It is pertinent to note that while Britain may be seen as hosting an anti-corruption summit and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron labelling Nigeria and Afghanistan as “Fantastically Corrupt” countries, the truth must be told about Britain itself as a country “Fantastically Encouraging” corruption.

We know Nigeria is corrupt and we know that the present government has been doing everything within its capacity to fight corruption in the last one year, had David Cameron stood before a media briefing to categorically state this about Nigeria, he would have been seen as stating the obvious fact with a dominion of seriousness and a clarion call on the Nigerian government and people to take the fight against corruption much higher.

But the British Prime Minister chose to sarcastically ridicule Nigeria before the open media, the Queen and Archbishop of Canterbury saying Nigeria and Afghanistan were Fantastically Corrupt countries, the Archbishop, Justin Welby however defended President Buhari stating that this particular leader is not corrupt.

We must also understand that if there was anything like the Transparency International Index rating countries that encourage and promote corruption in other countries, Cameron’s Britain will be number one on the list.

How Britain and its Banking System Encourages Corruption…The Tax Haven Connection…Who’s deceiving who?

Tax Haven is a country that offers foreign individuals and businesses little or no tax liability in a politically and economically stable environment. Tax haven also provide little or no financial information to foreign tax authorities.

Recently a whistle blower from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama law firm and corporate service provider leaked what is today known as the Panama Papers covering 11.5 million documents that detailed financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities hidden in tax havens majorly in the Caribbean Islands.

It will interest you to know that all the Tax Havens in the Caribbean including Belize in Central America are all owned by Great Britain, these Islands run a Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II, the British monarch as Head of State and represented by a Governor General, these Islands are known as British Oversea Territories. These Islands are:

1. Anguilla
2. Grenada
3. Antigua and Bermuda
4. British Virgin Islands.
5. Montserrat
6. Cayman Island
7. St. Lucia Island
8. Saint Kitts & Nevis
9. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
10. Turks and Caicos
11. The Bahamas
12. Barbados
13. Belize 

Other Islands and locations around the world

1. Cook Island located on the Continent of Australia.
2. Gibraltar located on the southern end of the Iberian peninsula

USD$32 trillion is said to be stashed away in Tax Havens around the world with majority of these funds in the Caribbean Tax Havens belonging to the British Government. The British through a clever tactics, set up these Tax Havens as a third party location and financial system to somewhat disassociate itself and financial institutions of the City of London from direct links to funds stashed away in these locations. It is obvious that these Tax havens were set up for corrupt world leaders to make stealing of funds easier and the British gain access to such free funds.

The Banking Connections……

The funds stashed away in these Tax havens are not utilised within the economy, Britain’s five biggest banks are the major banks in these Tax Havens with headquarters in Britain, and the Banks include:

1. HSBC Holdings: 4^th largest bank in the world by total assets of USD$2.67 trillion.
2. Barclays PLC: 10^th largest bank in the world by total assets of USD$2.1 trillion.
3. Royal Bank of Scotland group: Total assets of USD$1.3 trillion
4. Lloyds Banking Group: Total Assets of USD$1.33 trillion
5. Standard Chartered PLC: Total Assets of USD$725 billion

The obvious truth is that Britain is not known to be a major manufacturer of goods, it is not an exporting nation, hence it has perfected its banking sectors which branches across Tax Havens with proceeds from the branches in the Tax Havens wired back to the head offices of the banks in Britain. These are the reason why Tax Haven were set up, it is the biggest and cheapest source to free funds from corrupt leaders around the globe.

This can easily be determined from the GDP and Per Capita income of the British Oversea Territories as citizens of those territories are found looking for better lives in North American Countries and Europe.

Independent, a daily UK newspaper reported in October 2015:

“Tax havens including Belize, Anguilla, and Panama have such high poverty levels that they qualify for substantial UK development grants, an investigation by this newspaper has found. In just one year, Britain paid out £45m a year in development aid to 13 countries included on a tax haven “blacklist” drawn up by the European Commission. UK aid funds have been directed to build an airport in Montserrat, and funds have been set aside to pay for roads and ports in Belize, Antigua & Barbuda, and St Vincent & the Grenadines.”

If indeed all the funds and wealth going into the Tax Havens work within the economies, all the Tax Havens should be comparable to Dubai, Switzerland is a Tax Haven and the wealth can be seen all around the country. So the question still remains, where does all the money going into the Tax Havens go to……The destination is Britain!

The African Scenario….

While the major users of Tax Haven from Europe and the West are Business Executives hoping to evade tax, the majority from Africa are either serving or past politicians and government officials who have stolen state funds and are looking for safe havens to hide the funds. Of the 54 countries of Africa, citizens of 22 countries were listed as having connections to the Panama Papers and we all know these are stolen funds used by Britain to better their economy.

Most properties bought in Britain by these corrupt leaders are bought using names of offshore companies held in these Tax havens, so in essence the Tax Haven is set up by Britain as a perfect corrupt system to help corrupt officials launder their ill-gotten wealth into Britain, and the country remains the biggest benefactor of funds from Tax Haven, so while some countries like Nigeria are “Fantastically Corrupt”, Countries like Britain are “Fantastically Promoting” corruption.

Once in a while Britain arrests an African politician or government employee to show the world they abhor corruption but we all know the truth, while they make a scapegoat of one thief, hundred more are encouraged.