The Royal Paradise Papers of Inequality

On the 5th of November 2017 the second largest data leak in history occurred. Confidential documents containing details of offshore investments were made public and included some prominent names such as Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth amongst others. 

The premise of the Paradise Papers is an exposé “on how wealthy individuals and companies use offshore accounts to make their fortunes untraceable and unreachable.” The leak was always going to have political implications across the globe but the involvement of British corporations, individuals as well as monarchy will likely bear particular significance on the future of British politics.

Why? Because inequality has been one of the major political talking points in the UK for the past few years. The issue of inequality appears to be on the heart and minds of britons and is generally seen as one of the major driving forces behind the majority leave vote during the EU referendum.

In June 2017, the issue of inequality was again a major issue and is thought to have had heavy bearing on the results of the snap election in the UK. Although managing to stay in power, the ruling conservative party lost its overwhelming majority in many boroughs primarily to the opposing labour party. The labour party candidate Jeremy Corbyn is known to be a democratic socialist idealist and focused heavily on inequality during his campaign; and continues to do so.

So with the paradise papers coming to light and illustrating just how common tax evasion is amongst the British elite, one can only assume that it will serve as fuel to the already raging fire felt by the British public who have been subjected to funding cuts and austerity.

Looking further, these events are likely to have an effect on British tax policy one way or another. It would be political suicide for there to be no sort of tax reform after the release of the paradise papers. This is an area worth watching for international businesses already operating (or planning to) in the UK as the impact of the implied changes are likely to differ quite substantially depending on whether it is led by the further-right conservative party or the quite socialist labour party.