No one can make you feel inferior without your consent ...

wrote Calum when he left a comment at Gerry Hassan .

Hassan is of course talking down Westminster to talk up Holyrood. 

Everything bad that has dropped into Scotland is of course the responsibility of Westminster, whilst everything that is good is conveniently ignored, well that's the preferred option of the separatist agenda in Scotland, a similar programme of attrition is a constant state in Wales, our First Minister must cry into his cocoa at night trying to juggle his loyalty to both the Welsh Assembly and Westminster, because for sure, Westminster has been at the birthing of many good attempts to level society.  The scorn Hassan throws at Westminster is equal to the scorn thrown by those opposed to separation, and the upshot is, both campaigns are in fact negative despite attempts by the SNP to project a brave new world that would surely follow separation.

There should be no doubt that Scotland could separate, and, from day one, function as a new state; at a domestic level pensions would be paid, people would continue to work and pay taxes, oil revenue would underpin a proportion of government spending, just as it does today. 

Internationally there is no certainty, no guarantee the early entry to the EU would happen, no automatic invitation to join NATO, in fact it is only politicians that wish to belong to such clubs, for sure, they are political clubs for political animals, the reality is it wouldn't matter, not on day one, not for many years, so discourse on international matters are blue smoke and mirrors, to what end only the SNP and the separatist agenda understands.

So if everything functions domestically, what will change for the little people, the people with little influence except maybe on polling day ?

Alex Salmond speaks of taking decisions for Scotland in Scotland by people who only consider Scottish issues (international and domestic), a clever tack for a stumbling campaign, but will the outcomes be any different.

Nothing will change, real decisions will be taken by people beyond the reach of Holyrood; do the cogs of Holyrood know exactly who the decision makers effecting Scotland are? When Scotland votes next year, many people will hope for a "yes" result, myself included, because a "no" vote will be nothing but a postponement for a future separation.

In the grand scheme of things ...

Two individuals may both believe that many of those around them are poor and deserve help, but this knowledge may lead only one of them to decide to actually help the poor (Kierkegaard). 

 ... in the world today politics has created the "deserving poor" and the "undeserving poor", next September nothing will change, except a yes vote will empower Scottish politicians to decide who are deserving poor (or otherwise) in Scotland.

To have and to hold in Wales, ...

... but not as much as in Scotland or Ireland:

Westminster plans to spend an extra £531 million in Scotland this year, boosting that department’s Expenditure Limit by nearly 2%. It plans to spend an extra £327 m in Northern Ireland, boosting the Limit by 3%. It plans another £107m in Wales, a rise of 0.7%.

Two questions ....

...why is Wales receiving a disproportionate increase compared with Scotland, proportionately the amount should be £189 million (per head of populatin ?

more importantly ....

... why the extra spending at all when so many have tightened their belt in the extreme ?

... I wonder how Jack would read this ?
 

Language dilemma for ...

... Meri Huws the Welsh Language Commissioner.

Westminster has decreed that EU doctors coming to work in the UK from April will have their language and communication skills tested by nominated senior doctors.

In Wales we have the Office of Language Commissioner who may do anything she (currently female) considers appropriate to:

• Promote the use of Welsh
• Facilitate the use of Welsh
• Work towards ensuring that the Welsh language will be treated as equally as English.

This includes promoting opportunities to use Welsh and encourage best practice in the use of Welsh by people dealing with other persons, or providing services to other persons; a recent Investigation report published into the implementation of Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board’s Welsh Language Scheme (NHS in Wales).

The difficulty I envisage is satisfying the commissioner and the public in need of the NHS in Wales, as all our doctors are registered with The General Medical Council (charity registered in England
GMC0002 and Wales (1089278) and Scotland (SC037750)) and as there is no requirement for language skills other than English ...

... what is the point of our Welsh Language Commissioner.

A tale of two statements ...

... from across a political divide:

First we have ...

... vision of a standard national exam system will ensure that qualifications are only awarded to students with appropriate levels of literacy and numeracy. This change can deliver fairness and transparency, which is what our education system desperately needs.

... then there is ...

... should be a test of the ability of pupils rather than of their teachers, assessing independence of thought and response rather than be a regurgitation of prepared answers, and that it should develop scholarship and curiosity.

The first from the separatist agenda of Plaid Cymru the second in support of the Conservatives at Westminster ....

No difference, would there be a difference if Plaid took Wales to independence, I don't thinks, it would be "same crap just a different day" .............

Wiki Jimmy Wales versus Westminster ...

... in the battle for the moral high ground.

The Guardian article by Alan Travis, home affairs editor can be read here so you can make up your own mind.

Myself, the civil-servants and their very dim politicians behind the proposals are full of the proverbial, the information that can be gained that is so powerful has little to do with solving crimes, it is to do with profiling ...

... what value to the unelected civil servants and other string pullers being able to profile political puppets of the future ?

... the United Kingdom's (government) "snooper's charter" is a blackmailers dream, in 20 years the British public could be reduced to servitude because few politicians will be cast in the mould of Joan of Arc, where will be the activist when secrets are published.

Jimmy "the High Plains Drifter" Wales wins the argument for me, but I'm afraid with politics so full of career politicians, who care for their personal future before the future of the electorate, the future is a future that will travel back in time to serfdom.


For the philosophers of the world ...

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, remember the mayonnaise jar & the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. 

They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. 

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded a unanimous 'yes. ‘The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. 

The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passion, if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. 

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. 

The sand is everything else, the small stuff. ‘If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. 

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. There will always be time for the small stuff. Take care of the golf balls first the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand. 

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked. 'The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

WAG, delusion or deceitful or just ...

... plain incompetent, it's a question to ponder.

Devolution is very simple when the rules are followed, and although there are many aspects to devolution in Wales, there is a simple fundamental rule for Carwyn Jones and Co, devolution has distinctive bounds ...

"The Government of Wales Act is clear that the assembly cannot legislate to modify the functions of a minister of the crown without their consent, unless such a modification is consequential or incidental to other provisions in the Bill."

...in simple English, Cardiff Bay cannot legislate Westminster out of Wales, no-matter how seemingly inconsequentially, without the approval of Westminster.

So what's it all about ?

Carwyn and Co, and the company is the whole assembly, voted to pass the Bill that is said to "tidy up and streamline the way council bye-laws in Wales are made", it all happened on 3 July with no members objecting.  The link and the link.

That seems straightforward, except it cuts out of the local government loop the Secretary of State (SoS) for Wales, it has modified the functions of the Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan.  So has WAG been delusion or deceitful or just plain incompetent, there can be very little doubt that the Assembly members collectively are pupils before the headteacher whilst the SoS exists, they have an obligation by virtue of the conditions of Government of Wales Act 2006 to protect her ( it could very well be a him in the near future ) very existence. 

So did this very Welsh Assembly decide behind closed doors with its very secret civil servants to attempt the removal of the SoS from part of Civic Wales by stealth ?

I'm inclined to believe so, Carwyn and Co have tried to disfranchise the SoS of a function, this would have been the very thin end of a democratic wedge, a precedent that future legislation could build upon to divest Wales of the links to Westminster by stealth.

The rules of engagement are changing, it is a short journey from stealth to deception ... neither of which produces Justice for the little people no-matter where they exist.  If the Assembly and its administration at Cardiff Bay wish to cut the links to Westminster the question should be put to the electorate ...

Do you want independence, Yes or No.

... else the Assembly should draw in its neck and stick to the rules that the peoples of Wales have approved through their endorsement at the ballot box.

Returning to the question ...

... delusion or deceitful or just plain incompetent

I'll leave you to decide ....

Sour grapes or ...

... the reason we produce such poor leaders.

Are too many of our Olympic athletes from private schools, as the prime minister suggested last week? Only about 7% of British children attend independent schools — whereas one third of the British Olympic team was privately educated.

However, this figure looks positively egalitarian when you compare it with the percentage of Cameron’s cabinet ministers who went to private school (67%), or judges (70%) or the chief executives of big businesses (54%) or journalists (54%). It seems a bit rich to pick on the athletes.

Rod Liddle The Sunday Times

It seems that by ignoring the 93% we are failing to raise our game at every turn ...

... our cabinet ministers (don't ignore the last government) seem devoid of morality and logic.
... our Judges sit in judgement over a system that is weighed against the little person.
... Big Business, banks that collude, where are the judges, you and I would be in prison if we did similar.
... journalist, so much to say, so little time, why are you not calling these wastrels to account.

Is there a John Ball out there, we promise not to let them hang you ...........

How can we expect the UK to do well when the vast majority in the game of life we cherish are put to one side in perpetual game of chance with dice so corrupt ...

...a different pair of dice for those born outside the walls of privilege, a dice that tells the user ...

You Loose

The FBI will heed the ...

... man within, "one's conscience", whilst the British Government will sit on its hands and fail the people from all over the world.

Guided by its very un-civil service, government breasts will be beaten, sackcloth and ashes worn as a public display of contriteness by bankers, but at the end of this sorry affair unless the police arrest those responsible for fixing the LIBOR rates, and those who supervised the fixing, and those who turned a blind eye to the activities of these thieves.

... and those at the very top, nothing will change !  They rely on false compliance ...

Compliance is much more about giving senior management, and the regulators where they exist, cover from culpability than rooting out bad behaviour. “We did our best, the right boxes were ticked, how could we know?” they are able to say.

... that is not compliance, its a comfort blanket for the complicit.

We need rendition of every one of those involved in this scandal, to the only commonwealth that has both the will and the teeth to send a message of worth to the bankers throughout the world that there is "nowhere to hide".  To do this Britain need Uncle Sam like never before.

And because the British Government is a gutless body when addressing issues of morality and ethics amongst its own, and for Bankers read the Bank of England read British Government (of every flavour), people turn to the champion of law and order in the USA, the FBI.  It is time to repay those little people who rarely ask for favours, help clean this cesspit of banking criminal who laugh at the law, people without a conscience, people who cheated every little person with a bank account ...

... and in Europe ... France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, and the other countries that have banking links with London, you have been affected by the scum of LIBOR, its time the call to fix this scandal of morality and ethics was pan-European ......

Every Brit needs the FBI, because ...

... our Government is not going to remove banking criminals from society, prosecute them, and place them behind bars, as an example to others that crime will not pay, for at least 30 years.

The Sunday Times writers Iain Dey, Oliver Shah and Karl West write today ...

FBI probes Barclays rates traders.

Libor scandal widens as Americans pursue criminal investigations and RBS sacks 10 dealers linked to plot.

FOURTEEN Barclays traders at the centre of the global market-fixing scandal are being investigated by the FBI, America’s top criminal investigation agency. 

Agents at the FBI’s Washington headquarters are conducting an inquiry into the group accused last week by regulators of conspiring to rig international interest rates. 

Barclays was last week fined £290m by regulators in America and Britain after admitting its role in fixing the rates at which banks lend to each other — known as Libor and Euribor — between 2005 and 2009. 

Although the settlement deal ensures the bank is no longer under investigation, the agreement did not extend to the unnamed traders - who are believed to have been based mostly in London and New York. 

The Serious Fraud Office is also conducting an inquiry into the individuals. However, senior financial investigators said that the Americans have greater scope to bring a case to court. The FBI could attempt to extradite any Britons involved in the affair to America if it finds there is a case to answer.
The Libor-rigging investigation extends to 20 of the world’s biggest banks, including Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group are also involved.
Regulators and criminal investigators on three continents are examining traders’ activities. RBS has fired about 10 staff as a result. Dozens of bankers at other institutions have been sacked or suspended.
Libor and Euribor are the benchmark rates used to price more than £300 trillion of financial products, from credit cards and mortgages to complex financial derivatives. 

In the run- up to the financial crisis, traders are said to have attempted to manipulate the rates to boost their bonuses or protect their jobs. At the peak of the financial crisis, they artificially lowered rates to disguise the stress on the banks’ balance sheets. 

Barclays is the first bank to strike a deal in an attempt to bring an end to the affair. It blew the whistle on its own traders and agreed to settle at an early stage in exchange for a 30% cut in financial punishment. 

The revelations have left Barclays’ chief executive, Bob Diamond, fighting for his job and provoked fresh anger about City greed. David Cameron called for senior bankers to “take responsibility for the actions” while Vince Cable, the business secretary, said the nation needed to clean up “a massive cesspit in the banking system”. 

Demands are mounting for a full public inquiry into banking ethics and standards. Diamond and Marcus Agius, chairman of Barclays, will face the Commons’ Treasury committee this week. Diamond is expected to push blame towards other banks — and the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the regulator. 

Barclays executives raised concerns about potential manipulation of Libor four years ago, at the peak of the financial crisis. Documents released by the FSA last week quote emails from the bank’s staff stating that the regulator believed manipulating Libor “seems sensible” given the extreme stresses in the financial markets at the time. 

According to the FSA last week, the bank’s submitters — staff who compiled its borrowing rates — thought the Bank of England condoned the practice of tweaking the numbers downwards. This was because of a misunderstanding as senior management passed commands down, the FSA said.
It is unclear how much Diamond knew at the time. Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury committee, is expected to focus on this in his questioning. 

Several Barclays investors rallied to Diamond’s defence. One top 20 shareholder said: “By the time this chapter of history is written, I suspect there will be other banks that will have got far bigger fines.”
Diamond is “still sufficiently critical to the running of large swaths of this business that to throw him overboard would be to the detriment of shareholders”, the investor added. 

Agius is also under pressure to resign. Some shareholders are still upset with his handling of a row over a £ 5.7m payment to Diamond to cover a tax bill. Investors will not push for his exit immediately to avoid destabilising the bank further. 

Some shareholders are said to want Agius to be replaced by Sir Mike Rake, BT’s chairman and Barclays’ senior independent director. 

Chuka Umunna, shadow business secretary, urged Agius to quit as chairman of the British Bankers’ Association, which compiles Libor. Bob Diamond is Britain’s most hated banker. If the rankings were ever in doubt, the tsunami of opprobrium that washed over the Barclays chief executive last week confirmed his status as public enemy No1.

A big thank you to the FBI ... you might like to make an application to extradite the scum today lest they disappear from the radar, and you need to question the men and women at the top of the fraudulent banking organisations !

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 ....

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.

Does Wales have a Plague Party ...

... in waiting, waiting for that crisis that will send the electorate over the edge into "a plague on all your houses" state of mind.

Today's (£/$) Times has an analysis of Greece where Bill Emmott writes that he would vote for the Greek Plague Party (real name Syriza), Alexis Tsipras, the young head of Greece’s Plague Party (Syriza), says that he intends to call the Germans’ to demand better terms on the financial rescue loan and so stay in the euro.  Angela Merkel is going to agree to that, particularly as she has her own plague party snapping at her heals, in Germany it is called the Pirate Party.

The commonality between Syriza and the Pirate Party seems to be a frustration born out of austerity and disconnected politicians, the aftermath of a decade or more where everybody maxed out on their finances including governments, a frustration that doesn't see any end in sight.  In Wales we have the unusual circumstance that in the face of national austerity, we have a regional administration diametrically opposed to the Westminster administration which has been dealt the most uncomfortable hand of political cards, no opportunity for a plague in Cardiff Bay.

I'm sure that our separatist party in Wales would welcome an opportunity to wear the plague party mantel if it thought it could tip the electorate over its edge into independence mode, Alex Salmond has managed a scottish pseudo plague party that might just succeed, but in Wales the commonality is we can always combine to create an opposition to Westminster, we create temporary plague parties at the drop of a hat by combining the unconventional.

For Greece its Plague Party could begin a domino effect upon the Euro where the European underbelly jumps ship, in Germany its Pirate Party is nudging the electorate to ask the question "do we need to share our prosperity with the rest of Europe?"  If I were a banker I would be dumping the Euro, if I were a industrial leader I would be looking for opportunities elsewhere, if I were the UK government I would probably be making preparations for opposition.

In Wales UKIP is probably the party in residence to take up the "Plague Party" mantel, not Plaid Cymru, UKIP can appeal across politics left to right, and there is nothing in its constitution to cause undue concern to the electorate ........ after a crisis everything would return to normal ...

... what's normal in Wales ?

Abu Qatada, next stop ...

... Jordan ...

... as a panel of five judges rejected Qatada's bid to have his appeal heard by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, but ruled his application was made in time, a spokesman for the Council of Europe, which runs the court, said.

The decision by the panel of five judges means Home Secretary Theresa May was wrong when she claimed the three-month appeal deadline from the court's original decision on January 17 expired on the night of April 16.

Qatada's lawyers lodged his appeal late on the night of April 17, which the judges ruled was in time.

A spokesman for the court said: "The panel found that the request had been submitted within the three-month time limit for such requests.

"However, it considered that the request should be refused." 

Mrs May is now likely to refuse any application by Qatada's lawyers to revoke his deportation order and he could be on a plane within weeks. 

 ....... so what are you waiting for Mrs May, shape up and get Qatada shipped out !

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 ...........

UK Chancellor George Osborne ...

 ... is right to rejects Europe’s "idiotic" banking deal, a Times report shared below ...

Britain’s relationship with Brussels took another hit last night after George Osborne refused to sign up to watered-down capital requirements for banks that he said could make him “look like an idiot”.

The Chancellor’s comments came as European finance ministers attempted to reach agreement on how to implement Basel III rules that require banks to raise their core tier one capital — a measure of financial strength — to 7 per cent by 2019. Mr Osborne wants to toughen up the EU’S interpretation of the rules, which he says could include loopholes to let some banks in Europe sidestep capital buffer levels. He also wants the freedom to impose higher capital buffers without the need for European permission in order to avoid another financial crisis.

“We are not implementing the Basel agreement, as anyone who will look at this text will be able to tell you,” he said. “I am not prepared to go out there and say something that is going to make me look like an idiot five minutes later.

“People will listen to what I say . . . I represent the largest financial centre in Europe. You have got to allow me to sit down and go through the issues. You have not done that.”

The bad-tempered exchange comes months after David Cameron vetoed a European Union fiscal treaty. 

Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner in charge of financial regulation, suggested that Mr Osborne was looking for an effective opt-out with a proposal that would let Britain impose higher capital ratios than elsewhere in Europe.

Some on the Continent are worried that higher capital levels in Britain could put European institutions at a disadvantage because deposits and other business may be attracted to the UK if it was perceived by investors as being safer.

Mr Osborne rejected Mr Barnier’s theory. “I am not asking for some UK carve out. I will not be painted as somehow anti-european, demanding something especially for London,” he said.

One compromise that was offered suggested that Britain and Sweden, which also has a big financial sector relative to its overall economy, would have the option to tack on a capital buffer, but EU constraints on the decision making would remain. ........... in full £here

My preference is for a stronger banking system that is never again too big to fail and is viewed by the world as first rate, no compromises with the EU please Osborne, just look at the mess they created with the failing Euro.

... web monitoring plans, well if you want my emails you only had to ask !

The Liberal Democratic poltroon Tim Farron has said he "would kill plans" for more monitoring of emails and internet use if they were not watered down.  The man is his party president with a sense of importance larger than his rural life.

In fact the government (GCHQ) proposals are an indication of poor performance, change from an "Intelligence" organisation to a "fishing" fleet, it's the lazy way out and the majority of sane, honest British people know this.

To protest the massive invasion of privacy there is a way out sometimes called "Denial of Service".  It is where an organisation orchestrates a massive use of a particular web site to the extent the web site crashes in digital flames, I have a far more personal proposal ...

Copy the home secretary to each of the emails you send as a F(or)Y(our)I(information), I'm sure this would have the desired effect, just to make sure the point is not lost probably best to let her know all your thoughts, your every thoughts, you might even write extra thoughts consisting of local trivia to keep their attention,  ................

Theresa May (Home Secretary) mayt@parliament.uk 

Politicians don't really think through problems ............. send them your emails so the (not so) security services know your life is as humdrum as your neighbours, they can cross you off their "might be WANTED list".

And Liberal Democratic Tim Farron, I'm happy some other sucker has him as MP .......

Politics in wales ...

... is a little like the inside of a teenagers head !

Woolly, without substance or a credible plan, that moves in a circular manner ......

So where do you throw an idea, not an original idea, a borrowed idea from another part of the world that fills a very urgent need in "Business UK".

Do you share it with our regional political parties, our Welsh Assembly Government .........

... Labour in power, do we send a note or email to ( correspondence.edwina.hart@wales.gsi.gov.uk ) the Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science minister Edwina Hart Assembly Member ((MBE, OStJ, that's a fourth grade award that could match her political abilities, yes she has taken to adding her medals of honour); unfortunately this politician pays lip-service to the world of commerce, she is on record as proposing re-visiting the world of Karl Marks.  So Wales is sidestepped and off to Westminster we go.

After leaving the rarefied world of left wing Wales politics it comes as quite a shock to walk through doors to The Palace of Westminster, only to be met by a veritable wall of confusion, inside this confusion the hubris shown by the politicians of Westminster beggars belief, they constantly try to make sense of (British) life in order to impose its narrow political view on the peoples (of the United Kingdom), and most recently the government has failed at every turn because it was forced to compromise.

If politics fails, where next ?

Going right to where I began ...

... the Valley Orchard black mission figs, the Scharffen Berger chocolate or the organic garden mint, I chose each ingredient to compliment and enhance the natural goodness of Laloo's ® Goat's Milk Ice Cream.

... how would "Dai the Drag Bevan" (a work colleague from Swansea), a lifetime vegetarian, finance his Cwm Tawe (Swansea Valley) Goat's Milk Ice Cream Company, where would he go for finance that would fit in with the very seasonal nature of his idea ?

... he might consider  :

                                                ... to be continued !

... abolish the National Assembly?

Would that be right, should the British Government (Westminster) be able to abolish the Welsh Assembly and its associated government ?

Carwyn Jones thinks not (but what turkey ever votes for Christmas), are there circumstances that it is essential that Westminster is able to abolish the Assembly, after all,Wales is part of that greater Britain, it is part of a democratic whole.

If the governance of Wales became oppressive, or belligerent to the British Government Westminster should have the ability to close Cardiff Bay, much as Cardiff Bay closed democratic (unruly) Anglesey. 

If policing had been devolved, could WAG be trusted to cooperate across forces, would Carwyn have approved of the busing in of the police during the miners strike.

Of course VM has asked a vital question in this political dilemma .... do we have the calibre of leaders that we trust, or the institutions strong enough (Westminster aside) to hold Carwyn and chums to task, I doubt it very much.