Milford Haven: Money-Laundering Risk and Boris Johnson

milford haven: Boris Johnson championed free ports when he took office last week, but the Singapore-style tax-free zones are controversial and have been identified by the EU as a money-laundering risk, according to The Guardian. Under the plans, ports including Teesport, Milford Haven, Port of Tyne and London Gateway could become standalone economic zones, considered independent for customs purposes, that charge no taxes or tariffs on imports. The cabinet minister, a free marketeer whose political hero is former chancellor Nigel Lawson, said the plan for so-called free ports could revitalise transport and trade hubs like Margaret Thatcher did for the London Docklands in the 1980s. What is a free port All you need to know about the free-trade zones Read more Free ports are typically used to store high-value items such as valuable artworks, precious stones or antiques in places such as Luxembourg, Singapore, Beijing, Monaco and Delaware. Those advising Truss on a new free port panel will include Eamonn Butler, the director of the rightwing, libertarian Adam Smith Institute, and Tom Clougherty, the head of tax at the Thatcherite thinktank the Centre for Policy Studies CPS . Emma Jones, who runs a small business network, and Daniel Korski, a former adviser to David Cameron will also be on the panel. They were heavily criticised by a European parliament report last year for facilitating illegal activity such as tax evasion and money laundering. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.