Pemberton, Greater Manchester SEZ 2024 – 24 x 18cm, acrylic on canvas
What is a Special Economic Zone? Basically, it is an enclave carved out of the nation and freed from regulations and laws that govern the host country.
Brexit ‘We will make our own laws’
Each SEZ receives £160 million from the mythical magic money tree in the form of State Aid which is…public money, multiplied by 74 = £11,84 billion.
Each SEZ entails tax-exemption for businesses for 10 years and they are all licensed for a quarter of a century.
EU rules on State Aid prohibit Govt’s of member states from giving preferential treatment in the form of State Aid to companies of their choosing, why? Because this distorts markets creating an unlevel playing field.
This is why Brexit is being forced to work, WTO rules on State Aid are more ‘flexible’ as they kickstart developing countries out of poverty, but the UK is one of the richest countries in the world, so this is about carving up the UK into corporate governed jurisdictions that are tax havens for the super-rich. Zone fever has arrived and it was Brexit that delivered this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for predatory capitalists who are members of what Liz Truss refers to as ‘the network of liberty’.