A nation of tax cheats changed by new rules February 13, 2012 TAX evasion is rife in the UK. In the last few months a friend of mine has spent over £1,000 on various household jobs. On each occasion the labourer was paid in cash. Was VAT included? Did the workman pay income tax? I have other acquaintances who consider themselves left of centre politically, but do [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 13, 2012 Parental guidance Well written, David Crow [Too many children are being taken into care, last Friday]. In a free society such as ours, surely it is better to leave children in the care of their parents rather than in institutions – we must give back to parents, often single parents, the responsibility and authority they [...]
Gender quotas are wrong and don’t work – it’s time to treat people as individuals February 12, 2012 LAST week, the Prime Minister delivered a speech in Stockholm about diversity in the work-place, making the capitalist case that equality should drive more efficient business outcomes by realising a broader range of entrepreneurial talent. This welcome shift in emphasis highlights why mandatory gender quotas in the boardroom are such a bad idea. In Norway, [...]
There’s no logic in a punitive tax on bank bonuses February 12, 2012 LET us imagine two bankers. Let’s call them Jocelyn and Alastair. Last year they were both paid £2m. Jocelyn had a basic salary of £500,000 and a bonus of £1.5m. Alastair had a basic salary of £2m and no bonus. Who thinks that Jocelyn should pay more in tax than Alastair? Ed Miliband seems to [...]
Tokenism is no way to create cultural change February 12, 2012 AFTER a year in which the Centre for Economic and Business Research has estimated a total loss of around 27,000 jobs from the financial sector, and one in which it has been predicted by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility that the overall long-term unemployment figures will rise by a further 750,000 over the next four [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 12, 2012 Don’t be beastly The recent Greek vilification of the Germans has been indicative of the attitude taken by the bankrupt Hellenic state. Rather than taking the difficult decisions and paying for previous largesse, Greek papers instead feature depictions of Angela Merkel in Nazi uniform and protesters wave swastika flags. Stipulating that the Greeks adhere to [...]
Too many children are being taken into care: the Baby P witch hunters are to blame February 9, 2012 WHEN Sharon Shoesmith, the former director of Haringey Children’s Services, became the scapegoat for the death of Peter Connelly or “Baby P”, almost everyone joined the witch hunt. The media went for her with a viciousness that knew no bounds while Ed Balls, then Children’s Secretary, took the unprecedented step of ordering her dismissal (unfairly, [...]
We skirt around the issues with quota proposals February 9, 2012 SPEAKING at a summit in Sweden yesterday, the Prime Minister revisited the issue of women in business, saying that he wanted to “accelerate” the increase in women on the boards of top UK firms. Although he said he would not rule out quotas (though Downing Street subsequently did), David Cameron said he would prefer to [...]
Don’t allow politicians to read Dickens for us February 9, 2012 WHAT would Charles Dickens do? If he were alive today, support everyone’s favourite cause it seems. In the author’s bicentennial year, everyone wants a piece. Schools minister Nick Gibb announced this week, referring to shocking levels of student illiteracy, that there are “shadows of Dickens’s world in our own” and called for more ambition in [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 9, 2012 Greek gamblers Despite yesterday’s progress, with Greece’s long list of missed deadlines, and its opposition to keeping spending cuts promises, do Greek officials feel Eurozone officials will not allow the country to default? Greece will get the chance to put that theory to the test on 20 March, when €14.5bn (£12.13bn) in bond payments will [...]