Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

the last straw Cameron bringing over LOVE THE MAN OBAMA USED we do not want a yank telling us our to vote the man is a racist .

do not vote for the con party of liars vote ukip

has for tax avoidance it is the person who is trying to avoid that is the criminal and those should be the ones charged . this gov have given the hedge funds to avoid stamp duty its stinks of corruption then given 47m to the con party
the CPS SHOULD ACT ITS CORRUPTION
BUT WE KNOW THAT MPs are above the law and the cps will never investigate the gov for insider dealing or the fca never gov ministers insider deal all the time on their budget info no action taken

HMRC + Switzerland
i certainly recollect that there was an amnesty for those who had been rumbled to come clean and to pay up + penalties and thus avoid legal prosecution - a very time consuming and expensive process

however, there looked to be some hundreds of millions secreted away by uk residents, so it is inconceivable to me that £135m was all the tax that was owed + penalties

that being so, it is absolutely outrageous given that if you are but a day late with a tax return, there is an automatic and immediately levied fine of £100/150, regardless of whether or not you owe any tax .... easy money of course, like speed cameras

===================

HSBC officers
there were most assuredly a number of senior officers who knowingly allowed and aided secret accounts to be set up, and worse

surely, at the very least this is conspiracy to defraud, so how come there are no publicised moves whatsoever to prosecute a single one of them?

a single party political cover up?
give it a break! .... this sort of stuff has been going on for a very long time indeed, but it sure does make the establishment in general stink

Cynic,

Hang on about this tax business.

But, but, but, where does Cameron get his donations for the party slush fund, if he clamps down in the European isles of Swizzle Astria, Luxemburga and the Cayman isles.

Imagine some of his friends being put behind bars. Imagine what they may say,

I wonder if the dossier will be lost!

the pavlovian response from fred :-)

fred the con party would for warn the donors they will never be caught they have the likes of Osborne to cover their exit

Manuel,

Saved my skin a number of times and I can recognise ---- when I see smell it.


This government is a sleazy government and led by sleazy individuals.

But Fred, Alf and co like and vote for sleazy as we most assuredly know -):

But they know where the tax is hidden and hope for the keys.

"This government is a sleazy government and led by sleazy individuals."



Yes, not a bit like the previous lot.

oh shame on you Max!
they were pure as the driven snow, and of course Bambi was the saviour of the Middle East; what would they have done without him?

Well well, the usual and typical right wing response/reaction is to blame someone else!

Wrong, Stan.

That is the usual left wing response. The usual right wing response is to sort the job out properly. However, at the moment we have a hung parliament.

Wrong, E/L.

That is the usual right wing response. The usual centre forward response is to sort the job out properly. However, at the moment we have a sleazy parliament.

Manuel,

Without Blair it would possibly be a more peaceful world.

I didn't like him before he was elected PM and liked him less after he was elected.

He had for me the same PR response as Cameron and represented somebody more interested in his own career than what was good for the long term benefit of the UK.

I doubt either have any core morality of value.

=======

I think the tax system needs massive examination, simplifications and reforms.

But also think the our system of government needs reforms with a move to proportional representation and removal of the house of lords and replacement by an elected second chamber, with co-option of "specialist" advisers from Industry, business, legal "trade" Universities erc.

=========

Read Alan Johnson "This Boy" and you may understand the reasons of what the slightly left of centre have strived for since WW2.

All governments make mistakes. But the last labour government in many ways was constructive of social cohesion, while the tories have been destructive for the last five years.

They didn't have to be!

I think the tax system needs massive examination, simplifications and reforms
i thoroughly agree, though these things are never anywhere near as simple as kneejerk suggests

i also concur with the view that some CEO salaries are obscene especially when related to a multiple of their lowest paid employee
their greed at the annual trough is also well documented, and of course it's a complete charade that "it's only as suggested by the remunerations committee and then approved by the shareholders"

cynic good post apart from the last bit private share holders have very little clout the
big share holders buy and sell with inside info so never lose money .the city says it is illegal to give info in a closed room but it does the bog companies always inform the big investors behind closed doors and the fca do nothing they close their ears

exactly my point MrT
it's a total illusion that PIs have any real clout in these matters
the institutional holders, with few exceptions, will always look after their own

btw, i don't really subscribe to your view about insider trading et al, but it is certainly virtually impossible to beat the computer traders, as hilary will confirm

fred - have bought :-)