"You Don't Hear About Tax Avoidance Because The Avoiders Own The Newspapers"
6 November 2017, 12:52
James O'Brien gave a simple explanation for the lack of coverage of tax avoidance allegations, the avoiders own the newspapers.
The Paradise Papers purport to detail the tax affairs of some of the wealthiest people and companies on the planet.
They reportedly reveal the exploitation of offshore schemes to avoid tax.
James O'Brien said journalists would love to pursue tax avoidance stories but they also liked being paid and, when your boss is avoiding tax, push comes to shove.
He said: "Everything now is tribal and binary, absolutely everything, even rape allegations. That comes to its natural apotheosis with the grooming gangs in Rotherham.
"Somehow child abuse is more egregious when it is committed by a brown person than when it is committed by a white person. There's a word for that.
"Then we come back to Britain where he have voted to undertake Brexit in large part at the behest of non-domiciled billionaires like Lord Ashcroft and the two brothers who own the Telegraph, who have their own Channel Island. They also own the Ritz.
"Then you've got the owner of the Daily Mail who inherited his non-domicile status from his own father. This is incredible.
"And if you're wondering why there are so few journalists covering this stuff, the answer is really, really simple.
"We've got bills to pay, we've got mortgages to pay. We can't go after our pay masters, in a way that many journalists would like to.
"And why can't we? Because they actually own this stuff. They own publishing companies, polling companies and newspapers."
Watch the full clip above.
