George Osborne

Hinkley Point: nuclear power plant gamble worries economic analysts

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http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/30/hinkley-point-nuclear-power-plant-uk-government-edf-underwrite

Liberum Capital analysts flabbergasted by UK government’s deal with EDF and decision to underwrite nuclear power station

Image of Hinkley PointThe government’s agreement to underwrite the Hinkley Point nuclear power station could turn out to be economically insane and hugely costly to consumers, City analysts have warned.

Analysts at Liberum Capital said the government’s deal with France’s EDF will make Hinkley Point the most expensive power station in the world with the longest construction period in the world.

The government gave the go-ahead last week for EDF to build the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset. Its two reactors will cost £8bn each and will provide power for about 60 years once it starts operating in 2023.

The energy secretary, Ed Davey, has made a huge bet that fossil fuel prices will rocket by the time Hinkley Point starts operating in [2023], Liberum’s Peter Atherton and Mulu Sun said in a report published on Wednesday.

They said: “The UK government is taking a massive bet that fossil fuel prices will be extremely high in the future. If that bet proves to be wrong then this contract will look economically insane when HPC commissions. We are frankly staggered that the UK government thinks it is appropriate to take such a bet and underwrite the economics of any power station that costs £5m per MW and takes nine years to build.”

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Inheritance figures reveal the stark inequality of Great Britain

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http://politics.co.uk/blogs/2013/10/29/inheritance-figures-reveal-the-stark-inequality-of-great-bri

Image of Victorian LondonOfficial figures for inheritance paint a depressing and completely unsurprising portrait of Great Britain – a place where the rich get richer and the poor get stigmatised.

The UK remains a country where those who least need it receive the most.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show 1.6 million adults (3.6% of the population) received an inheritance worth over £1,000 between 2008 and 2010. Half received less than £10,000, but one in ten received £125,000 or more.

In fact, the luckiest fifth recieved a total of £57 billion – that accounts for 76% of all inherited wealth during the period.

Who did it go to? No prizes for guessing.

Rates of inheritance were higher for individuals living in households which already had the highest levels of wealth, according to the ONS.

Those in the wealthiest fifth of households had an increased chance of receiving inheritance. Those in managerial – rather than routine – occupations had an increased chance of receiving inheritance. Those who owned their main property outright, rather than holding a mortgage, had an increased chance. White Brits had an increased chance compared to non-white Brits. Those whose parents were mortgage owners, rather than renters, had an increased chance.

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Socialist Revolution

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Sounds like Russel Brand’s on the right lines there. [29/10/13 Apologies, that should be Russell Brand.]

I used to call for revo ….

I had considerations for democracy ~ and after contemplation decided that contemporary UK democracy is an illusion. There is the illusion of three main parties while they are all PPE scum.

Edit: I should perhaps at least explain myself better. Let’s start with ~ There is absolutely no difference between the leaders of the three main UK political parties – David Cameron of the Conservatives, Nick Clegg of the Conservative Liberal Democrats and Ed Miliband of the Conservative Labour Party. There is no difference between them – they are all Tory Scum.

Now I can fully understand and appreciate Russel Brand suggesting that voters should not participate in such a farce and even that a revo is called for.

[Later edit: I used to have reservations about calling for revo – it was about the assumed democratic process. How could I call for revo when there was a democratic process? The answer – of course – is that there is not a democratic process.

[Later later edit: Where is the democratic process in govenments’ spying? Where is the democratic process?

I’ll answer you: It is absolutely absent. There is no democratic process here because democracy does not apply …

The problem is that – isn’t democracy paramount? So who are these fakirs to say that they can spy on us? and that we shouldn’t know about it? and that nobody can report it? Where is democracy then?

Apparently it’s democracy that I can vote for some siht or other that can then spy on whole populations without any reason but I shouldn’t know about it. And that’s demokracy?

[Later tater edit: You’re full of siht, just like the full of sihter you so adore

 

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Taxman faces grilling over Quoted Eurobond Exemption scandal

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/taxman-faces-grilling-over-quoted-eurobond-exemption-scandal-8907688.html

Britain’s most senior tax inspectors will be grilled by MPs today over HMRC’s failure to stop a legal tax avoidance scheme that loses them more than half a billion pounds in tax every year.

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Last week a joint investigation by this newspaper and Corporate Watch revealed more than 30 companies, including the Channel Tunnel rail link, Camelot and major High Street chains, are using a tax avoidance scheme that sees UK companies load up on debt from their overseas owners and use the interest to slash their taxable UK income. The payments are sent to the owners tax-free because the loans are made through offshore stock exchanges such as the Channel Islands that qualify, under HMRC regulations, for the Quoted Eurobond Exemption.

Without the exemption, the owners would have to pay a 20 per cent “withholding” tax and most of the tax savings from the interest deductions would be cancelled out.

Last year, HMRC considered restricting the exemption to stop it being used for such “intra-group” lending, but decided to keep it open after lobbying by financial and accountancy firms.

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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

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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.

dizzy

 

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