Former States Economic Adviser John Christensen and Richard Murphy have both quit the Tax Justice Network, which they founded in 2003.
Under their leadership, and with Mr Christensen’s first-hand experience of the island’s system of government, it became a thorn in the side of Jersey’s main industry, campaigning for, among other things, an open register of beneficial ownership and an end to the zero-ten regime.
Mr Christensen remained as chair of the network after stepping down as CEO in 2016 but he has recently quit the board entirely, citing “several years of mounting frustration and disenchantment” and claiming it is wasting funds on bureaucracy and pay increases for executives.
Mr Murphy said that the network’s “vision of social justice” had been “replaced by a desire to perpetuate employment for its staff by the production of ever more meaningless indices”.
In Mr Christensen’s letter of resignation, which was shared on Mr Murphy’s blog, he criticised the network’s current leadership for moving away from a campaigning model, led by senior expert advisers, to becoming a research-based think-tank, which had led to “deep-rooted division” at board level.
He also claimed that TJN’s governance system had collapsed, and that it lacked credible expertise. He also alleged some senior managers had tried to “secretly smear” him in a ploy to undermine the role of the Chair.
Writing on his blog, Mr Murphy said: “As has been apparent for some time, I have become increasingly critical of the Tax Justice Network and what I think to be its particularly destructive approach to the issues on which I once helped it campaign.
“It is now clear that I am not alone in thinking this. For much of its first decade John Christensen and I worked tirelessly for TJN, and John stayed for very much longer as I took on new projects. John has now made it clear that he shares my view of the state to which TJN has descended.”
In a statement, the network said: “We are disappointed to see recent attempts by some of Tax Justice Network’s 2003 founders to subvert our current strategy process.
“Founder’s syndrome is a well-known problem that has faced many organisations as they grow and professionalise.
“The behaviour here goes beyond what might be considered normal even in that context, however, creating a false impression of our work and violating the trust and right to a safe working environment of our staff and members.
“We condemn any attempt to misrepresent and coerce discussion within the Tax Justice Network, to bully opposing views or to claim sole ownership of the tax justice movement.”
Although Mr Christensen has quit the network he founded, he added that he would remain an activist and author, and would remain on the governance board of the OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders programme.