Vince Cable , a Liberal Democrat MP and one of the UK's most prominent opposition politicians, said the government should close offshore financial centres in places like Monaco, Singapore and the Channel Islands, to avoid conflicts of interest now that a number of UK private banks with offshore centres are under government jurisdiction.

Cable told Wealth-Bulletin that the government, which has so far taken a passive position on tax havens, must act decisively to close loopholes that allow super-wealthy account holders to avoid paying tax, leaving the UK taxpayer to pick up the bill.