Don't believe the hype

If you read the papers, you might have formed the view that Labour's proposed replacement of the non-dom regime will lead to the sky falling in. Here are some of the good bits:

The Telegraph:

The Evening Standard:

Here's a lawyer who acts for non-doms:

Here's the Daily Mail:

Here's a guy who acts for wealthy shipowners:

https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/585861211335561216

But is the sky really falling in? Or is the media inadvertently playing Chicken Little?

Back in 2008 Labour introduced the non-domy levy (subsequently increased, twice, during the course of this Parliament). Here's what was said then about the effects of introducing the levy. (Warning: some of it may feel a little, well, familiar).

The Daily Mail:

The British Banking Association:

The fetchingly salmon Financial Times:

The Telegraph:

A large firm of accountants:

The Times:

I could go on. And on. But you have the point. They say this every time. And then they stay. They stay because the people who were motivated by tax never came to London in the first place - they want to "Switzerland, Monaco and a host of other countries." They came to London because it's a very nice place to live. If you're wealthy. And that won't change.

All of the broadcast and print media's fact-checking teams had been very busy. Who could blame them for not asking the obvious question, whether we've heard any of this before? Certainly not me.

So. Don't believe the hype.

Oh, and to save you the trouble, here's Chuck D

https://youtu.be/9vQaVIoEjOM