Didn’t we have an exciting weekend! There was the h-u-g-e ‘Peoples’ Vote’ anti-Brexit march on Saturday, and for those less into marching and more into perusing the declamations of politicians and pundits, there were the Sunday papers and TV shows. But – who needs a 2nd Referendum when our government is doing their utmost to keep us in while the MSM are playing ‘look, a squirrel’ yet again! More on that below.

The images published of that demo seemed to show carefully how very many anti-Brexiteers there now are, all for a 2nd Referendum and the numbers increasing to now, allegedly, 700,000 – if you believe the organisers. The Police apparently doesn’t publish their estimates any longer. Mind you, there was one aspect I did enjoy when looking at the reports: there were many aerial photographs of Apsley House, the London Residence of the 1st Duke of Wellington, who must be rotating in his crypt in St Paul’s Cathedral!

Expect the ‘organisers’ of this Remainer Rent-a-Crowd to use the images as ‘powerful’ support for their demands, expect the Remainer MSM and their supporters in Whitehall to use this as ‘argument’ against Brexit, and expect the spineless politicians, from Ms May’s Cabinet to the MPs and the Lords to thwart our Brexit vote. Never mind that, even if one were to add those alleged 600,000 to the Remain vote, they still fall far short of the 17.4 million who voted out.

Above all, never mind that even a prominent Remainer such as Dominic Sandbrook, commenting in the DM (see here), makes the point that

“Almost everything about the so-called People’s Vote effort is bogus. It claims to be a ‘grassroots campaign’, yet its headquarters are in Millbank Tower, the architectural embodiment of the Westminster establishment. Far from being organised from the bottom up, it is actually a front for the lobby group Open Britain, a direct successor of the Remain campaign. It is backed by such ‘grassroots’ Britons as Lord Mandelson, Sir Vince Cable and Sir Nick Clegg, while its online adverts rely heavily on millionaire celebrities such as Gary Lineker, Patrick Stewart and Steve Coogan.”

Well, they must all have drunk ‘EU milk’, such as is now given out in our schools: 

(Photo courtesy of John Owen)

For me, the most revealing quote came from the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan:

“I can’t think of anything more democratic, anything more British, than trusting the judgement of the British people. (Daily Mail Report)”

Yes indeed – but only if they vote Remain!

It has escaped Mr Khan and the Blairs, Heseltines, Majors, Campbells etc right through to Mr Cable of the LibDems that not only was there one such vote on June 23rd 2016 – there was another one at the GE 2017, where both major Parties said they would honour the Brexit vote. It was in their Manifestos, as for example the ever useful John Redwood pointed out here yesterday.

But it’s Monday, and as Mr Hammond will deliver the Budget in exactly one week’s time, on Monday the 29th of October, let’s look at what will provide less spectacular images than a mass demo: taxes. Here’s something the Peoples’ Vote organisers weren’t talking about: the EU is set, in one of their latest, leaked Brexit proposals, to keep us under the Brussels yoke, as reported in the Daily Telegraph, a day before that anti-Brexit demo. It’s behind a paywall so I shall quote at length – it is that important!

“According to draft documents, the EU wants to ensure the UK pledges to keep its tax rules aligned with those of the bloc as part of any future Brexit agreement. Such a move would prevent the UK from becoming a low-tax economy by cutting its corporation tax rate to attract business. And – depending on the wording of any agreement – it could mean that any future changes to the EU’s tax rules would need to be followed by the UK, even years after Brexit.”.

It doesn’t matter that there is no actual tax alignment in the current Eurozone, it doesn’t matter that the EU has, at the moment, no power over our tax regime anyway – this is for the future, for their BRINO-deal. Those of us who have looked at the various Barnier/EU “proposals” to which Ms May and her Olly-Robbins Brexit “dealers” are feebly succumbing have long suspected that the whole negotiations are about punishment generally and economic punishment for our decision in particular. That cat is now manifestly out of the bag:

“The EU desire for alignment on tax reflects a fear in Brussels that Britain could become a Singapore-style low-tax economy after Brexit and a magnet for business and investment.”

And:

“The wording of the minutes of the meeting suggests Brussels will try to impose EU tax policies on the UK and its overseas territories after Brexit next March. Describing the Prime Minister’s Chequers proposal as “wishful thinking”, the documents state: “According to the Commission, it is not feasible that the political declaration will not include taxation provisions.” […] “The mandate for the negotiating team is to define and create a level playing field, taking into consideration four main areas, of which one is taxation.”

Odd that this ‘main area’ has not figured prominently in all those articles and debates about which Brexit ‘Model’ Ms May should agree to …

There’s more:

“The objective is that the UK will abide by the tools adopted at EU level to fight tax evasion/avoidance, namely Code of Conduct on Business Taxation, Exchange of Information Directives (DAC) including Country by Country Reporting between tax authorities, Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD).” These directives insist that other countries which trade with the EU report their tax status so the EU can close any perceived “loopholes” (my emphasis). Referring to Britain’s overseas countries and territories (OCTs), the document adds: “The intention is that they commit to continue to alignment with EU standards, including for their OCTs.”

Let that sink in! Let it sink in deeply! The EU will govern our tax regimes regardless , even if we’re out and therefore not represented ….

It puzzles me why our spineless politicians, from the PM down, are so keen to give up one of the most important prerogatives of Parliament,  to control our country’s finances and taxation.

In my last article I asked for a new Cromwell. Forget that – let’s take an example closer to the present. Let’s recall what triggered American Independence:

“No taxation without representation!”

We all know what happened next ..

 

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