EX-Prime Minister David Cameron’s former adviser on Scotland has been paid over £40,000 for providing consultancy services to the government in the Jersey "tax haven."
The fees paid to Ramsay Jones include advice on Brexit and helping Jersey’s chief minister at last year’s Conservative Party conference.
Jones, 58, is an experienced political operator who was director of media at the Scottish Tories for over a decade, serving leaders David McLetchie and Annabel Goldie.
However, he was temporarily suspended from his job in 2011 amid claims he had attended a meeting of leadership contender Ruth Davidson’s strategists.
He left this post and became a special adviser in the Tory-led coalition Government, where he worked closely with the Scotland Office and Cameron
After leaving the Government in 2016, he formed a public affairs company, Gen Comms Ltd, of which he owns 90% of the shares.
Part of Jones’ consultancy work has been in Jersey, a small island off the coast of France that has been magnet for millionaires and corporations across the world.
Jersey has a standard rate of corporation tax of 0%, levies no stamp duty on equity transactions and has been associated in the past with allegations of tax avoidance.
In December, it was revealed that Jersey had been placed on a so-called “grey list” of jurisdictions that had committed to reforming their tax structures.
It is understood Jones was taken on as an adviser to the States of Jersey - effectively the Government - in late 2016 and he also carried out work for chief minister Ian Gorst.
His primary assignment was advising on Jersey’s high profile care inquiry, but he also offered his expertise on political issues such as Brexit.
He was also hired to advise Gorst at last year’s Tory conference, at which Jersey had a stand. Gorst and five other Ministers were reportedly in attendance.
Asked about the services he provided for Jersey at the conference, Jones said: “They [the States of Jersey] had a stall at the Conference just extolling the virtues of the Island. I was in attendance for some of that time.”
On whether he introduced Gorst to MPs at the conference, he replied: “It would have included MPs.”
Asked the same question about Ministers, Jones said: “I can’t think if I did.”
He also said that he has offered no advice on reputational issues in relation to Jersey’s tax status. Jones added: “My work with them is over and finished.”
A spokesman for the Chief Minister said: “Ramsay Jones was employed to advise the Government of Jersey on a structured approach to the anticipated national and international interest in the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry’s report, and to give the Chief Minister more general advice on national and international engagement.”
He added: “Mr Jones is no longer working for the Government of Jersey. In total, he was paid £42,500 for his services.”
SNP MSP Alex Neil: “In an ideal world, Ramsay would be advising Jersey to stop being a tax haven, but I am not sure that is advice they would appreciate.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel