CHIEF Minister Tony Brown has welcomed the findings of Michael Foot's Review of Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories which was published today.
Sir Michael, a former Bank of England official, was commissioned by the UK Treasury to investigate the role that Crown dependencies and overseas territories played in the UK's economy and to look at their economic structure.
He visited the Isle of Man in April this year.
After the recent cuts in the VAT revenue sharing agreement the Foot Report appears to hold few surprises.
In effect the UK Treasury is saying that Crown dependencies and overseas territories can no longer expect financial help from the UK if their economies are mismanaged, and the report does appear to recognise that the Isle of Man has made great efforts to ensure that it is well-regulated.
The Chief Minister described the report as a 'positive, constructive, and independent assessment of the Isle of Man's status as a well-regulated and co-operative jurisdiction with a sound and diverse economy able to cope with and adjust to global economic crises'.
He added that government would need time to consider the report in detail but he welcomed its broad findings.
'It recognises the work that the Isle of Man has done over the past decade and acknowledges that our actions to diversify our economy, measure and control public spending and build financial reserves during periods of economic growth have provided us with the resilience we have today,' said Mr Brown.
'It is especially pleasing that many of the main recommendations of the report align with policies the Isle of Man already has in place or is committed to implementing.'
For example, the report notes that the Isle of Man will move to automatic exchange of information on tax on savings with EU members by July 2011 and Mr Foot urges other jurisdictions to make a similar commitment;
The Isle of Man has an ombudsman complaints scheme along the lines of that in the UK, and the report suggests other jurisdictions should consider whether introducing such a scheme is justified;
'I am also pleased that Foot was able to acknowledge that the Isle of Man makes a significant contribution to the UK economy, by providing a gateway to route funds to the City and by servicing the financial needs of many UK nationals living abroad,' added Mr Brown.
The Foot Review was commissioned by Alistair Darling in December 2008 to identity the opportunities and challenges generated for British offshore financial centres by turmoil in the financial markets and the subsequent impact on the world economy.
In preparing his report, Foot looked at the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands along with six Overseas Territories – Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Island, Gibraltar, Turks and Caicos Islands.
On the face of it Mr Foot appears to have produced a fair and balanced report that reflects well on the Isle of Man.
Whether that will please the UK Treasury, which seems determined to put the squeeze on the Isle of Man and other offshore jurisdictions, is a matter for debate.
The Foot Review Report can be found on the Chief Secretary's Office website at
www.gov.im/cso WHAT DO YOU THINK?Send your comments to newsviews@newsiom.co.imYOUR COMMENTSWith the recent decisions by the UK on the VAT arangements, it seems to me on reading this report that, leaving aside the occasional positive comments, it seemed to be a fact finding mission by the UK to find out how they can hurt the finances of the jurisdictions that have been reviewed and line their own diminishing coffers with some cash. It would have been nice to have the figures and statistics for the UK included so that a comparison could be made on such things as national debt, which the Isle Of Man does not have but the UK has in abundance. How the UK could even suggest that the crown dependencies may not expect financial support from the UK is beyond belief. The UK is in such debt because of its govenment's inept abilities that it's not in a position to even offer financial support. I believe that if any jurisdiction accepted financial help from the UK it would also be putting their autonomy in jeopardy as there would surely be some catch, indeed my feelings are that that is what the UK wishes in the VAT scenario. Squeeze the Island financially so we need help in the future and then begin the changes to the constitutional arrangements. I say put up personal tax rates if we need to so that we can be independent and separate from a sinking ship, I would gladly pay more to be rid of the UK.
LAMIAYes, the Isle of Man has an ombudsman complaints scheme which is not properly run, under staffed, do not have suitable qualified people to make decisions and do not deal with complaints in a timely fashion when compared to the UK.
TOMThe Isle of Man does not have a debt/external borrowings as such because the UK does not allow it. The Island remains covered by UK Sovereign Risk so far and as there is no Westminster MP in Tynwald for the equivalent of the Supply Vote there has to be a debt limitation in the absence of UK representation other than via the Treasury which is ultimately a Crown entity.
BARRIE STEVENS Hmmm-we contribute to the UK economy???? ok well if the UK den of vice and iniquity can rob us with impunity ignoring a 400 yr old deal then maybe we should withold our contribution to their economy???? after all as the staunch uk supporter bernie moffatt would say-"our government would only be looking after our own interests and not intenitionally attacking or harming a neighbour"
PRO-REPUBLICAN