Google boss Eric Schmidt defended the way his company and others have paid so little tax on such very substantial profits by stating: All of us are operating in a very, very longstanding tax regime which was set up for various reasons that don’t necessarily make sense to me or anyone else. But they are […]
wealth
Chris Huhne Speeding To A Prison Cell
Yesterday, ex-senior politician Chris Huhne and his charmingly vengeful ex-wife, Vicky Pryce, were finally sentenced to a term in prison; it seems very unlikely they will be sharing a cell. What started off as a simple motoring offence, ten years ago, led to public humiliation, the further break up of a family, and a cost […]
Moral Multi-Nationals, Politicians and Tax
When politicians use the word ‘moral’, the hairs on the back of my neck start tingling and I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. And so it was when Margaret Hodge MP told executives from Starbucks, Amazon and Google: There is a growing anger among ordinary people who pay their taxes […]
Parliament, Tired MPs And A Four Day Week
Hands up all those who haven’t yet realised we, as a country, are in the greatest financial mess we have experienced for decades. Hands up all those who haven’t been slightly rankled by politicians preaching we all need to pull together in our ‘Big Society’ and work longer hours for less money. Hands up all […]
Chancellor Suspends Fuel Tax Rise But…
The chancellor’s announcement, that he is suspending his planned 3p-per-litre fuel tax increase was a welcome U-turn along his road to austerity. Despite the reduced forecourt prices of the last few weeks, its implementation would still have had a huge impact on both businesses and individuals alike. Chancellor Osborne has stated publicly he has done […]
Is Cameron Trying To Benefit From Benefits?
I really didn’t want to like what prime minister David Cameron said yesterday about the need for benefit reforms but the more I read, the more I was surprised to find myself agreeing with some of his reasoning. Normally when a member of this government starts talking ‘benefits’, it is to paint a bleak picture […]
Queen’s Jubilee Is It A Celebration Of Being ‘Owned’?
While walking to work the other morning, I overheard a snippet of conversation between a mother and her two young children. The children, aged about 7, were expressing their concern over being late for school and the mother replied by saying: “the teacher doesn’t own you; I own you”. At first, I smiled to myself […]
Not Many New Friends Are ‘Liking’ Facebook
If something sounds too good to be true, then it normally is, which segues nicely to the sale of shares in social networking site Facebook exactly a week ago. The internet is a mystery to many of us but if there is one thing that has been proved since its inception, it’s that a fool […]
Pensioning Off Our Right To Retire…!
The Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has unveiled details of his plan for reform to the welfare system. While he is correct that the present system is ridiculously complicated and needs simplifying, he is wrong in his assumption that most people want to stay in work indefinitely. He claims that most people want […]
A Long Time Resting…..
It’s been almost two months since I’ve posted on here and I am ashamed of myself; I needed a break. I’ve also been testing new technologies to make my writing life easier but somehow I never got re-started. A lot has happened in the world in the time I have been away and if I […]