Monthly Archives: October 2013

The Eurobond tax scandal: Channel Tunnel accused of ‘outrageous’ tax avoidance

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-eurobond-tax-scandal-channel-tunnel-accused-of–outrageous-tax-avoidance-8902452.html

pg-10-channel-tunnel-gettyThe costly Channel Tunnel rail link, Gatwick Airport and the disastrous M6 toll road are amongst the transport companies using a legal tax avoidance scheme which allows them to avoid millions in tax.

The revelations are the fifth part of a joint investigation by Corporate Watch and The Independent into the misuse of the quoted Eurobond exemption. Companies cut their UK taxable income by racking up interest on debt from their owners via the Channel Island Stock Exchange, then send the interest out of the UK tax-free. Without the exemption, 20 per cent of the payments could be deducted by HMRC, minimising the overall tax saving.

The transport companies using the scheme are: Midland Expressway, which runs the M6 Toll road, Gatwick Airport, Bristol Airport, Associated British Ports, which runs 21 ports across the UK, Peel Ports, which runs the Manchester Ship Canal and the Port of Liverpool, Forth Ports and High Speed 1.

The news that the expensive Channel Tunnel rail link – also known as HS1 – is among those avoiding tax comes after the Public Accounts Committee found it was already poor value for money. Their inquiry last year concluded its construction had generated billions of pounds in public debt, was “based on dodgy assumptions and bad planning” and had yet to prove it was value for money.

Committee chair Margaret Hodge MP said: “The taxpayer has been saddled with a bill of more than £10bn for HS1, a project which was originally supposed to pay for itself but has been riddled with costly mistakes. If a company that is benefiting from this level of taxpayer support is avoiding paying its own fair share of tax, that is simply outrageous.

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

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Continue ReadingThe Eurobond tax scandal: Channel Tunnel accused of ‘outrageous’ tax avoidance

Ex-Blair adviser linked to US healthcare giant is new NHS boss

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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/exblair-adviser-linked-to-us-healthcare-giant-is-new-nhs-boss-8899875.html

A former adviser to Tony Blair who has spent a decade at the top of an American private healthcare giant has been appointed to run the NHS in England.

Simon Stevens, the architect of Labour’s health reforms who left the UK in 2004 to take up a lucrative post at the American company UnitedHealth, was welcomed by the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, as a “reformer and an innovator”.

But his selection as chief executive of NHS England will raise concerns among critics who claim the NHS is being “softened up for privatisation”.

… one senior doctor told The Independent that the medical profession may view Mr Stevens with suspicion. “Clinicians will remember him as an architect of New Labour’s marketisation of the health service,” he said. “He was very pro the idea of opening up provision to multiple providers. He was keen on having competition as a lever in the NHS… Nicholson was seen as a centralist, very into the state. Stevens will be seen as the opposite. A lot of the profession, especially those committed to traditional NHS values will see this as a very different slant.”

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingEx-Blair adviser linked to US healthcare giant is new NHS boss

Angela Merkel’s call to Obama: are you bugging my mobile phone?

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/23/us-monitored-angela-merkel-german

Germany sees credible evidence of US monitoring of chancellor as NSA surveillance row intensifies

The furore over the scale of American mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden shifted to an incendiary new level on Wednesday evening when Angela Merkel of Germany called Barack Obama to demand explanations over reports that the US National Security Agency was monitoring her mobile phone.

Merkel was said by informed sources in Germany to be “livid” over the reports and convinced, on the basis of a German intelligence investigation, that the reports were utterly substantiated.

The German news weekly, Der Spiegel, reported an investigation by German intelligence, prompted by research from the magazine, that produced plausible information that Merkel’s mobile was targeted by the US eavesdropping agency. The German chancellor found the evidence substantial enough to call the White House and demand clarification.

The outrage in Berlin came days after President François Hollande of France also called the White House to confront Obama with reports that the NSA was targeting the private phone calls and text messages of millions of French people.

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Continue ReadingAngela Merkel’s call to Obama: are you bugging my mobile phone?

NHS watchdog concerned over care and safety at one in four hospitals

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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/24/nhs-watchdog-care-safety-hospitals-england

Care Quality Commission says performance at 44 out of 161 acute hospital trusts in England is cause for concern

Accident and emergency
Accident and emergency

One in four NHS hospitals is a cause for concern over the quality or safety of the care it provides to patients, the service’s statutory watchdog has warned.

In an analysis of all 161 acute hospital trusts in England that is the most comprehensive ever carried out, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) says it is worried about aspects of care at 44 (27.3%) of them.

Performance in some areas is so inadequate that it poses a risk or an elevated risk to patients.

The sheer number of hospitals about which the regulator is concerned dwarfs the 14 trusts that Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS’s medical director, investigated earlier this year. Eleven of those 14 were put into special measures as a result of inadequacies he uncovered.

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Eurobond tax scandal: David Cameron accused of dodging concerns over loophole that costs Treasury at least £500m a year

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eurobond-tax-scandal-david-cameron-accused-of-dodging-concerns-over-loophole-that-costs-treasury-at-least-500m-a-year-8899864.html

Prime Minister refuses to explain why he hasn’t stopped use of Eurobond exemption

cameronunhappyGETTYDavid Cameron’s attempts to “brush aside” legitimate concerns that the Government has not yet closed a legal tax loophole, which is losing the public purse at least £500m a year, have been condemned by MPs and campaigners.

When asked at Prime Minister’s Questions about revelations in The Independent that the Coalition had failed to stop the use of the quoted Eurobond exemption to avoid tax, Mr Cameron said decisions had been made by the Treasury and implied that was the end of it.

Shabana Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood and shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said: “It’s pretty shocking that David Cameron just brushed aside this important question. We’re talking about a loophole that costs us around half a billion a year, yet the Prime Minister arrogantly dismisses the issue. At a time when families are facing a cost-of-living crisis and the deficit is high, this isn’t good enough.”

She added: “David Cameron and George Osborne must explain why they decided not to close this loophole. And we need a government that takes tax avoidance seriously and is on the side of the majority of families and businesses who pay their fair share.”

The campaign group UK Uncut says it is now considering targeting the high-street chains highlighted in The Independent, which include Nando’s, Pizza Express, Café Rouge, BHS, Maplin, Office and Pets at Home. The companies all cut their taxable profits by borrowing at high interest from their owners through the Channel Islands Stock Exchange.

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingEurobond tax scandal: David Cameron accused of dodging concerns over loophole that costs Treasury at least £500m a year