The SNP are desperate ...

... for a debate ...

... between Cameron and Salmond, but Cameron knows that if he put a toe into the referendum pond the SNP would probably get a swing to independence, as Cameron said, the referendum is between the Scots;  the currency and EU will sink Salmond, unless he gets Cameron on camera ..... poor fools!

How deeply unfit politicians are – as a class of people – to have ...

... any role in press regulation.

Grant Shapps, Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron line up against the very foundations of modern democracy.

Grant Shapps' appalling threat to the BBC this weekend shows what happens when barren intellects find themselves with some degree of control over a free media. He effectively threatened to take away its rights to the licence fee unless it provide more favourable coverage of the go vernment's policy programme.

Iain Duncan Smith, whose bullying tactics include demands for control over the words the BBC uses in news reports.

David Cameron, who has hitherto been commendably restrained and pensive in this debate, threatened to force the Guardian to stop publishing stories about the gross violations of privacy committed by our security services.  (politics.co.uk)

In Wales Andrew RT Davies (Conservative) said the BBC has a "near monopoly" on reporting devolution and should be scrutinised by Welsh politicians.

Plaid AM for South Wales West, has said "I think we need to have more control over our media here in Wales adding she believed in devolved broadcasting."

... so the feelings of Westminster Conservatives are reflected by Conservatism in Wales and Plaid Cymru, what about Carwyn Jones ...

... he has said "

"We must ensure that the BBC gives the people of Wales the service that they should receive in order to ensure that they know what goes on in their own country"

So whether its the press or broadcasting, our politicians are not comfortable without control of information that might be political or information that might be critical of political activities, Carwyn is as usual ambiguous, or at least fence sitting, I wonder if he has (or his familiars) ever contacted BBC Wales to hide criticism; a bit of a quiet man is Carwyn, my guess is he is uncomfortable with democracy as Grant Shapps, Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron.

Dissent needs a platform much like the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

Could Cameron be right ...

... when he described "the bubble [politics] in Cardiff as being completely obsessed with assembly powers but voters had other priorities such as the recovery of the economy and the health service".

Well Carwyn and chums are going to prove Cameron wrong, in the Assembly today ...

the Active Travel Bill will proceed to the next stage.

... at a price of £12 million, is it what we have asked for, is it good value ?

Information: 

This year the Aneurin Bevan Health Board has a drug budget shortfall of £10 million, and there are another 6 health boards in Wales, our politicians prioritise cycle track maps over medicines.

But its democracy, we did vote for maps over medicines didn't we ......... with devolution !

.

The GR8 DB8, wk2, and toy throwing ...

... is on the cards north of the border.


Alex Salmond, Wee Eck to the faithful, wants to debate the forthcoming referendum with the PM, naturally the PM has deferred to Alistair Darling  the leader of the Better Together cross-party group that are campaigning for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.

Wee Eck is, naturally, a tad put-out that Cameron doesn't fall into line and give the Scots separatists an advantage; and an advantage it would be, no illusion, no smoke and mirrors, for Cameron to debate with the separatist leader would give him an extra 10 points in the opinion polls.

The SNP propaganda machine has littered the referendum path with promises that need not be kept, promises that in all probability would be nigh impossible to honour, these promises are like much candy scattered on a path to the infamous gingerbread house, but whereas the bread scattered by Hansel and Gretel disappeared, was eaten by birds, the separatist candy is recorded for posterity.  In the short term the promises are probably impossible to dispute except with extensive rebuttal, unfortunately in the 21st century the average elector doesn't have the time for university styled debate, they need sound-bite rebuttals.

So Cameron has declined the invitation, Alistair Darling should do likewise, stick with a political machine that is guaranteed to deliver your message, not become subsumed by the rhetoric of Wee Eck, because like it or not he will shout positives, and the Better Together group cannot prove a negative, and in live debate everything said by the Better Together group will be called negative.

The Better Together cross-party group need to produce positives for the future within the union, sound-bites that call time on Salmond's separatist quest, Salmand's wish to go down in history as a father of the Scots, a modern day Bruce, for certain not a modern day William Wallace’, because he was betrayed by his own ...

It only remains to be seen whether Wee Eck stamps his foot so hard it becomes embedded in the floor - temper, temper ...........
.

Where angels fear to tread, a battleground ...

... David Cameron knows not to enter, he knows better than to take up the gauntlet thrown down by Salmond, to travel north of the border to debate the forthcoming referendum would be to run a gauntlet created during the Thatcher years, irrelevant in the 21st century, but having a bitter taste that has crossed generations.  Why would Cameron gift an opportunity to Salmond, rightly he judges the debate should be between equals, and scottish equals at that.

Of course, Cameron is no angel ... but neither is Salmond, both are deft at dealing a very dodgy hand of cards.

BBC report.
.

Why Salmond and Cameron ...

... must never meet in a debate about Scotland and the intentions of the separatist agenda ...

BBC story here

... it's is simple, Cameron is not a Scot, my advice David ...

... stay south of the border and keep your mouth firmly shut, the Scots must defend their Scotland isolated from the vagaries of Westminster, you might like to send a memo advising MP's of all parties that this is a fight amongst 21st century Scottish clans, not a 21st century Bannockburn in which Salmond is in a battle with the rest of the United Kingdom.

A final word David, you do not have a Scottish accent, remember this very small detail.......

,

It's OK being a Janitor ...

... said the doctor, lawyer, politician, the economic patricians of this world, anywhere in the world for there is little difference, the reality is the janitor, the janitors wife, the janitors children, they all share the janitors lot in life.  The janitor is of course the metaphor for anyone who might be regarded as one of the little people, described as proletariat by some British politicians.

But far worse than the label is this concept by our new aristocracy that the little people of Britain, or anywhere in this world, need to "know their place in the social order", and although a little more subtle in the USA, in the land of the free this same social order exists today.

So the search for justice is to no avail for our janitor, his wife, his children, they will never become stakeholders in today's society, the new aristocratic families of politics will assure that societies order is maintained, by David Cameron, by Edd Miliband, by President Obama, by Mitt Romney ...

In Birmingham this week Iain Duncan Smith, Work and Pensions Secretary who has never been a janitor, says...

"We will have to take more money out of welfare" 

We will have to squeeze the Janitor !

For the janitors of Britain it is time to brush down the cloth cap, and practice the doff in deference to the new aristocracy......

Iain Duncan Smith is of course FoS, and decorated with the FoS award for services to Janitors, wherever they might live and work, and of course their families ...

I would prefer the Janitor to become a stakeholder in this brave new world ....

... for the peoples of the world the most important aspect ...

... of the 1215 Great Charter (Magna Carta) should be embedded in our psyche, it's the 29th clause which guarantees Justice, albeit at the time it only applied to "Freemen" ...

NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised (to dispossess or to deprive) of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.^[1]

... unfortunately in the 21st century Justice is sold, it is denied, it is deferred, all to the highest bidder.

A case in question

Sophie Lancaster, her mothers "Black Rose", not ethnicity but a cultural choice, she was Gothic as was her boyfriend Rob Maltby.
"... both were kicked and beaten so badly that ambulance staff could not tell which was the man and which the woman when they arrived on the scene."

How does the 1215 Great Charter apply to Sophie and Rob ?

Has Justice been sold or denied or deferred  ?

How does "... a gang of binge-drinking teenage yobs ... , without the slightest provocation, inflict such ghastly violence on a pair of kindly innocents" relate to the principles of Justice outlined in our great Charter.

We sold justice to the drinks and distribution industries by dropping the age that people are able to purchase alcoholic drinks.
We denied life to Sophie by creating a society that is intolerant to "difference".
We deferred morality, politicians chose to set aside qualities that accompany's tolerance .

... a sidestep in social observations ...

How can our Prime Minister become craven in his subservience to Anthony Bamford, a man who actively lobbies for cuts to business taxes and for restrictions to workers' rights, what human being would wish to take away from people rights fought hard for.

Would Bamford wind the clock back to a time when serfdom was the norm, when only a few were accorded the benefits of the 1215 Great Charter, is it might be time to wrench away from the "Great Bore Bamford" the rights he is claiming for a superior existence in this our world ?

Is it secrecy ...

... that makes our tax system unfair, as Margaret Hodge Labour MP wrote in today's Times ...

She believes ... "If the tax-man was made accountable, we could crack down on avoidance with more vigour."

The MP who is Chair of the Public Accounts Committee continued ...

We in Britain pride ourselves on playing by the rules. Yet on paying tax we appear to have a blind spot. Tax demands are seen as an aggravating irritant, not a positive contribution to be valued. We all too easily choose to forget the link between every citizen paying his or her fair share, and the vital infrastructure and services on which we all depend.

Of course there are legitimate concerns about whether the State provides value for our money but these cannot justify individuals or companies seeking out wheezes designed simply to avoid paying their rightful contribution. Some of the practices highlighted by The Times wouldn’t look out of place in a banana republic.

Securing every penny of tax due is especially important when cutting the deficit is the policy imperative. In 2009/2010 Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs calculated the tax gap as £35 billion — ie, nearly 8 per cent of all tax due is not being collected. In the same year HMRC wrote off £10.9 billion in tax as uncollectable.

The problem of avoidance is not confined to the private sector. Earlier this year we learnt that the head of the Student Loans Company was having his £182,000 salary package paid through a personal company, thus avoiding PAYE and national insurance contributions. Thousands of other public sector employees were doing the same. While the Government responded promptly to close these loopholes for civil servants, there are still people funded by the taxpayer, working in local authorities and for the BBC, who avoid paying tax in this way. This is not on. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will report on this issue in the next few weeks. And we will also want to look at the loopholes uncovered by The Times.

This week the vexed issue of how HMRC deals with disputes with major corporations such as Goldman Sachs and Vodafone will return. Large companies owe up to £25 billion and the National Audit Office (NAO) will report on five cases examined by a retired judge with experience of tax litigation. Some of these disputes have been mouldering unresolved for 20 years. While the NAO found the settlements in these cases to be not unreasonable, it remains the case that big companies are let off millions of pounds in interest payments while small businesses are fiercely pursued for every penny.

Everybody has been quick to condemn the tax avoidance scams revealed by The Times as morally repugnant. But actions speak louder than words. We should rip off the shroud of secrecy. There is a strong case for the tax affairs of publicly quoted companies to be opened to public account so that we know about their negotiations with HMRC and don’t just see the final settlement in the company’s accounts. We could then know how Vodafone or Amazon choose to arrange their tax affairs, and that may influence how we spend our money when we buy a phone or book.

We also have to strengthen the accountability of HMRC. Hiding behind taxpayer confidentiality is no excuse for it failing to account for itself to Parliament or the public for the work it does. It was only because of evidence from a whistleblower that the PAC uncovered the Goldman Sachs scandal, in which £10 million was lost to the taxpayer because of an error. The public still doesn’t know why there were only three challenges by tax officials to the K2 arrangements in eight years.

If HMRC was made more accountable, there would be stronger pressure on it to pursue disputes or deal with loopholes robustly and not be swayed by pressure from companies or individuals. Because of the HMRC’s secrecy, a small cohort of tax advisers know much more about its compromises than outsiders do and use their inside knowledge to help other businesses to avoid tax.

We can do more to prevent abuses by companies who benefit from public contracts. For instance, the PAC has identified PFI contractors that are providing hospitals and schools that have taken their companies offshore to avoid tax. A simple rewrite of future contracts or a threat to stop companies that deliberately avoid tax from getting new public contracts could bring this practice quickly to a halt.

Clearly, we should simplify our tax system. Tax avoidance and evasion is less of a problem in Australia and New Zealand, where governments have simplified. And surely we should all be able to understand our tax returns so that we can take proper responsibility for what we do? It’s ridiculous that the present, inaccessible system can only be navigated by tax experts.

HMRC must be properly resourced. The previous Government cut HMRC staff working on avoidance and evasion by more than 3,000, although every pound invested in people secures £10 in tax revenue. It is outrageous that so often rich individuals and corporations are able to outwit the tax authorities because they have well-paid advisers who are better equipped than the HMRC.

When the PAC looked at the Goldman Sachs settlement, we were surprised that the Head of Tax was the only senior person with “deep knowledge” of tax to authorise that deal. The Civil Service tradition of employing generalists means that we have too few specialists who can take on the private sector’s accountants.

A country’s tax system ought to reflect the values and priorities of that society. If the wealthiest pay as little as 1 per cent tax, and corporations even less, that is an offence against the values and sense of fairness of ordinary people. Our tax system encourages morally repugnant behaviour. It must change.

So, according to parliament it is none of their doing, I've met people such as these during my life, this is the "its always someone else's fault" brigade.



Unfortunately for Westminster the taxpayers, the public, the voters, we all know otherwise.  Each and every tax avoidance scheme has the tacit approval of our parliamentary representatives because they have chosen not to fix them.

There is no justice where the poor of Anglesey (these are the poorest in Great Britain) pay a greater percentage of their income as tax than the wealthiest in the land.

Something smells very bad, and it wafts across the Thames ....

It's a scandal ...

... he said, the fact that housing benefit in the United Kingdom costs the taxpayers £2 Billion every year.

For the many thousands of people from across the world who visit my blog each week, housing benefit in the UK is described here .... and here.

It was David Cameron that believes the £2 Billion annual cost to be a scandal, I agree with him, but for very different reasons ...

To qualify for this benefit you will be either without work, or have a job with such low pay (full or part-time) that you will not survive without the taxpayers transferring part of their earnings through taxation.

No doubt there are those in society that abuse the system, but on reflection, industry has a need to answer the allegation that they abuse their employees by paying wages that require benefits to exist.

Who commits the crime, the individual without the job needing a home for his or frequently her family, or those who created this world that imposes the need for taxpayers subsidy ?

David Cameron and S.B.S. ...

... (Spontaneous Bullshit Syndrome), it's the only explanation when he sends the kids back home ...

For the full story see the BBC report.

The scenario ....

Daughter (or son, delete as appropriate) leaves for college at 18 or so ...
... occasionally returns home for a break.

Graduates and moves to London, 1st job ...
... bedsit living, frequent trips home.

Meets "Kevin", trips home become less frequent ...
... meeting Kevin's parents this Christmas.

They moved into a flat together ...
... wow that was quick, I've a grandson.

Kevin lost his job ...
... I'm sure we'll find room for you both and the children.

After all, you are not 25 years old just yet ...

 The reality ...

When children leave home, they really do leave home.

 Can the electorate expect many more gems from our Prime Minister ...........

When you see an elephant ...

... on your doorstep, you know it's there .............

............. this elephant is bigger than Magna Carta, my guess is it will not go away until taxation is completely reformed so that all earnings made in the UK are taxed for the benefit of all those stakeholders in the UK ............. Mr. Cameron.

A small point, society is quite tired of a new aristocracy sitting on the shoulders of hard working people.


The 38-year tax backlog reported in today's (£) Times :

Alex Spence, Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester June 23 2012

 

Billions of pounds of potential revenue is tied up in more than 20,000 tax tribunal cases because the Government lacks the resources to deal with them promptly, tax experts have told The Times.

An internal estimate by Revenue and Customs claims that the backlog would take 38 years to clear at the present rate. Interviews with current and former Revenue staff, and lawyers and accountants who advise wealthy taxpayers, have portrayed a department that is struggling to cope with mounting pressure to stop big companies and the rich from avoiding their tax bills. The claims come after it was revealed this week that a host of wealthy people, including footballers, financiers and celebrities, continue to use avoidance schemes to reduce their income tax, despite HMRC increasingly challenging such arrangements.

One of Britain’s most successful businessmen is increasing the pressure today on the Government to produce a tax law that is fair for all. In an interview with The Times, the former chief executive of Tesco Sir Terry Leahy says that if there is unhappiness with the law “then the answer is to change the law”.

He also attacks the status of non-domiciles, who avoid paying full tax in this country by being registered abroad.

“There’s an insulated international group of people,” he says. “I’m slightly puzzled by the UK’s generous treatment of foreign residents. I’m for lower tax but I’d start with British citizens. Why should a non-British person have a better tax treatment from the British authorities than a British person?”

Among the concerns highlighted by the tax experts were:

• Some wealthy taxpayers whose arrangements have been challenged by HMRC are playing “hardball” in negotiations, in the expectation that the taxman will have to start making deals to clear unresolved cases;

• HMRC has a disproportionate number of senior staff close to retirement and not enough capable junior employees to replace them;

• Work by HMRC’s elite specialist investigations unit, which handles the toughest avoidance cases, has deteriorated in recent years, according to some sources;

• Staff cuts and defections have left HMRC with not enough fully-trained tax inspectors. Overall staff numbers are likely to fall to 55,000 by 2015, down from about 100,000 in 2005;

• Morale at HMRC is at rock-bottom, with staff frustrated about the lack of resources, pay freezes, cuts to their pensions and a lack of promotion opportunities. The Association of Revenue & Customs, which represents senior staff, claims that this is a “ticking timebomb” that could lead to a wave of defections to the private sector.

Industry and HMRC insiders said that the strain on resources was undermining progress in recent years on cutting evasion. Ian Hyde, a partner at the law firm Pinsent Masons, said: “HMRC is beset by poor morale, high staff turnover, budget cuts, and a lack of quality when it comes to training and knowledge.”

However, a senior source at HMRC blamed the tribunal system, rather than cuts, for undermining the fight against tax dodgers. “We can’t control the tribunal,” the official said. “It’s still finding its way. Two years ago they couldn’t find enough cases. Now apparently they’ve got a backlog.”

The Government committed an additional £917 million in funding during the 2010 spending review to tackle avoidance, evasion and criminal attacks on the tax system. But the Association of Revenue and Customs believes that this is not enough when the department overall is facing a 15 per cent budget cut.

The union has called for the Government to put aside another £260 million to create 250 new senior tax positions to tackle avoidance by large businesses; 400 to ensure compliance by employers; and 200 lawyers and legal support staff to help clear the backlog of legal disputes.

Gareth Hills, a spokesman for the union, said: “ARC members continue to deliver against a backdrop of HMRC resource cuts over many years and insufficient re-investment. We have been consistently arguing that without adequate investment HMRC will be forced to make compromises.”

Last month, the Public Accounts Committee said that said that the loss of 3,300 jobs in the compliance and enforcement functions of HMRC had resulted in £1.1 billion in potential tax revenue not being collected.

A spokesman for HMRC said: “We do believe that we are winning the war against avoidance. The £917 million made available to us as part of our 2010 spending settlement for tackling avoidance, evasion and fraud, is being used against the avoidance “industry’.” 

Observation .............

Britain’s tax system is straining under the weight of thousands of unresolved disputes between companies, rich individuals and Revenue & Customs. 

More than 20,000 cases are piled up in the tribunals and will take at least 38 years to clear at the current rate, resulting in billions of pounds in potential revenue sitting uncollected. The backlog is one of the starkest examples of how the Government’s crackdown on tax avoidance is being threatened by a lack of resources. 

Cynical  .............

One tax expert compares it to the chaotic passport queues at Heathrow. “Sooner or later they’re going to give in and just let people through,” he says.

Solution .............

Simplify the tax system so that no-one needs an accountant to pay taxes ............. and don't let anyone off paying their taxes, even if it does take 38 years.

Unexpected benefit ............. if David Cameron pushed such a system through parliament, he could take his place in history alongside the signatories of the Magna Carta.

In the 12th century ...

... it seems :

5% of the population fought wars.
5% of the population sought divine mercy, probably for those at war.

90% worked to support them.

In the 21st century little has changed :

10% of people are still supported by the 90%.

... and that's the dilemma for David Cameron and his government, how does he influence society to become fair and equitable without taking away from individuals the incentive to create the future. 

Uncivil ...

... civil servants, the story by Kathryn Cooper, Robin Henry and Georgia Graham of The Sunday Times :

Civil servants use company to cut their income tax to 2%

SENIOR civil servants could be benefiting from personal income tax rates as low as 2% using controversial pay deals that cost the country tens of millions of pounds in lost revenue.  Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, said last week his department had identified up to 2,000 officials who could be minimising tax because they are paid through companies or agencies, rather than the government payroll.

A Sunday Times investigation has found the use of these pay deals is widespread across government. In some cases companies can be used to reduce a personal tax bill to 2% a year compared with up to 50% if the individual were on the government payroll. The companies must also pay corporation tax, but the overall tax bill would still be about half that paid by a salaried employee.

Chris Savory, a consultant who was employed as an interim senior manager at the General Social Care Council (GSCC), is one of those who have benefited. He was paid a total of £222,000 by the GSCC through his company, Interim Public Finance Management, for his services from April 2010 to March 2011, on which corporation tax would have been paid. Accounts for the company show it lent him £58,636 that year.

It is common for company directors to take their pay as a loan because tax is paid at just 2% on the interest, compared with up to 42.5% if it is paid as a dividend and up to 50% if it is taken as salary. If a loan is outstanding after nine months it must be repaid or converted into a dividend — although accountants said there are ways round this. Savory confirmed he had been paid through his company and had taken a loan, but said it had been converted into a dividend in the tax year to April 2012. “I am not doing anything that isn’t perfectly legitimate within the rules,” he said.

Adam Morris, communications director at the Youth Justice Board until September 2010, was also paid through his personal service company. The board paid £62,128 to Adam Morris Communication for his services during 2010-11. The Youth Justice Board confirmed Morris had been paid “off payroll” and said it had sought assurances from his accountant that tax had been paid. In future, any civil servants on a contract of more than six months who earn more than £58,200 will have to prove they are paying income tax and National Insurance in full. However, The Sunday Times found that such agency contracts were common across government.

Stephen Park, appointed to the board of the Department for Communities and Local Government as interim finance director between March 2010 and January 2011, was paid £335,135 through an agency. Meanwhile, his own limited company, Ashley Interim Management, paid dividends of £130,000 for 2011 and £100,000 for the previous year.  The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) confirmed that at least three of its senior staff were employed through third parties in 2010-11. Jonathan Dodworth, interim finance director from May until October 2010, and David Clausen-Thue, his successor, were paid £236,183 and £160,516 respectively. A spokesman said: “These individuals were all contracted to the RPA on an interim basis while permanent staff were recruited.”

Ofwat, the water regulator, paid Rob Ashley, interim director of policy and communications between 2009 and 2011, £475,000 through an agency. He also has his own consultancy, Robert Ashley Ltd.

How are these practices condoned by the very same people who insist that those at the bottom of the food chain in Britain are pursued for economic crimes, because lets not mince words, these very uncivil servants are committing crimes against those who pay their very inflated wages.  If the current government were not spineless, these practices would be stamped out Tuesday morning.

How do you explain to the poor of Anglesey or the North East of England that they must continue to pay heavy taxes so that the scummy servants can benefit from their poverty ........ and lets not the last government led by the Labour Party get away without assigning responsibility, when did these crimes against the taxpayers begin ?

Well done The Sunday Times ...........

Yesterday the ...

... Prime Minister visited Edinburgh to discuss the forthcoming independence referendum, in a surprise move, he said in his speech that "Holyrood could be given more powers if Scotland votes no in the referendum". Salmond responded to this with "Where’s the beef?" (the answer might have been "under your chin fool"), the offer of a straight referendum on independence was clear, in response Salmond was reported by the Times as "being in the weeds making lots and lots of arguments about processology".

The most telling response of the day from Salmond was his "We’ve been through this before in Scottish politics. What’s the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" Scotland, I don’t believe, will be fooled twice", an appeal to those with short memories, for history is littered with success and failure from all quarters. 

Salmond also wants children in the voting booths, no doubt he and his loyal followers have calculated the effect that having 4 years worth of children schooled in the tales of  William Wallace, warrior of the First War of Scottish Independence hung drawn and quartered by Edward I (Longshanks), best not forget the highland clearances where Scots landlords cleared the lands of poor crofters.  Will teachers remember to tell of the flamboyant Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry who portrayed himself as the last genuine Highland Chief while his tenants were subjected to a process of relentless eviction (Robert Burns wrote a satirical poem about Glengarry in the Address of Beelzebub).

In response David Cameron might have repeated the call of the Japanese Satsuma clan who said "there is no history, history will start tomorrow", it wasn't an insult to who and what has gone before, rather a call to look forward to a future strong devolved union of equals, but very equal, peoples of Britain.

The growth of a strong feeling in the rest of Britain that the Union is tiresome to defend and expensive to maintain is something that the Prime Minister needs to counter reports the Times, at least part of his day was aimed in that direction, but the most difficult job for Cameron, say the political pundits, will be to prevent Salmond from successfully insisting that Scots be allowed to vote on further devolution at the same time as they vote on independence without coming across as a bully.

It's not really difficult, "devolution needs to become a level playing field with the fullest measures applied to all regions of Britain", how could the Scots disagree ..............

Peacocks, KPMG and an Indian ...

... textile and clothing company, the way forward for the Far East.

With the realisation that outsourcing the manufacturing of clothing and other textile products, to places such as India and China, is no longer the most effective (£link) and efficient method of production, what is happening behind closed doors at KMPG should come as no surprise to observers of economic trends.

As reported in todays Times ...

... to salvage Peacocks from administration (Marcus Leroux writes).  S Kumars Nationwide (SKNL), a textile and clothing manufacturer based in Mumbai, was last night locked in talks with the administrators KPMG. It is believed to be in the driving seat after interest faded from Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Alshair Fiyaz, a Pakistani clothing magnate. In 2009 SKNL, which turned over 51.8 billion rupees (£667 million) last year, bought Hartmarx Corporation, an occasional tailor to President Obama, and Emeresque Brands, a British investment vehicle.

KPMG refused to comment. 

...  following on from paragraph 2 ...

... the need to adapt quickly to changing fashions has prompted River Island to bring its manufacturing back to Britain.

The clothing chain, one of the country’s largest, said that rising labour costs in China were also making production in Britain more viable. It has increased the number of items produced at home by 50 per cent in the past 12 months and says that the changes have paid off.

Ben Lewis, the chief executive, said: "It has allowed us to get new fashion to our customers much quicker than we were able to, and as a result some of those products have become absolute best-sellers. We can get more of them and work closely with the factories."

The Far East recognises the symptoms and have come to Britain, not for the benefit of Britain, but to lock the British consumers into their production .....

..... does Cameron and our home grown Jones realise what is happening, there needs to be an incentive to encourage manufacturers to imitate River Island, zero business rates and a 10 year free corporation tax for returning "prodigal manufacturers", and similar for those that remained.

Both Cameron and Jones, between them, have the means to see the repatriation of manufacturing to Britain .......

If you build it, they will ...

... come to the market.

Two quiet reports have made the news, both should have been shouted from the rooftops of our various political houses, and surprise surprise, it is not just Westminster that is able to act, our very own Assembly is able to contribute to the solution and share considerable kudos with Westminster !

The first report relates to the governments (Westminster) intention to inject billions into the economy, with the proviso that each investment be sold onto various markets, energy, various infrastructure such as roads and hospitals, and the Coup de grâce is social housing.


The second report in today's Times by the country’s largest listed residential landlord "Grainger" that predicts the shortage of housing will force 50% of the population to rent by 2026.

One man's desperation is another man's opportunity, and this particular conundrum opens the door for Carwyn into Downing Street, not with a begging bowl, but with an opportunity to share in the finance bowl.  The intention is not to coerce businesses into building for the future, but for government to under-right projects that would then be sold on to those best fitted to finance and manage the ensuing business.

Carwyn is positioned to gain capital for much needed social housing, such projects do not have to be sold on to outfits such as Grainger, there would be sufficient time for existing social landlords local to the Principality, though in the larger scheme it wouldn't matter a jot as long as the peoples of Wales could live in good homes.

Whilst the "no vision" pundits bump their ...

... gums over at Wales Home regarding the Daily Mail, why would anyone read it, or when blinded by the vision of the China entrepreneurs revert to type and consider Wales of the 1890's, the BBC have published some really bad news for Wales ...

... the "get up and go" leadership of Westminster has announced 21 enterprise zones, some very close to home at Bristol, Birmingham and The Wirral near Liverpool, these close to home zones will compete for businesses and, just as important, people with skills that could be based in Wales.

How then might our WAG, and what a wag they tend to be at times, compete with the mighty Westminster, well our administration in Cardiff responded by saying ...

... it was looking at options and had received correspondence from a number of people regarding their potential structure and location ... furthermore ... It said Business Minister Edwina Hart would outline her policy when the assembly returns in September.

There we have it, our very own Edwina will work it out by September, ...

... a favourite of business men and women in Wales, not really, she is more like the grim reaper of commerce than saviour, having her well to the left socialist feet firmly on the Soviet side of the defunct Berlin Wall, precludes much dialogue with the men and women of ideas that can save the Welsh bacon.

I might have been better to have collaborated with Westminster, we might at least have moved from the "thinking about it" stage so favoured by our local administration and membership.

Rough justice for Richard Bowes, would zero tolerance have ...

...given him a longer life.

Should the rights of the majority who are law abiding citizens be curtailed because of the actions of the few, the very tiny minority who turn their back on society.

The word-smiths of Britain offer as an explanation for the recent mindless violence ...

• Welfare dependence
• Social exclusion
• Lack of fathers
• Spending cuts
• Weak policing
• Racism
• Gangsta rap and culture
• Consumerism
• Opportunism
• Technology and social networking

... the BBC link is here, it generated 1700 comments from the public.  It's psycho babble from those with more time on their hands than the majority who will recognise Richard Bowes by his constant willingness to stand up for that community against antisocial behaviour.

If the rioters represent one group at the margin of society, Mr Bowes belonged to another — solitary, private, but fiercely resistant to social disorder.

He lived in a flat above shops on Haven Green in central Ealing, and neighbours said he regularly remonstrated with youths who would urinate in the street after a night out drinking.

Detective Chief Inspector John McFarlane, who is leading the inquiry, said local officers had witnessed the attack but were powerless to help as rioters bombarded them with bricks. “There was some suggestion he was attacked because he was stamping out fires that had been started,” he said.
The Times 12 Aug 2011

... and the statement by the police officer who admits the police failed to protect Richard Bowes, probably holds the key to why this man was murdered by the rioters, they had allowed the criminal activity to the point that they were suppressed by the rioters.  The police had become subordinate to the lawlessness.

The death of Richard Bowes is a testament to those that would look for excuses for lawlessness, it would be a better testament if a permanent solution were put in place throughout the UK ...

"Zero Tollerance"

Why should you or I be forced to tolerate any ant-social or criminal activity, the fact that a perpetrator didn't have access to the latest must have gadget is irrelevant, many millions of people unable to afford a BlackBerry or latest gaming machine do not go out onto the streets of Britain and make a nuisance of themselves to others.

The turgid word-smiths of the regions call the riots the "English disease", to the pathetic of Scotland and Wales I would ask them to look around their streets for symptoms of this particular disease, if you look you will find it, it is everywhere.  The riots were a manifestation of a culture so long ignored, a culture of "ME", a culture where people are expected to look the other way, a culture that emasculated the police, the courts and prisons.

Is there a place in Britain for the lawlessness that burnt neighbourhoods to the ground, the rioting and indiscriminate violence, I don't think so, and believe a certain answer lies with ...

"Zero Tolerance"

... why should anybody have to put up with people making their life a misery, and if you look under the carpet we call society there are not that many who should be excluded from society permanently and kept under the miserable conditions they expect us to tolerate.

It's time to take stock of what the public should be able to expect from society Mr Cameron and chums, chums of all political persuasions.

Well David, what about Cheryl ...

... and her assumed posture of angry defiance !

Recently a internal vacancy came about at the place I work, there were four candidates.  One candidate told me that if the job wasn't given to him he would leave.  After a series of interviews, during which consideration was given to his attempt at coercion, he wasn't chosen and he subsequently submitted his notice to leave, Friday is his last day.

At Westminster you have a similar dilemma, our Secretary of State for Wales has publicly stated that if she is not given a free vote she will resign the whip, its the case of the High-speed rail project that will link London to Birmingham and on to Manchester and Leeds, fair enough, she was elected by the people of the Chilterns, and like "Nimbys" the world over the people of the Chilterns would prefer it if the project passed through the backyards of someone else.

But she has made an attempt to coerce the government.

Ministers are reported to have said "It is about bringing the United Kingdom together. It is about closing the North-South gap and stimulating economic growth, a 21st-century infrastructure for a 21st-century country."  Not just a speed issue, but a socio-economic project to link those parts of Britain that will stimulate regional economies, Wales included if our local politicians are correct.

The local political voices around Cardiff Bay have been crass in their opposition to Cheryl Gillan because her constituency is not in Wales, I don't think it matters personally, after all Wales is Britain and Britain is Wales, anybody from any-part can be the Secretary of State for Wales as long as they have the necessary political skills, civil servants do the rest.

But back to Cheryl (do what I ask or I will cross the floor) Gillan, I'm sorry David, but if you do not let her go now the message you will send to the electorate will be a message of weakness, that's not why you were elected, if we wanted weak we could have voted for the Miliband tribe.

It's nothing to do with the rights or wrongs of the High Speed train, that's for debate, it's all about who is in charge.

If she is not with you she is agin you, you should do as we did, let her go, you see, we marked our employee down because he was a bully in waiting, how are you going to mark Cheryl ?