Wednesday 6 April 2016

Events, eh? They Just Keep Coming

As you've probably gathered, 3 of the 4 of us Capitalists are in foreign parts just now leaving BE to keep y'all thoroughly engaged.  And isn't it always the way: when you're out of town, the Events come piling in.

Cameron has long predicted the next big scandal would be over lobbying: he obviously didn't reckon on a special Panamanian episode of Family Fortunes.  It can't directly be spun for or against the EU, but indirectly it's a corker for the general mid-term anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-everything sentiment that will give Brexit its best shot (and probably Sadiq Khan as well).

Ah well, shoulders to the wheel to try and put paid to the latter.  But that's for next week - when I'm back from hols.

ND

18 comments:

MyHalfTermName said...

At the moment, I wouldnt be surprised to see a picture of Cameron letting the air out of someones wheelchair tyres.

He's a goner regardless of the June outcome.

The 'In' crowd really need to get their shit together.

DtP said...

I know we all think of Cameron as, well, a bit of a dimwit. But is there any mileage, not so much in these Panama papers, but in the general air of incompetence that seems to be permeating the shitegeist - is there any mileage in thinking this was planned to give the next guy a honeymoon?

Nah, probably not but I wouldn't put it past them. Hmm...

Blue Eyes said...

Not sure I understand why Cameron is being criticised over this. As far as we know he didn't hide any money. If his dad did, well that was stupid. But only really stupid if Dave knew that his dad had done it...

Having said that, how comfortable for Jezza to be able to say Well I only earn what I earn as an MP. Wasn't Jez-pater also quite wealthy?

I don't know.

What I do know is that if the coalition and Tory governments had made some move towards tax simplification then Dave and George could at least say "we're trying to make avoidance harder and less necessary"!

Apparently you can buy a small island in Panama for less than a grotty flat in inner London. Seeya!

Electro-Kevin said...

Cameron is a have-your-cake-and-eat-it Blairist social capitalist.

I don't mind his family being involved in tax avoidance but then demanding that there is equality through through the wealth redistribution of those far more modestly endowed and who have been unable to avoid tax on their legacies...

I've never resented the rich looking after their own interests.

However, I loathe the rich, patronising luvvies' treatment of little people, "Right. You have to give your money to him." and this Tory government is as obsessed with equality (rather than fairness) as any left wing one.

Anonymous said...

Evasion and avoidance?

I can't and don't particularly blame people for wanting to keep a few more quid and if it is legal then good luck to them. However, if they work in and are paid from taxpayer coffers - the public sector and attempt to offshore their stipends - then, the hounds of hell should be let loose upon them, because that's taking the piss thrice, overpaid no pressure non job with, full pension rights and then tagging on tax avoidance - come on.

What I cannot do with is, the inequity and onerous way the small guy is slammed by HMRC and the impression often given, observed that, the big boys/girls - whether it is snorting whizz in Boujis, Stringfeatures or off shoring ill gotten gains. Do, the big fish and seemingly blithely, impervious (paid off?) to the attention of the HMRC!
Alas, for the little man..... well, he suffers the slings and lead weights no measure and full force of outsized boot of ill fortune.

Steven_L said...

All I've gleaned from this is that Mr Cameron snr wasn't just a 'stockbroker' as we are always told, he appears to have been a 'fund manager' too. Big deal. Is anyone surprised lots of foreign people we tend to call 'kleptocrats' have been 'at it'?

Also I'd imagine if Cameron or Blair or any other PM or ex-PM wanted a secret bank account they'd simply approach the Cabinet Secretary and have one set up by the British government for them using similar arrangements the royals, or MI5 (or even CID or the local council) would have with trusted British institutions.

Blue Eyes said...

Anon, I think most people are with you on that. Nobody likes paying tax, but people with simple finances seem to attract attention beyond their importance to the tax system. I was attacked by HMRC a few years ago and they demanded £x thousand under Section xyz(23) and after five minutes Googling I refuted the whole thing under Section xyz(24). Literally the next subsection explained in black-and-white that the liability they accused me of did not arise.

Twats.

And yet if you have enough money to hire good advisors then it appears that you can do all sorts of interesting stuff.

I don't know what the answer is, but it is getting more pressing.

Steven_L said...

The answer is to get rid of all the silly tax tribunals and put tax evaders before a jury. If a Radio One DJ fills out his tax return declaring he is a used car salesman then let a jury decide if he is dishonestly misrepresenting himself to the revenue.

Thud said...

EK, my thoughts exactly.

Anonymous said...

@Steven_L

A peoples' tax and a peoples' jury....

You are Jezza and I claim my £5

Steven_L said...

Anon - if you are accused of defrauding the government in any way other than tax - welfare, procurement, on the job embezzlement etc - your guilt is decided upon by a jury.

So why not for tax? The minimum threshold for conviction by jury is 10 out of 12 people, or over 80% of your peers.

Anonymous said...
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Jan said...

If the question is did DC benefit from his father's offshore tax haven then the answer must be yes as he had a private education at the top public school followed by Oxford none of which comes cheap. He would have been too young to understand where the money came from at that time but he still bebefitted and your average pleb without such access to funding did not.

hovis said...

"Laws are like spiders’ webs, they hold the weak and delicate who are caught in their meshes, but are torn to pieces by the rich and powerful. - Anacharsis

Steven_L said...

If the question is did DC benefit from his father's offshore tax haven then the answer must be yes as he had a private education at the top public school followed by Oxford none of which comes cheap

You're wrong his Oxford fee would have been paid for by the exchequer and he would have pretty much finished Eton by the time capital controls were lifted and the fund was established.

There are lots of 'offshore' funds available to everyone, via ISA's, SIPP's and trading accounts through all the various fund supermarkets. Just because you have units in an offshore trust doesn't mean you aren't liable for UK taxes you know.

As I understand it, you have to be a 'non-dom' or take advantage of the '90 day rule' to not be liable for UK taxes on foreign earnings. There is no suggestion Cameron Jnr or Snr are or were 'non-doms'

Did Cameron Snr gift Cameron jnr lots of money tax free? Most probably, but then my old man has gifted me money from time to time too, although regretably nowhere near as much!

The sorts of people that invest in these 'offshore' funds to 'avoid' UK taxes are people with non-UK earnings - i.e. oil and gas workers in the middle east, authors who get royalties globally etc

I'm really not a member of the David Cameron fan club, but the level of incredulity surrounding the 'revelation' that a fund manager has been named on some fund management paperwork is really telling of just how ignorant people have become.

Anonymous said...

Very odd, this Panama data. Apparently not a single American except Swiss resident Tina Turner.

Anonymous said...
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