Gold fingered

Daniel Nelson

The timing is a film-maker’s dream: The UK Gold is a documentary about tax avoidance.

It’s a topical subject, thanks to UK Uncut and The

Guardian, whose disclosures and pressure have forced even the UK’s corporate-cosy government to at least talk about the issue, as it continues to dodge tough action. As journalist Jon Snow says, “Tax avoidance and austerity don’t go well together.”

Director Mark Donne deserves praise for moving fast and doing a pretty good job, while staying within the bounds of conventional documentary, of making a rather dry issue entertaining. To give the film a human face and a frame for complex arguments he uses a vicar in the London borough of Hackney, following him around as he campaigns for a seat on the Court of Common Council of the City of London (“There’s a demonic system at work… which is very dark and powerful.”)

Warning, plot spoiler: the Rev William Taylor fails in his election bid. No matter: he’s an engaging, plain-speaking commentator who wears his piety lightly.

Donne uses a few other tried and trusted techniques to hold the attention, such as jokey animation, but thankfully doesn’t overdo them. He covers a lot of ground and, with the help of a gallery of talking heads, builds a powerful case against the City and its offshore partners, tax havens like the Cayman Islands.

Sadly, as is often the case with documentaries such as this, Taylor will be preaching to the converted, who surely will make up most of the audience for this film. But it’s important to spread the word, and even those who camped on the steps of St Paul’s will learn some remarkable details about the City’s operations.

Viewers will have their own revelatory moments: mine was seeing The Remembrancer, one of the City of London Corporation's law officers, its parliamentary agent and its head of ceremony and protocol. The City has a well-funded PR effort to ensure its interests are always taken into account at the heard of government, but money is hardly needed when your man is literally within whispering distance of power.

This is important because few people realise how far the tentacles stretch, and how often they are conflated with, and neutralised by, the visible manifestations of City flummery and harmlessly ridiculous tradition. The real power comes from the City’s extensive and unseen activities.

Worth seeing, even if you already know where you stand.

 

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