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 ...........

Salmon(d) and Chocolate French toast, add ...

... school children and we have a minor crisis for another perfectly manufactured storm in that caledonian teacup we call Scotland.

First the vision of "jowls Salmond" and the French toast followed by the antipodean recipe, I wonder, could the toast be a precursor to Salmond's double chin ?

 

... by Bill Grange of the Times, his kick-start the day for 4 at breakfast.

Ingredients

3 eggs
185ml milk
1 tbsp caster sugar
Pinch of sea salt
20g unsalted butter
8 slices white bread
100g chocolate, milk or dark as prefered, chopped

Icing sugar, to serve

Method.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, caster sugar and salt in a large, shallow dish. Heat the butter in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat.

Dip two slices of the bread into the egg mixture, turning them over until they are completely coated. Put them in the frying pan and sprinkle each one with a quarter of the chopped chocolate. Soak another two slices of bread in the egg mixture and put on top of the chocolate bread in the pan to make sandwiches. Press lightly with a spatula to seal the edges.

Cook for 3 minutes each side or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and serve immediately, or keep warm while you make the other two sandwiches. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

The recipe is not to my taste, and neither is Salmond as he tries to pick the threadbare pockets of the British taxpayers ...

... his latest attempt is through public sector pensions, he raises the cost of pension schemes of NHS workers, police, teachers and fire-fighters in Scotland by refusing to increase employee contributions by 3.2 per cent starting in April 2012, this would be an additional cost to the Treasury of  £8.4 million a month.

Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, had warned the Scottish government that he would reduce its (Scottish) budget by £8.4 million a month if it (Salmond and chums) did not increase members’ contributions to public sector pension schemes from next April, in line with the rest of the UK.

The second ingredient in Salmond's storm is his proposal to extend the franchise for referendum in Scotland to children age 16 years and over as reported in yesterdays press:

A bold SNP initiative to extend voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds in a bid to gather support for independence is to be included in the Scottish government’s Referendum Bill.

The Times understands that UK ministers have effectively conceded defeat on the issue and have admitted they are powerless to stop the Scottish government lowering the franchise below the 18 age limit currently in place for UK and Scottish elections.

Alex Salmond is keen to lower the voting age for the independence referendum, aware that young Scots are generally much more enthusiastic about independence than their older counterparts. The First Minister wants a clause written into the Referendum Bill which would extend the franchise to those aged 16 and 17 on the electoral register, rather than just those aged 18 and over, as is the case with normal elections.

So there you have it, Salmond takes the initiative and creates another brick for his separatist wall, and in three years he will have up to 125,000 new voters added to the Scottish electorate, adding three per cent to the voters’ roll, all he needs to complete this particular strategy is an Xbox game entitled "William Wallace and The Bruce - the wars of Independence" to ensure the kids do it his way.

For the rest of Britain ...

... you can get your bunting from the Hampshire Flag Company in time for the ...

... farewell street party.