House of Lords (Members’ Taxation Status) Bill [HL]

I would not have done this had I not consulted, for a considerable period of time, with the Public Bill Office and with others. They insisted that the word "taxation" should be placed here. Subsection (1) reads: ""Any Member introduced into the House of Lords after the passing of this Act shall be a British citizen for taxation purposes"." I think that is absolutely correct. If I am wrong, I shall apologise to the noble Lord and if he is wrong, I shall expect a full case of champagne at modern-day prices. The definition of a British citizen is a citizen of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I was concerned because taxation in some of those areas varies and there are different conditions in relation to domicile in Scotland, which I have already disclosed: you are automatically domiciled in Scotland if you have a lair, meaning you own a property where you are to be buried. As I explained, I have several and, therefore, I shall certainly be drawn and quartered but not necessarily hanged. I do not see how anyone could object to that definition. Subsection (1A)(b) states: ""a citizen of Her Majesty’s Crown Dependencies"." They are British citizens and British subjects. Of course, they may pay tax in their own areas, but they are entitled, under an Act, to have British passports. They include the Isle of Man, which sometimes has another name and which also has a different taxation situation, and the Bailiwick of Jersey. When someone said, "In your bailiwick", I did not realise what a bailiwick was. I should have known because when I worked with the Midland Bank, Samuel Montagu and others, we worked closely with our subsidiaries and others in the bailiwicks—I did not realise that Sark is not included—and the Isle of Man. I declare that as a banker I have had over a long period a relationship either through my employers or personally with almost all the listed territories. Those three areas have certain taxation problems which are currently being attacked. Historically there were no problems when the Bank of England was in charge and was directly or indirectly supervising all the bodies that were British, and the regulation was very tough. The noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, is worried about tax havens and people abusing the tax situation. As he will be aware, in 50 the Romans first arrived in Brading Haven, just where he lives in two thatched cottages. Although that part of the Isle of Wight later had problems with Ethelred the Unready and a battle with King Arwald, it was a haven. Brading Haven became Bembridge haven, where I used to sail as a small boy. I would take a boat over from Chichester. We would take out the bung on the way over and put it back in when we arrived near Brading Haven. Historically, there were certain tax advantages there. I wish to disclose another interest: 20 per cent of the ships of the world are Commonwealth flagged. It is being suggested now that with shipping in a bad state, we should consider being able to dual-flag ships and possibly incorporate them in one of the British territories. One suggestion is the Isle of Wight. The second area is British Overseas Territories. Their citizens hold British citizenship under a specific Act which is not very old: the British Overseas Territories Act 2002. Their citizens are entitled to be British and to hold British passports. The problem with all these issues, as the noble Lord said, is that anyone who is a Member of this House would automatically be deemed to be taxed. The word "deem" is an extraordinarily difficult word to apply in law. Who does the deeming?