The British PM in waiting, Andy Burnham, already has his eyes on more and new taxes. The Telegraph said this week that he plans a £38bn tax raid; perhaps in a Robin Hood approach to support a tax and spend initiative that dogs socialist type governments.
Whenever taxes and government control of economies are on the table, we remember when ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ (Ayn Rand). The demands of the State were tantamount to the individual labouring for government instead of their families.
(The PM designate is said to be flirting with a tax hike to 50% for the highest income earners.) Almost a penalty for doing well.
Frustrated innovators and investors, exasperated with big government, withdrew their contributions from the economy and the state slowly collapsed.
There were no jobs, no investments. Crime ran off the charts and idleness became the national pastime with its companions, poverty and squalor, in tow.
We will keep our eyes on Burnham’s Cabinet reshuffle. It will likely mean yet another OT Minister in the FCDO. There have been at least 8 such appointments over the last 6 years. It is unsettling for the Overseas Territories.
That means, for us, constant gymnastics to adapt to personalities and styles since each minister brings a unique approach to managing the relationship. But it also means that the OT Ministers do not know us. Perhaps that is by design.
A lot changed for BVI with the COI. While none should dispute that the COI was necessary, all BVI would likely agree that its implementation method left much to be desired.
For starters, it involved a lone Commissioner, a retired, well-credentialed UK judge whose report was all but law to the FCDO.
No one thought to appoint, alongside the Commissioner, a Senior BVI Jurist or retired OECS judge to help to guide him in the norms and values of the subregion and so, he proceeded with the framework he probably knew best; that of the United Kingdom.
So, when (in our view) he ‘rained fire upon our heads,’ the irony was that it was probably the very first time he was setting foot in the Territory of the Virgin Islands. So, he was equally as unknown to us as we were to him. And he seemed, to us, to have the power of a Viceroy.
It appeared that the common belief held in the Commissioner’s courtroom was that if the BVI way of doing public business differed from the ‘mother country,’ then it must be corrupt. It could never have been thought to be a practical and workable approach. We do not say this to dispute that that ugly ‘C’ word lurked in corners of officialdom. After all, 29th April 2022 happened.
As an example, we sat in an EU/OCT meeting before Brexit when the EU wanted to help the OCTs on a particular matter and because of its rules, could not unlock its own funding envelope in time. An OCT was asked to pledge payment which, in time, would be refunded.
Was that corruption? No. Never! But it did highlight the multiplicity of rules and the rigidity frequently present in large bureaucracies like the EU; Like the UK. And it demonstrated that the Overseas Countries and Territories have their own ways of legitimately doing business.
BVI will, unfortunately, always remember how the COI approach made it feel. There was no partnership in that. It was too high-handed to fit into such a definition.
The COI Commissioner said in his report that the people of the BVI deserved better but, in many respects, the COI and its aftermath made their lives worse:
Worse for businesses in the ‘untimely’ delivery of services; Worse for civil servants, now, performing their duties in fear; Worse for the Territory with Volume 2 of the Law Enforcement Review Report that threatens the viability of the BVI Tourism Industry (The viability of the Financial Services Industry was already under threat by a peer of the realm) and; Worse, for the elderly amongst others.
In the past, the elderly received consistent monthly support from legislators through a discretionary fund, ‘the slush fund,’ that each elected official held. That fund was screaming for reform, it is true, but the report of the COI Commissioner swept it away, carte blanche.
One of our cultural norms is that we would rather eat fish bones, drink water and die in need of adequate care, before baring our souls to officials in the Social Development Department or checking into the ‘poor house.’
“Death before dishonour.”
The COI also highlighted ‘breach of trust’ amongst government officials and private sector individuals resulting in multiple arrests. Perhaps the BVI Courts were not aware of the criminality inherent in this nomenclature or maybe the failing was on the part of the jury.
For despite the staggering price tag to employ King’s Counsels from the realm, which costs the DPP and her superiors felt could not be shared with the public whose money is being spent, there has yet to be a single conviction. Five have already walked. (Of course, the Realm has had a Freedom of Information Act since 2000, but BVI does not.)
We tremble for the quantum of any pending lawsuits by those who would have felt wronged and had their careers truncated and/or their reputations soiled. And we wonder if these are legitimate costs to the BVI Treasury or should they be underwritten elsewhere?
But even in this sea of distress, there are things to be celebrated. We like that the sea defense wall along the Coxheath shoreline is, in the main, completed in time to help to shield us during the hurricane season.
Sure, it takes away our view of the coastline, but we would rather lose a view than lose a life. And we are pleased that the deep inconveniences the public has been suffering from road works are slowly edging to closure.
And in the past, we made reference to Wickhams Cay and Kenneth Bates who was ‘run out’ of the Territory based on incompatibility between his development philosophy and the aspirations of the people.
The UK came to our rescue during those cashless days and paid off the $1.5 million that was owed to Mr Bates. Like Bates or like him not, we now, thanks to him, have Wickhams Cay. Can you imagine what Road Town would be like without Wickhams Cay?
We offer condolences to Mr Bates’ family as it is our understanding that his soul fell into a state of repose on the 11th July 2026. He was 95.
We have much to discuss if we are genuinely interested in the pre-eminence of 'country' over 'self.' That should be our aim and focus, especially on Fridays.
Happy Friday!