Three Acres of Lawlessness for Teeside

So gov.uk drops the map for Teeside Freeport into my email inbox today.

Three Acres of Lawlessness for Teeside

I have written about how I believe this government's plans for freeports to level up the UK, is more likely to line the pockets of the wealthy and corrupt before. A very wealthy person said my analogy of freeports operating like an unlicenced lawless solicitors office for conveyancing on the cheap to avoid scrutiny and taxation "was silly". But then I think the excessive wealth of the super rich and their efforts to avoid sharing their wealth with those less fortunate by tax evasion is also silly.

It seems my concerns are shared by the EU too. The Summary conclusions of the European Parliamentary Research Service's report on Money laundering and tax evasion risks in free ports start with:

"Free ports are conducive to secrecy. In their preferential treatment, they resemble offshore financial

centres, offering both high security and discretion and allowing transactions to be made without

attracting the attention of regulators and direct tax authorities."

It's a long document but the summary section is worth a read as it outlines the measure the EU is taking to introduce legislation to close the loopholes that allow the criminal practices that can flourish at freeports. And whilst you read, bear in mind, that the UK now out of the EU will have no obligation to enact such legislation.

You have seen how this government has handed billions of your tax money in government contracts for ferry services to companies with no ferries and PPE and Track and Trace contracts to party donors without scrutiny. So if you still believe that the UK freeports being established by this government, post-Breit are in the interest of "Leveling Up the UK" then I have to suspect you of pathological gullibility.

For a bit of fun try Googling for "freeports" AND "money laundering". It turns up over 55,000 pages. 

No one seems to be talking about this post-Brexit, (and it is entirely connected to Brexit) free port fiasco. It is just one more of this Robin-Hood-In-Reverse government's strategy to ensure that wealth is stolen from the poor and given to the rich. You are being shafted and no, one not even as far as I can see, not even the opposition political parties are calling this government out this.