The warning came from Liam Halligan, senior economics commentator for the Telegraph Media Group, during a trip to the island as guest of local think tank Gpeg.
Mr Halligan said that in his view there would be no logic to such a stance.
He pointed to the important role offshore jurisdictions play in international investment, the pensions industry and life insurance, but warned that few people in politics really had an understanding of offshore finance.
As a result he warned that the island’s main industry might become a bargaining chip as the Starmer administration seeks to hold the party together.
The man once described by former Chancellor Nigel Lawson as ‘the best economics journalist of his generation’ was scathing in his assessment.
‘Offshore finance, like private education, like fox hunting, these are the totems, these are the bones that Labour leaders throw to their rabid left wing,’ he said.
‘So in that sense, as Starmer continues to struggle, as the Labour Party tacks left, as it loses all contact with reality, and just turns on itself in its kind of student politics, internecine warfare, I wouldn’t be surprised, with regret, if offshore finance centres didn’t become a part of that row.’
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