Take a closer look at “pirates” and one soon discovers a legal form of piracy when commissioned and committed by a “privateer”! The term can mean the sanctioned ship or a sailor on one obligated to share its “booty” with its government in exchange for authorisation.1 Hmm. Sound a bit like being forced to register for GST collection from one’s customers, so long as the government gets its share?
Letters of Marque
Typically issued when lacking naval and financial resources for retaliation, but not a declaration of war, privateering privileges were bestowed by a Letter of Marque. This “gave their owners authority to capture or destroy property belonging to a certain group or nation.” The first such Letter of Marque was issued in 1243, you might have guessed it, in England, by Henry III.1 In fact, some well-known figures have left their marks in history as – yes, legally empowered pillagers.
A Plethora of Pirates!
Privateering continued into the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, whose “Sea Dogs” notably included Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, who ransacked Spanish ships after they had raided gold and silver from the Incan and Aztez Empires, among other abominations. Meanwhile, European nations’ use of privateers waned in the 1700s while they built up their naval forces. In turn, many privateers turned to piracy, as their commissions were withdrawn, especially in the Caribbean. That left such colourful characters as Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, and Captain William Kidd, to their own devices. Notably, Kidd learned he had been declared a pirate upon sailing to Anguilla in 1699! And, the British colonies later turned privateering against Britain and enshrined it in the US Constitution, employing it for funding and protection from the Revolution to the War of 1812.2,3
Indeed, the practice of “legally” taking things from people, especially from other nations’ people for one’s government seems as seamy as pirates, buccaneers, and corsairs – not to be confused with musketeers! Whereby pirates plunder, capture and destroy property for their own gains. Buccaneers were pirates in the Caribbean and Pacific coast of Central America, coined from “boucan, a grill for smoking meat… applied to French wild game hunters …in western Hispaniola” in the 1600s. Whereas, Ottoman and Christian corsairs were privateers marauding in the Mediterranean from the 1300s to the 1800s, engaged in religious targeting beyond sovereignty.4
Old Habits Die Hard: Forced Funding from Foreigners
Today, passing laws to take things from foreigners has abandoned all ships. The same Tory government that shoved GST into force after years of fiduciary foundering is now simply snatching the savings and property of foreigners if they dare to come ashore. Prime Minister Sunak is seeking to raise £1 billion for 5-7% pay raises for UK government workers paid largely by immigrants, such as the annual healthcare fee of £1,035 per person, a 417% increase in just five years. With significant impact on businesses in need of workers, and the immigrants, especially in low-paying jobs, one critic noted, “They should be welcomed and treated with respect, not punished for the government’s failure to fund public services properly.”5 Sound familiar?
Targeting foreigners in the UK is a sister ship “in line with the best practice…to improve the efficiency of tax collection” right here in this colony! How reassuring to hear that, “Most GST due to IRD is generated by Accommodation and Public utilities (67.8% combined) and not the direct citizenry of Anguilla.”6 Really?
So, Anguillians in households and businesses struggling to pay ANGLEC, phone and Internet bills are not considered the “citizenry of Anguilla” by our government! As with our tourists, they seem pleased to push people into poverty since they see the public as foreigners – not to mention the foreign transfer tax for those trying to help families back home! Privateering without the salty mess of sailing to pilfer our purses. Wow!
Lost at Sea and Sinking Fast
Their recent pronouncement made it clear that reinstating renamed and repealed taxes would right our ship (see table). After exploiting us with years of unbearable budgets and devastating debt, compounded by conditional “humanitarian” aid after Irma, their tax consultants demanded more while drowning in the depths of the pandemic! How noble.
And then, they scuttled our ship with GST, a European tax, regulations and penalties that ravaged our morale and culture like rats devouring dwindling provisions on a ship lost at sea. Forcing the new government to walk the plank, sinking our people into poverty, sailing on ferries for food, chancing more crime, and burying our civil rights at sea were proven cruel and unnecessary the moment we surfaced from Covid. But, like past privateers, our governors marked us with Letters of Marque, freeing them to plunder with GST after they nullified our election and duly elected ministers’ votes – legally! So good to know.
All we needed then was to reopen our borders and have our election and culture respected. Today, all we need is to repeal GST, reinstate the taxes it repealed, including revenue-neutral IGT as duty, restructure for resilience, and pass a balanced budget bill to end the endless exploitation.
Please. Director Candler, please help the Foreign Office sail their way to the right side of history by helping restructure for resilience, without GST – and put Anguilla back on course for prosperity!
Sink GST – and pass a balanced budget bill. Now!
This article reflects cultural and economic issues raised on July 5, 2021, at the House Select Committee on GST Public Hearing. 1http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/pirate-life/letters-of-marque/; 2https://www.thecollector.com/english-privateers/; 3https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Kidd; 4https://www.britannica.com/story/pirates-privateers-corsairs-buccaneers-whats-the-difference; 5https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/16/borderline-racist-rishi-sunak-plan-to-fund-pay-rises-by-hiking-migrant-fees; 6https://www.facebook.com/anguillagovernment/posts/pfbid02USVKFJ ww93zSoErbyn72xySaoRqUVH PuJESiWRRx8FvQ2kCTjUHw1PeRTNyZUEaQl /.
