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EuropeanPowell

@EuropeanPowell

Jan 30

My notes from yesterday's (29th Jan) public speaking event on SEZs and Freeports with @JimFunnel1 and @PlymouthGreens it was great with a very lively Q&A session.
Notes
I will talk about what you won’t see on the many council and corporate websites, that are backing Sunak and Starmer’s nationwide rollout of 74 deregulated SEZs and 12 Freeports.
You would think that the UK MSM would be on top of exposing the true nature of councils and companies embroiled in the setup of free zones. The complexity of free zones is their camouflage which needs proper and urgent scrutiny. The public and their respective communities are not being sufficiently informed about the impacts free zones are notoriously known for implementing. At their worst free zones remove the obstacles of regulation and democracy for profit gains at the expense of local community infrastructure and preservation of the environment.

What is a Special Economic Zone (SEZ)?
An SEZ is a designated region 'freed' from the host country's regulations, including suspension of the rule of law which is then tailored for financial gains, and extraction purposes, be that minerals, fossil fuels, or in the case of Dartmoor, Lithium.
The United States Geological Survey identifies “Dartmoor as one of the top five lithium-enriched granite areas worldwide. Dartmoor is now a part of The Plymouth and South Devon Freeport/SEZ. The granite in which the lithium-rich waters are found stretches from the Isles of Scilly 25 miles off the Cornish coast to Dartmoor in Devon.
The Dartmoor National Park wasn’t even aware of the fact it was incorporated in the Freeport/SEZ which is 75km in diameter. Corporations are trusted to ‘self-regulate' inside the boundaries of the SEZ, meaning they can create their own rules, this is known as Adam Smith’s ‘Invisible Hand’ something the EU implicitly rejects as antithetical to the Single Market.
SEZs can house a Freeport, an airport, whole towns, entire cities, and rural areas under a ‘private/public governed authority.’
The UK’s 74 SEZs range from 34 to 75km in diameter. Dartmoor is the biggest. SEZs are expansionist by nature, as businesses chase 10-year tax breaks, and a raft of deregulations that favour the private sector. Companies inside the boundaries of SEZs compete in an unlevel playing field without contributing anything to communities other than job displacement, modern day slavery, environmental pollution, and badly made products.
So, think of an SEZ as a room within a room, or a state within a state.

What is a Freeport?
Traditionally, a port is publically owned and regulated, and deals mainly with transhipment, importing and exporting goods around the world. Publicly owned ports come under port governance where local control over port infrastructure prevents profiteering.
Freeports are privately owned and are all about extending tax and customs advantages to businesses. Freeports come with relaxed laws and by extension relaxed enforcement of those laws.
In terms of what Freeports can achieve, there is no evidence to confirm that Freeports encourage economic growth or provide jobs for local people. Freeports in the wrong hands share similarities with organized crime syndicates. Illegal activity comes in numerous forms, weapons trading, drugs, stolen art, private banking, moving/storing of gold, money laundering, human trafficking, and the scrapping of minimum wage amd Human Rights abuses.
UK Freeports are run by stand-alone corporations with a future scope and incentive to expand into the surrounding SEZ territory.
All UK SEZs and Freeports were set up with secondary legislation, which means pretty much zero Parliamentary and public scrutiny.

Now for some numbers.
There 48 SEZs and 8 Freeports in England
18 SEZs and 2 Freeports in Scotland
8 SEZs and 2 Freeports in Wales
Bidding on all free zones took place between 2021 and 2022.
Labour MPs, Mayors, councillors, Lords, and Baronesses were active board members of Sunak and Truss’s nationwide SEZs/Freeports consortia.
Each SEZ recieves £160 million in State aid multiplied by 74 = £11 billion 840 million
Each Freeport receives £25 million seed capital which is private money multiplied by 12 = £300 million
Note that Sunak’s flagship Brexit SEZ/Freeport at Teeside has already spent £560 million of taxpayers money. Profits are split 9/10 in favour of the private sector.
Those figures are actually not big enough for long term investment, but are sufficient for a boom-and-bust approach.

What is the difference between Freeports/SEZs in the EU and the UK?
It comes down to EU regulations on State Aid where the European Commission is charged with ensuring that State aid rules are applied and observed equally across all the Member States to prevent fragmentation and distortion of its Single Market. The EU prohibits govts of member states from allocating public subsidies to companies of their choosing as a profit motive.
The EU cannot accept a country that has laws in place that create unfair competition by setting up an unlevel playing field.
This is why Keir Starmer says "There will be no rejoining the EU in my lifetime.”

Labour along with the Tories know that Brexit has rendered the UK capital hungry and desperate for growth. The duopoly are selling off UK sovereignty and vast swathes of territories to foreign capital such as Blackrock, DP World, PEEL Group, Deloitte, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and many more corporations with atrocious track records in fraud, tax evasion, human rights abuses, environmental pollution, weapons smuggling, stolen art, and all the while perpetuating the 40-year-old lie that is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). All public services are privatized, councils are bankrupted and asset-stripped ready for private equity to step in and buy up, on the cheap, all public buildings, agricultural, business, and residential properties under mass Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs). Last October 2024, the Labour Govt department for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government quietly published an update on Compulsory Purchase Orders, called Guidance on the Compulsory Purchase, it is 189 pages long.

What I call ‘Zone Fever’ was smuggled inside the Brexit Trojan Horse. The transition period after Brexit is currently busy with preparing the UK for total privatization.

It gets worse. What is ISDS and LCIA?
Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) allows corporations to sue Govts for billions in damages when a corporation believes its rights have been infringed upon; such as polluting the environment, shredding workers rights, and making faulty products. ISDS is a secretive corporate justice court that can bypass a country’s domestic courts and sovereignty, it was set up by The World Bank in 1966, it has a committee of 3 individuals, none of whom have a law degree. ISDS also has another UK equivalent known as the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), which is written into the 25-year licenses of all 86 UK free zones. ISDS is written into the UK's post-Brexit CPTPP free trade deals. Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Retained EU Law bill sunsetted 600 laws on 31st December 2023 with thousands more for the chop by 2026, the 3 main targets were employment rights, food safety and environmental laws. The REUL Bill is now in Keir Starmer’s intray.
Read Silent Coup - How Corporations Overthrew Democracy by @kennardmatt and @ClaireProvost for more on ISDS and SEZs.

What is the ideology behind Freeports and SEZs?
The current ideology embraced by Sunak, Truss, Starmer, and Reeves, hails from the US, the goal is to abolish the centralised state and replace it with more manageable small states all of which are privatised. This has its roots in empire-building and British colonialism from the East India Company in 1600 through to Hong Kong and Singapore in the mid-1800s, where the British installed dozens of Freeports, bringing with them their own laws, and courts, this was known as ‘China’s century of humiliation.’
In the 1980s Thatcher and Geoffrey Howe’s aim was to turn the UK into 1 big tax haven filled with dozens of free zones, subdividing the land for corporate rule, but they came up against the EU’s rules on State aid and SEZs.

What comes next after Freeports and SEZs?
Freeports and SEZs are stepping stones to charter cities, these are a type of city in which a guarantor from a developed country would create a city within a developing host country.
The public is basically paying for the privatisation of their own towns, rural areas, and cities.
Once the UK’s Freeports and SEZs have sufficiently established themselves, they grow by penetrating the social collective fabric of a region, a charter (private) city will eclipse and replace the ‘public city.’ Charter cities are hotbeds of corporate corruption as governance powers are fully handed over to CEOs, under ’localised freedoms.’ Cardiff would compete with Birmingham, Plymouth would compete with Glasgow, and so on, tax rates and laws between cities would wildly vary causing fiscal anarchy and societal chaos.

List of companies working with the 3 councils of Plymouth, South Devon and South Hams.
Babcock secures a multi-million pound contract in partnership with Devon defence vehicle designer and manufacturer Supacat. This contract will deliver 90 new jobs and enables Babcock to expand its operations in the Freeport’s South Yard tax site
Tax benefits are available at the Freeport’s 3 tax sites, located at:
South Yard, the centrepiece of the Freeport’s innovation hotbed, offering industrial units and a mezzanine office space within a purpose-built innovation centre
Langage, providing a variety of industrial units focused on advanced manufacturing and logistics
Sherford, aimed at logistics purposes, providing warehousing, storage, and engineering space.

Last October 2024 The Labour Goverment published a 189 page document on Compulsory Purchase Orders, CPOs apply to business, agricultural, and residential properties.

The rollout of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and freeports in the UK has sparked concerns over the potential loss of public autonomy. Here are some key downsides:

Reduced Democratic Oversight: SEZs and freeports often operate under different regulatory frameworks, which might bypass standard democratic processes. This can lead to a situation where local and even national laws are less effective or applicable within these zones, reducing public and elected officials' oversight over economic activities, land use, and environmental regulations. The governance of these zones can be outsourced to private entities or special bodies, which might not prioritize public interest over corporate benefits.

Erosion of Public Control Over Land and Resources: These zones can lead to significant portions of land being controlled by private interests with minimal public input, potentially leading to a scenario where public land is sold or leased under favourable terms for private entities rather than for the benefit of local communities. There have been allegations and concerns about land deals in areas like Teesside, where public land was transferred to private hands at very low costs, suggesting a loss of control over public assets. Mayoral development corporations can bring about regeneration by assembling land and providing infrastructure over a wide area to secure or encourage its development by others. A Mayoral development corporation may do anything it considers appropriate for the purposes of its object (i.e. securing the regeneration of land in its area). Likewise, it may have powers to acquire land in its area by compulsory purchase.

Taxation and Financial Transparency: The tax incentives provided to businesses within SEZs and freeports can be seen as a form of corporate welfare, where public revenue is foregone in favor of private profit. This can lead to reduced public funds for services, and there's also the worry about these zones becoming havens for tax evasion or money laundering, further diminishing public financial control.

Impact on Workers' Rights: Deregulation in free zones often leads to a rollback of labour standards, potentially undermining workers' rights as companies could exploit the regulatory leniency to reduce wages or bypass labour protections. This has been a point of contention, with critics arguing that the drive for economic growth might come at the cost of workers' well-being.

Environmental Regulations: Freeports and SEZs deregulatory frameworks lead to ecological degradation or pollution, as the drive for economic activity overshadows environmental considerations. There have been reports of environmental concerns linked to freeport developments, like in Teesside, where industrial activities have been linked to marine life damage.

Economic Displacement: There's a risk that SEZs and freeports might not create new economic activity but rather displace existing businesses from outside the zones to within, leading to no net economic gain but rather a redistribution that favors areas with freeport status, potentially at the expense of other regions.

Public Autonomy in Policy Making: The concentration of economic activity and decision-making power in these zones could lead to a scenario where national or local economic policies are influenced or dictated by the needs and demands of these zones, reducing the autonomy of public institutions in shaping economic strategies that should serve broader public interests.
In summary, while SEZs and Freeports aim to spur economic development, the potential downsides include significant losses in public autonomy over economic, environmental, and social governance, with concerns about transparency, equity, and democratic control being paramount.

David Powell January 2025

The above notes are from a public meeting about SEZs and Freeports with the Plymouth Green Party on 29th January 2025, it's free to read on my Substack. Please subscribe and if possible upgrade to paid, I'm an unpaid volunteer who has been exposing SEZs for over 6 years.
💚
europeanpowell.substack.com/p/my-notes-fro…

Alternatively, a donation to my Ko-Fi online tip jar would be most welcome.
My research on Brexit, Freeports, Special Economic Zones and charter cities takes up many hours of dedicated work, my sole intent is to inform the public at large of the dangers of corporate governance. To date all my daily research is self-initiated and self-funded, recently I have spoken at anti-Freeports/SEZ events with grass-roots campaigners in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Inverness and South Devon, I can tell you that audiences are shocked and outraged at what's unfolding on their doorsteps.
Making a donation would be greatly appreciated we are breaking through to wider audiences.
Thanking you in advance!
ko-fi.com/europeanpowell

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EuropeanPowell

@EuropeanPowell

Jan 26

Rachel Reeves embraces 'job displacement' in her 'zoning scheme'
Rachel 'I'm tough on benefit scroungers but love corporate scroungers' Reeves just said this "“At the moment, you’ve got people who live five or six miles out of Leeds or Birmingham or Manchester who aren’t able to take up jobs in those places"
Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham are all now deregulated Special Economic Zones, signed off by Labour with the Tories during the bidding period which took place between 2021 and 2022.
Now read this from the UK Govt's website👇🏻👀
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05…
A common problem of deregulated SEZs is known as 'job displacement'. A common argument against Enterprise Zones is that they result in 'job displacement' rather than job creation – i.e., existing local companies relocate to enterprise zones to take advantage of financial incentives, keeping their existing workforce rather than firms from outside the area relocating and creating new jobs. A 2011 report by the Work Foundation found that “up to 80%” of jobs created by enterprise zones in the 1980s were in fact “taken from other places.”

Starmer's changed Labour Party is fundamentally dishonest about this whole SEZ policy, they say they inherited it from the Tories, which is a flat-out lie.
Read that ridiculous @guardian puff piece on Rachel Reeves 'zoning scheme' where she connives to mention 'zoning schemes' without referring to the collusion her changed Labour Party had with the Tories nationwide country changing SEZs experiment in corporate governance during the bidding process between 2021 and 2022.

A 2019 report by the Centre for Cities on Enterprise Zones in England found that between 2011 and 2017 found that the total new jobs were only around one-quarter of the estimates produced by the Treasury in 2011 and “at least one-third of the jobs created have come as a result of the move of businesses from elsewhere, rather than the creation of new posts in new businesses.” Jobs created Enterprise Zones were found to be “overwhelmingly low skilled” and Enterprise Zones have been unsuccessful in attracting high-skilled economic activity “that would help to change the economic make-up of the economies into which they have been placed.”
This is a corporate coup, Zone Fever was resurrected by the duopoly immediately after Brexit, UK SEZs had to abide by the EU's rules on State aid that prohibit member states from giving public money to companies for profit motives.
Once again from the UK Govt's website, 'The demise of EZs was attributed to the effects of delays owing to
European Commission State Aid regulations'
theguardian.com/global/2025/ja…

One of the key risks in Freeports and SEZs is that the same secrecy around the storage of art in Freeports can potentially apply to DRUGS AND WEAPONS because of "confidentiality, the high level of monetary transactions, the unfamiliarity of enforcement agencies with values and the portable nature of art itself all contribute to the art market being a suitable vehicle for illegal activity.
As other money-laundering techniques are coming under closer scrutiny, it has been suggested that smugglers, drug traffickers and arms dealers are increasingly turning to the art market" .
In 2010 the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, an intergovernmental body based at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, published a report claiming that free-trade zones, which include free ports, were a 'money-laundering and terrorist-financing threat' partly due to inadequate safeguards, relaxed oversight and weak inspections.
Clamping down on problems such as tax evasion and money laundering has become a matter of the utmost urgency. In this context, the Panama Papers drew attention to the dubious role of free zones, and in particular of free ports, as repositories of artworks and other valuables.
Some media reports pointed to the connection between the international art trade and offshore secrecy, for example suggesting that 'arts buyers and sellers use the same structures to remain anonymous in the global financial system as dictators, politicians and fraudsters'.
The UK is the second largest exporter of arms in the world, and is home to the largest number of private military and security companies in the world. europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/155721…

All my research on SEZs and Freeports is voluntary, I'm writing on average 4 hours a day across X, Bluesky, and Substack (as Europeanpowell).
I do this because I am absolutely appalled and dismayed that the Tories and Labour are carving up Britain into 86 free zones, corporate fiefdoms, and states within states while the MSM sits back and ignores the fact that Zone Fever is the real reason behind Brexit and the USA's increasing vassalisation of the UK. Please support me and buy me a Ko-Fi.
Thank you❤️
ko-fi.com/europeanpowell

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EuropeanPowell

@EuropeanPowell

Jan 23

The Green Party has stated that it is 100% against deregulated SEZs and Freeports.
greenparty.org.uk/2024/09/08/gre…
Yesterday I posted a previous version of this tweet that was incorrect, my apologies.
There is still the matter of 2 Green Party councillors. Rachel Eburne of Green Party Mid Suffolk is a member of Freeport East Limited (appointed 4th July 2023) under section a) Any unpaid directorships
baberghmidsuffolk.moderngov.co.uk/mgDeclarationS…
midsuffolk.greenparty.org.uk/people/your-gr…
On 13th August 2024 Councillor Naomi Graham, Green Party Wirral's register of interests, reads 'Self Employed - Project Manager' under the heading 'Yourself.'
Next to that column, under the heading 'Your Partner', 'PEEL Land and Property Development Director' is listed.
democracy.wirral.gov.uk/mgDeclarationS…
In the interests of transparency, I'm asking The Green Party if they could please shed some light on the above councillor positions?
@natalieben @ZackPolanski @SusanChubb1 @TheGreenParty @MidSuffolkGreen

Green Party Councillor Naomi Graham's husband is Richard Mawdsley Director of Development for Peel L&P's Wirral Waters.

peelwaters.co.uk/meet-the-team/
PEEL Group has s a private company with assets of £2.3 billion, PEEL Groups controversies include environmental pollution, tax evasion, on site fatalities, peat extraction, greenhouse gas emissions, fracking collusion between Peel, Greater Manchester Police and Salford Council, excessive influence on affairs and development in the Liverpool region, claiming Peel "blurred the boundaries between public and private interests"

peelports.com/about-us/inves…

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peel_…

There is a great danger that PEEL Group Ltd will enjoy further excessive corporate influence over councils and public services boosted by SEZ status, despite having a track record of controversial issues.

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EuropeanPowell

@EuropeanPowell

Jan 22

I’m frequently asked about my sources for the State aid figures allocated for Sunak and Starmer’s joint SEZs/Freeports experiment in corporate governance.
All the details are on the UK Government’s website.
👇🏻👀
gov.uk/guidance/inves…

In total there are 74 deregulated Special Economic Zones across the UK.
48 SEZs in England
18 SEZs in Scotland
8 SEZs in Wales
In total there are 12 Freeports.
8 Freeports in England
2 Freeports in Scotland
2 Freeports in Wales
74 x £160 million = £11 billion 840 million in State aid which is public money.
12 x £25 million = £300 million seed capital
Note that Teeside SEZ/Freeport has already spent £560 million of taxpayers money. Profits are split 9/10 in favour of the private sector.

Each of the 12 Freeports sit inside a much larger zone, this area is the Special Economic Zone.
A port is publicly owned.
A Freeport is privately owned.
There are 82 SEZs in the EU that comply with EU rules on State aid which is used to support ecological transformation and foster the development of services, knowledge, and infrastructure rather than providing support to specific companies. Brexit UK's free zones contravene EU laws on State aid.
Public economic support in the EU: State aid and special economic zones
europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes…

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EuropeanPowell

@EuropeanPowell

Jan 3

@Guardian keep presenting only one side of the 'economic growth' narrative, it goes like this companies don't like paying their fair share of taxes, they don't like the rise in National Insurance Contributions (NICs), they don't like wage rises for their workers, it will mean less profits for those at the top'.
But the other side of the story is about 10 year corporate tax breaks in special economic zones (SEZs) for example Employer National Insurance Contributions relief.
Know that companies in SEZs are already pushing to extend the tax breaks beyond the set deadlines.
From the UK Govt's website (Note: this page is out of date there are 48 SEZs in England not 13)
gov.uk/guidance/inves…

https://x.com/EuropeanPowell/status/1874382121952739707

https://x.com/EuropeanPowell/status/1874382121952739707

@Guardian business section, same story as above by Michael Jacobs. Once again compare the puff piece with the UK Govt's SEZs program.
It ignores the Tories baton of SEZs that Labor has quietly adopted, corporate tax breaks, State aid funding of 74 SEZ is £160 million each multiplied by 74 = £11 billion 840 million.
Guardian are not being honest with the public.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

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EuropeanPowell

@EuropeanPowell

Dec 29, 2024

Did you know that Labour MPS, Mayors, councillors, Lords, and Baronesses signed off on Sunak and Truss's SEZs/Freeports as board members of their nationwide free zones consortia between 2021 and 2022? So when Labour say they inherited the Tories free zones they are flat-out lying to the public.

Labours Metro Mayor Andy Burnham signed off on the Manchester SEZ. Labours Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram signed off on the Liverpool SEZ and Freeport. Former FM Mark Drakeford signed off on 8 SEZs and 2 Freeports with Sunak, present at the signing was Shanker Singham, known as the brains behind Brexit.

10 articles on Freeports from @BylinesCymru including mine - 'Mr. Drakefore, with all due respect, Sunak's Freeports are a Threat to Democracy'
bylines.cymru/wp-content/upl…

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