First Group was originally awarded the franchise, but the decision was reversed after the competition process was found to have been flawed.

BBC: Hurricane Sandy hits First Group profits by ?10m

The government has scrapped a decision to let FirstGroup take over the route from Virgin after "technical flaws" were found in the competition process.

BBC: Nick Chavasse

Thanks to this process of tax competition, with havens playing a key role, top personal income tax rates have dropped from an average of more than 67 percent in 1980 to about 42 percent today.

FORBES: All the News that's Fit to Print about Tax Havens