigel-farage-brexit-party-eu-vote-elections-a9150571.html

Remember that in 2016 only three foreign politicians were actively supporting Leave - Trump, Marine le Pen and Putin. There has been conclusive evidence of Russia's involvement in compromising our democracy, but that suits Farage et al just fine.

"How the Hedge Funds Are Really Playing Brexit. It’s hardly controversial to short the pound, but Crispin Odey and his ilk also have their eyes on a low-tax, low-regulation, no-deal Brexit paradise."

Bloomberg, looking at the UK from the US, can see other motives of the billionaire rightwing brexit backers.

"Still, it’s easy to see why some might be singled out by Hammond and others. Odey, who gave 10,000 pounds ($12,277) to Johnson’s Tory leadership campaign earlier this year, grumbles that he’s been made to look “unpatriotic” and uncaring about what happens to the country. Yet this is the same man who was filmed saying “the morning has gold in its mouth” after pocketing 220 million pounds on a market slump the day after the Brexit vote. While Odey’s no mastermind — his flagship fund fell nearly 50% in 2016 and is down 14% so far this year — he has profited from the mess.

But it’s too limited to see this as being all about hedge funds cashing in by shorting the pound. The potential gains from a no-deal Brexit are much bigger and more permanent than short-term trades. There’s the regulatory bonfire that the Mayfair crowd are so excited about: Odey and dozens of other City investors called for a slashing of red tape and divergence from EU standards in 2016. That’s now within sight.

Then there’s the low-tax economy promised by Johnson and others in a no-deal scenario. Howard Shore of Shore Capital wrote recently that corporate tax cuts combined with more tax breaks would make the U.K. more “business-friendly” than Ireland.

And finally there’s the weak pound, loved by many wealthy entrepreneurs (not just hedge funds). Chris Rea, the boss of sealmaker AESSeal who recently gave 50,000 pounds to the Conservatives, said back in 2017 that sterling’s depreciation would offset any pain from a hard Brexit. More than 80% of his customers are abroad.

Yet it’s clear that most ordinary Brits wouldn’t benefit. The Bank of England warns that a rise in unemployment and consumer prices will be the bigger concern for most people.

So while it’s easy to counter the idea of an orchestrated hedge fund heist, it’s harder to dismiss the idea of the industry embracing a no-deal Brexit. The Conservative donor base has hollowed out since the 2016 referendum. “The heart of the party is now Brexit-supporting, self-made entrepreneurs who are supportive of Boris and fearful of Corbyn,” one donor told the Financial Times.

A Reuters analysis in July found that Johnson’s “do or die” Brexit pledge pulled in record amounts of party funds (more than 700,000 pounds), with JCB’s chairman Anthony Bamford and Ipex Capital’s Jonathan Moynihan contributing the most. Bamford describes a no-deal outcome as a “clean break” that doesn’t worry him at all. He’s in a fortunate and privileged position."

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-01/brexit-news-here-s-what-the-hedge-funds-are-really-up-to

When considering the veracity of these claims, just consider the business interests of the key players in our current government's cabinet and its more powerful backbenchers. How will their families fortunes be improved by a hard Brexit? Ohh yes I know, that's the way of the Tory and Farage world.

I wonder how long it will be before the Brexiteers start to moan about being called manipulated impressionable voters.

I've just noticed the time so perhaps they won't bother.

The only people that win out of Brexit are currency speculators, they won after the referendum when sterling fell from € 1.30. They will win again if there is no deal, there are a few prime movers actively promoting no deal, then a great number of others who will “ follow the herd “.

All this nationalism, how we are being ruled and exploited by foreigners is just a lie to manipulate the impressionable voters, blaming the EU for being inflexible all the same tactic. Now we have parliament sitting again, maybe in the next week or two the whole conspiracy will get exposed and find out the real reason for suspending parliament.

I believe this thread contains the most compelling explanations of why and how we have arrived in the current situation. The greed of the 'haves' in their desires to have more. It's difficult not to despair. It explains the sheer determination of Johnson et al to bulldoze this through within that timescale, 'do or die' or the see their millions being depleted and that is something they will not allow.

This is damning stuff from his sister Rachael, and his brother abandoned his campaign because he must have known this was coming. Who would know him better than those two siblings?

It almost paints a picture of Boris Johnson as very weak, being lead by the nose by Cummings et al. When he ran from the Commons, despite Bercow asking him to remain, he seemed overwhelmed and needed to run to Cummings for instructions of what to do next. Is he really a very weak person who is a puppet of his financial backers? Has he got in too deep?

As you say Daisymae extraordinary that this country has come to this.

Of course, Phillip Hammond and other Tories or ex Tories, know very well what is happening in the back corridors. So does Rachel.

There's reporting in the press that calls are being made into an enquiry to Johnson's backers. Philip Hammond must have some idea of what is happening to written that article. Extraordinary that this country has come to this.

jura2 thank you for the fascinating post. I agree it makes sense of some of the intense focus on 31st October.

Greta I agree it is sickeningly manipulative to present this as 'the will of the people'.

Truly, I despair at the depths to which Brexit and its related issues have sunk ...

there are hundreds of thousands of decent tories and decent people with other political leanings, and confused fed up people who are neither ardent remainers nor leavers.

Their voices go unheard.

What a crazy world we live in where the greediest among us place their "bets" on disaster and do everything in their power to bring about that disaster in order to enrich themselves at the expense of almost everybody else.

t.co/HM3m9QeYgI

there must be 1000s of decent Tories out there, who feel the same, and know that this is what is happening.

Phillip Hammond has confirmed today, in an article in The Times- that this is the reason for Boris's Hard Brexit stance currently.

Yes, they have done their homework when it comes to money. What is so sickening is that this is then portrayed as "the will of the people". A will that must be obeyed because of 'democracy'. I still can't believe that many leave voters just swallow it.

of course primarily because they wanted to avoid new EU Directives on Tax Evasion and Tax Havens- nothing to do with 'the people'.

That's always the question to ask. This is not about regaining control for the general population, it's about a tiny number of people who will make billions out of the UK leaving the UK, with or without a deal. So many people have fallen for it too. Most will be so much worse off, it could be funny if it were not so tragic.

Just posted about this on another thread- before I saw this. Yes, it is of huge concern.

'The public interest in hedge fund companies is highlighted by the fact that Boris was the sole Tory candidate for the leadership who fixed a firm date for Britain to leave the EU “do or die” on October 31. His main rival, Jeremy Hunt, made it clear that if a deal was near he would be prepared to extend the leaving date by a few days. From evidence lodged at the Electoral Commission, Byline Times has discovered Johnson received £375,000 from hedge fund associated donors compared to £45,000 for Hunt.

“It could be Cummings advising the PM to be extremely aggressive… It could be people who have invested billions in shorting the pound in expectation of a no-deal Brexit.”
Rachel Johnson, BBC World at One

A precise date for a market-moving event such as a ‘no deal’ Brexit could be significant for hedge funds as they speculate on the fluctuation of foreign exchanges and share prices. A ‘no deal’ exit from the EU could lead to a big drop in the pound and a fall in stock values which could be highly profitable to those taking short positions.'