Crown Dependencies

John McDonnell Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2014 Westminster Hall

[Sir Alan Beith]

I gave the hon. Gentleman a guarded answer earlier, because both of the points he mentioned are not matters that the Committee considered. Speaking personally, however, I have a great deal of sympathy for what he said, not least in relation to remembering what happened in the second world war. All the dependencies, but especially the Channel Islands, have every reason to remember—they remember with gratitude, of course, their eventual liberation—and we in the United Kingdom have every reason to be reminded, as we have been by a lot of television coverage in the past year, of the dreadful experiences that the islanders went through at the time. It is something that we should not forget.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

I did not want to miss the opportunity to speak, lest my silence be taken as support for the Crown dependencies. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, I have just joined the Committee—the Labour Whips have been so careful not to overburden me for the past 17 years that I have not served on any Committee. Some of us retain concerns about the use of the dependencies as tax havens and may well wish to return to the matter at a later date.

[Sir Alan Beith]

That sounds like an ominous warning from a new member of my Committee. However, should the Committee in a future Parliament return to the matter to monitor progress, as we recommend they should, the hon. Gentleman will have the opportunity to visit the islands and to question officials of the islands and others in the financial services industry there. He will be able to satisfy himself fully on how the islands seek to manage and regulate the very considerable financial services that are administered from them.