The commentators who fled Britain for lower taxes have built careers sneering at the country they left - yet still rely on it when the world turns dangerous.
You could have added the blythe acquiescence to an effective slave economy that Oakeshott and her ilk turn a blind eye to, to subsidise their tax-free gilded existence. That also makes my teeth itch.
“Adults can live where they like - that’s not the issue.”
Except the woman in your article could because she’s wealthy, but was part of a campaign to remove that right from me as my ‘like’ was to be able to live in France, at least for a few years, relatively easily & affordably. That door was slammed in my & my fellow countryman’s face with the Brexit she & her partner & political allies helped promote & which has hugely damaged our country economically, politically & socially. Will she stop slagging off the U.K. when she returns? It will be interesting to see.
Agreed. Like you, my wife and I have a dream of living in France for at least some of our retirement years. A dream now made so much more difficult by these rank hypocrites.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I agree with Ed Davey. These parasites should contribute to what is basically their rescue by paying their taxes. I've never felt so much contempt in my life.
Ed Davey, "...does the prime minister agree that it’s only right for tax exiles to start paying taxes to fund our Armed Forces just like the rest of us do?"
While the Bear might not be able to improve on that, after 18-odd years of reading up on economics, I can.
We don't pay taxes to fund things, not on a national scale anyway. Govt creates money out of nowhere ('ex nihilo' is the proper term) via the Bank of England, which is part of the Treasury, surprisingly enough, to pay for things. Inflation being an ever present concern, taxes serve to return what we use for money, Govt IOUs, back to the issuer, Govt, which nulls them. Poof! - They're gone.
The Earth, then, is not flat, the Sun does not go round it, and taxes don't pay for stuff. Well, not nationally anyway, your local taxes pay for stuff locally.
General understanding has embraced the first two concepts, but not the third, which is an ongoing concern.
The Bear's more curious readers, seeking clarification, might like to Google for 'Money creation in the modern economy' which will take them to the Bank of England's March 2014 Quarterly Bulletin on the BoE's site. There, they'll find a short video which explains how the commercial High St banks create money from nowhere when they lend it, a notion which those paying vast amounts of compound interest on their mortgages might find concerning. There's a PDF, too, which advises that what we use for money is Govt IOUs (I Promise to Pay the Bearer etc), making a mockery of any idea that the Govt can somehow be short of it, an entertaining idea for those queuing at foodbanks or contemplating pulling their teeth out with pliers, this in one of the richest countries on the planet, all on the basis that 'the Govt has no money of its own'.
Since all this and more is in plain view and has been for some time, some might wonder why they don't hear of it through the media. Consider who owns that media, or controls it... largely commercial interests who stand to gain through advertising or corporate association with entities who will be enriched if the nation can be persuaded that state-provision of social security is unaffordable and that businesses must take over, opening up a multi-£bn private market.
The media is largely privately-owned and tells us what its owners want us to know, not what we might wish to know.
First sleep ended an hour or so ago. Second sleep beckons now. I must away!
While I sympathise with your promotion of MMT the logic of your positiin is that it does not matter that the likes of Oakeshott don't pay taxes because:
1. What she spends in Dubai has no impact on demand in the UK, so doesn't affect UK inflation, and so the UK doesn't need to raise taxes to curb demand.
2. That the UK government can simply create new money to finance the initial cost of evacuating her.
3. That the UK governmrnt can similarly create new money to finance the vast defence and logistics infrastructure that goes to help protect the interests of those of its citizens living abroad who make no contribution to the tax revenues of the UK government.
Moreover the ability of the UK government to create new money is limited by the fact that we have to pay our foreign creditors in a currency they find acceptable. Just because the Treasury/BoE can create new money denominated as sterling doesn't mean that foreign sellers will accept the newly created money. That ultimately relies on the willingness of some foreigners to accept sterling in return for some sort of asset. That asset is UK gilts denominated in sterling. Without that willingness a lot of international transactions involving UK participants will grind to a halt.
MMT really isn't that simple-minded, and I'm sure you're aware of that - you're being a bit disingenuous here.
It says that the limits on how much money should be created are set by what's available to spend that cash on - otherwise you start creating inflation.
And that is what ensures that the international value of the currency remains reasonably stable.
People who don't pay their taxes, let alone people exporting currency to tax havens, ought to be dealt with by legislation & enforcement, not only from the point of view of morality & equity, but also because they threaten the stability of the financial system as a whole.
Unfortunately that's really not happening at the moment in the UK.
The individual actions of Oakeshott and her like have no impact on the UK macroeconomy. They don't threaten the stability of the UK's financial system because they too small in number to matter. So there is simply a moral case for expecting them to contribute to UK taxes while they wish to retain the benefits of British citizenship. Either we adopt the US approach of taxing all citizens on their global income, or we adopt some sort of reverse non-dom single payment requirement for citizens living in countries with which the UK doesnt have an appropriate tax treaty.
She's been gifted tax breaks that is socialism in action. VAT on public schools is complete bs. She's almost certainly taking advantage of the Golden Visa scheme because of her social media following and thereby paying zero personal income tax. Check out the latest Rest is Entertainment podcast for details on how to qualify.
Perhaps these non taxpayers are charged a fee for their rescue and their passports retained until they pay, if they refuse to pay and go over the statutory time/days permitted they can stay they are taxed accordingly.
I would add that slagging off this country yet expecting it to bail her out when she's in a tight spot is not only entitled hypocrisy, it's breathtakingly tone deaf immaturity. Has she never heard the expression "You've made your bed, now lie in it"?
Like so many of these far right windbag troublemakers, she's basically a spoilt child. Yes, I'm looking at you, Trump.
Thank you. I absolutely could not agree with you more.
I had honestly been feeling exactly the same schadenfreude towards Oakeshott, & beating myself up slightly for it. I'm quite relieved it's not just me.
On this week's Rest Is Entertainment, they talked about Dubai's 'influencer economy' and all the perks thrown at people by that state while they sit and snark at 'Broken Britain'. Richard Osman made quite a good case that it's actually a form of socialism all those capitalist 'entrepreneurs' are benefiting from. It's probably the only thing allowing them all to live off producing their vapid 'content' & as others have pointed out, they do it while ignoring if not downright pandering, to a state which has some very dark sides. Now they're hoping this terrible old 'broken' country will rescue them, they really should have to contribute in some way.
Brilliant, balanced, patriotic post.
You could have added the blythe acquiescence to an effective slave economy that Oakeshott and her ilk turn a blind eye to, to subsidise their tax-free gilded existence. That also makes my teeth itch.
Could not have put it better. I truly despise Oakeshott and her ilk.
“Adults can live where they like - that’s not the issue.”
Except the woman in your article could because she’s wealthy, but was part of a campaign to remove that right from me as my ‘like’ was to be able to live in France, at least for a few years, relatively easily & affordably. That door was slammed in my & my fellow countryman’s face with the Brexit she & her partner & political allies helped promote & which has hugely damaged our country economically, politically & socially. Will she stop slagging off the U.K. when she returns? It will be interesting to see.
"Will she stop slagging off the UK when she returns?"
I would not hold my breath!
But boy! Will we have the "weaponry" to shoot down her incendiary missiles of bile and hate when she then attempts to keep herself "relevant".
Agreed. Like you, my wife and I have a dream of living in France for at least some of our retirement years. A dream now made so much more difficult by these rank hypocrites.
All the piggies are fed and watered and ready to fly…
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I agree with Ed Davey. These parasites should contribute to what is basically their rescue by paying their taxes. I've never felt so much contempt in my life.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Very well said Bear.
Ed Davey, "...does the prime minister agree that it’s only right for tax exiles to start paying taxes to fund our Armed Forces just like the rest of us do?"
While the Bear might not be able to improve on that, after 18-odd years of reading up on economics, I can.
We don't pay taxes to fund things, not on a national scale anyway. Govt creates money out of nowhere ('ex nihilo' is the proper term) via the Bank of England, which is part of the Treasury, surprisingly enough, to pay for things. Inflation being an ever present concern, taxes serve to return what we use for money, Govt IOUs, back to the issuer, Govt, which nulls them. Poof! - They're gone.
The Earth, then, is not flat, the Sun does not go round it, and taxes don't pay for stuff. Well, not nationally anyway, your local taxes pay for stuff locally.
General understanding has embraced the first two concepts, but not the third, which is an ongoing concern.
The Bear's more curious readers, seeking clarification, might like to Google for 'Money creation in the modern economy' which will take them to the Bank of England's March 2014 Quarterly Bulletin on the BoE's site. There, they'll find a short video which explains how the commercial High St banks create money from nowhere when they lend it, a notion which those paying vast amounts of compound interest on their mortgages might find concerning. There's a PDF, too, which advises that what we use for money is Govt IOUs (I Promise to Pay the Bearer etc), making a mockery of any idea that the Govt can somehow be short of it, an entertaining idea for those queuing at foodbanks or contemplating pulling their teeth out with pliers, this in one of the richest countries on the planet, all on the basis that 'the Govt has no money of its own'.
Since all this and more is in plain view and has been for some time, some might wonder why they don't hear of it through the media. Consider who owns that media, or controls it... largely commercial interests who stand to gain through advertising or corporate association with entities who will be enriched if the nation can be persuaded that state-provision of social security is unaffordable and that businesses must take over, opening up a multi-£bn private market.
The media is largely privately-owned and tells us what its owners want us to know, not what we might wish to know.
First sleep ended an hour or so ago. Second sleep beckons now. I must away!
How about they make their way back across the Channel in rubber dinghies?
While I sympathise with your promotion of MMT the logic of your positiin is that it does not matter that the likes of Oakeshott don't pay taxes because:
1. What she spends in Dubai has no impact on demand in the UK, so doesn't affect UK inflation, and so the UK doesn't need to raise taxes to curb demand.
2. That the UK government can simply create new money to finance the initial cost of evacuating her.
3. That the UK governmrnt can similarly create new money to finance the vast defence and logistics infrastructure that goes to help protect the interests of those of its citizens living abroad who make no contribution to the tax revenues of the UK government.
Moreover the ability of the UK government to create new money is limited by the fact that we have to pay our foreign creditors in a currency they find acceptable. Just because the Treasury/BoE can create new money denominated as sterling doesn't mean that foreign sellers will accept the newly created money. That ultimately relies on the willingness of some foreigners to accept sterling in return for some sort of asset. That asset is UK gilts denominated in sterling. Without that willingness a lot of international transactions involving UK participants will grind to a halt.
MMT really isn't that simple-minded, and I'm sure you're aware of that - you're being a bit disingenuous here.
It says that the limits on how much money should be created are set by what's available to spend that cash on - otherwise you start creating inflation.
And that is what ensures that the international value of the currency remains reasonably stable.
People who don't pay their taxes, let alone people exporting currency to tax havens, ought to be dealt with by legislation & enforcement, not only from the point of view of morality & equity, but also because they threaten the stability of the financial system as a whole.
Unfortunately that's really not happening at the moment in the UK.
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-03-04/fines-for-financial-crime-hit-pitiful-low-after-78-nosedive
The individual actions of Oakeshott and her like have no impact on the UK macroeconomy. They don't threaten the stability of the UK's financial system because they too small in number to matter. So there is simply a moral case for expecting them to contribute to UK taxes while they wish to retain the benefits of British citizenship. Either we adopt the US approach of taxing all citizens on their global income, or we adopt some sort of reverse non-dom single payment requirement for citizens living in countries with which the UK doesnt have an appropriate tax treaty.
I couldn't agree more Bear.
Dear Bear, good morning. Sadly their Oakshott types have such a massive sense of entitlement that it obliterates any thoughts of hypocrisy.
She's been gifted tax breaks that is socialism in action. VAT on public schools is complete bs. She's almost certainly taking advantage of the Golden Visa scheme because of her social media following and thereby paying zero personal income tax. Check out the latest Rest is Entertainment podcast for details on how to qualify.
Perhaps these non taxpayers are charged a fee for their rescue and their passports retained until they pay, if they refuse to pay and go over the statutory time/days permitted they can stay they are taxed accordingly.
As usual Bear, you are totally spot on! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I would add that slagging off this country yet expecting it to bail her out when she's in a tight spot is not only entitled hypocrisy, it's breathtakingly tone deaf immaturity. Has she never heard the expression "You've made your bed, now lie in it"?
Like so many of these far right windbag troublemakers, she's basically a spoilt child. Yes, I'm looking at you, Trump.
Exactly .
Brilliantly expressed.
Hard to avoid feelings of schadenfreude for this shady Frau.
Thank you. I absolutely could not agree with you more.
I had honestly been feeling exactly the same schadenfreude towards Oakeshott, & beating myself up slightly for it. I'm quite relieved it's not just me.
On this week's Rest Is Entertainment, they talked about Dubai's 'influencer economy' and all the perks thrown at people by that state while they sit and snark at 'Broken Britain'. Richard Osman made quite a good case that it's actually a form of socialism all those capitalist 'entrepreneurs' are benefiting from. It's probably the only thing allowing them all to live off producing their vapid 'content' & as others have pointed out, they do it while ignoring if not downright pandering, to a state which has some very dark sides. Now they're hoping this terrible old 'broken' country will rescue them, they really should have to contribute in some way.
Great article, shame our politicians support the EX PAT class. The USA taxes their citizens fairly no matter where they live, why can’t the UK?
Thank you Bear and really well said.
It's good to see you back - sad mission accomplished
Exactly!! A brilliant post, Bear.
The expat/immigrant thing in particular enrages me!!! It perfectly encapsulates these people in two words.