Opposition Member, Hubert Hughes, explained to reporters, at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, the reason for his refusal to pay property tax. He was responding to a charge made by Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming.

Hom. Hubert Hughes

He said five or six years ago he had written to Carl Harrigan, then Permanent Secretary Finance, about certain things the Government was doing wrong. “I said if I do not get a proper response from this correspondence, I will not pay property tax,” he stated. “If the Government is not collecting its revenue from the major developers in this country, why would you want an Anguillian to meet his moral obligations?

“The big revenue should come from the use of our economic capital. They are not really collecting it and I really want the Government to take me to court because if they took me to court, what comes out of the court would have been helpful to Anguilla. The Government refused to take me to court for the property tax because they knew what my arguments were. I still would like them to take me to court and if they took money out of my rent [for office space], ultimately I will take them to court, so I can show the court why I was not paying property tax.”

Mr. Hughes stressed that his refusal to pay property tax was in protest over the Government continuing “to give away large sums of money to these foreign developers, and others, and yet a little Anguillian is squeezed to pay property tax.” He added: “I want to demonstrate to the Government, and to the rest of the community, that we should not be carrying the burden of the billionaires who come here,” He could not say how much property tax he was required to pay as he never showed an interest in finding out. “I said in my letter to Carl Harrigan if you all do not answer my queries, I will not be paying property tax.”

The Opposition Member also accused the Government of engaging in secret memorandums with investors and giving away taxpayers’ money without parliamentary approval.

Asked whether he should not consider working with the Government on handling the current financial situation, Mr. Hughes emphasised that he had no intention to do so. He was of the view that if he were to become Chief Minister of Anguilla he would have no difficulty in getting money to finance the island’s affairs. “I don’t accept that I would have the same problem in finding money,” he declared. “I know how I can get money. There is no money now but if I get in Government tomorrow, there will be money. There will be no borrowing. I never borrowed for myself and I am not going to borrow on behalf of the poor people of Anguilla. I always opposed borrowing and I have records to prove that. Even in my own Government when Victor Banks was trying to borrow money I was opposed to it.

“The Cayman Islands have been wallowing in money for many years because of the financial success of the offshore banking and financial services industry and they never understood that a country can only be rich if it saves. You make trillions of dollars but if you squander it in lavish lifestyles, and other ways, you are still poor.” Mr. Hughes accused several Caribbean political leaders of believing they have to be very rich and of squandering money.

Mr. Hughes charged that there was a failed Government in Anguilla, with a bankrupt Treasury, and that the leadership of the island was also bankrupt in ideas and had excluded the Opposition from involvement in the affairs of the island.

Asked how he would obtain money to run the Government of Anguilla without borrowing, Mr. Hughes replied: “That’s my secret.”

He added that the present Government of Anguilla could get the money they want by borrowing “but they wouldn’t get the British Government’s guarantee.”

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