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Newsnight Viewers Mock Anthony Travers After Stock Exchange Chairman Dubs Paradise Papers ‘Fake News’
The chairman of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange has been dubbed a “cartoon capitalist” by Newsnight viewers after branding the Paradise Papers “fake news” and calling for journalists to be jailed.
Appearing on the show to discuss the leak of 13.4 million revelatory documents which claim to show how the rich and powerful have secretly invested vast sums in offshore tax havens, Anthony Travers denied that those involved are guilty of tax evasion, calling the claims “complete heresy”.
“They pay 100% of the tax due in those jurisdictions,” he told presenter Kirsty Wark, claiming there is “no tax edge” to investing in so-called ‘havens’ such as the Cayman Islands.
Referencing a similar leak in 2015, Travers – who was awarded an OBE in 1998 for his services to the government and financial sector – continued: “What have we actually had from the Panama Papers in terms of actual convictions in the UK for anything at all involving tax evasion or tax avoidance? The answer is nothing. Certainly nothing statistically relevant.
Disgusting, repulsive, offensive behaviour by Anthony Travers, Chairman of Cayman Islands stock exchange, on #Newsnight. Fire him, now.
— Simon Wood (@SimonWood2k5) November 7, 2017
