National politics

[Ian]

 

[SteveH]

DVT, Excellent     

[Hugo]

Boris Johnson accepts nearly 25K in accommodation for his family from Tory billionaire      JCB boss Lord Bamford and his wife previously stumped up ?23,853 for Mr Johnson's wedding party in July, footing the bill for portable toilets, flowers, a South African barbecue and an ice cream van.
I wonder if Boris will be paying Income Tax or CGT on all his freebies?         Corruption is still rife in the Conservative Party


https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-accepts-nearly-25k-28410041

[Hammy]

Hmm, anybody else would be clobbered with 'Benefit in Kind' income tax penalties. I used to have staff who were regularly working from home and having hotel bills paid by the company and HMRC were chasing them.

[Hugo]

HMRC do chase the working class people, hairdressers, workers in the hospitality industry and other groups are taxed on estimated tips and have those "benefits" coded in.
Who keeps an eye on people like Boris who continue to get benefits in kind from their Tory friends and on a greater scale than the average person gets?

[Helig]

The tax system is unfair and unjust in this country. It favours the rich and targets the people who are in middle, or lower, incomes. There is a department within the HMRC which deals specifically with MPs, Cabinet Ministers, the royals who pay tax and other senior public officials (Civil Service etc). Boris's tax would be dealt with by this section. He would be taxable on his benefits but bear in mind these are from third parties and not given to him by his employer, see:

https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-third-party-awards/what-to-report-and-pay

The person giving him the benefit is required to account for the tax to HMRC. It would be interesting to know whether any of the people who have stumped up for him have paid the tax in respect of their largesse. I wouldn't bet on them having paid anything over.

HMRC tend to target the businesses and people who are easy to investigate. These tend to be pubs, newsagents, guest houses, restaurants, taxis etc. The big boys are left alone as they take up too much time and resources. The more complex cases are dealt with by a special unit but their resources are limited and they only select a small number of cases to investigate. I doubt Boris will be pursued and will be just another high profile person who evades tax with impunity.

[Hugo]

That was an interesting fact that the third party had to deduct tax from those benefits as I had not heard of that before.    As Boris' tax bill would mainly be at 45% I suppose that the benefits and deductions would appear on his Self Assessment return.      The people checking his returns would be aware that Boris has made a career out of telling lies so alarm bells should ring loudly there.

Up to about 1976 MP's had traditionally been classed as self employed but in C 1976 the Government of the day introduced a Class 4 NIC.
This Class 4 NIC was in fact a levy on the self employed and was applied when the Self Employed person's profits exceeded a certain amount.   In fact it was an additional way of raising money
However and probably for the only time ever, the MP'S agreed on one thing and said that they were not self employed but in fact were employees.       I'm not sure if a PAYE scheme was set up for them and the employer (The Government ) deducted tax and NIC from their MP's salary
I do know that they all have to complete Self Assessment returns

The situation regarding MP's pay has not cropped up yet but it usually follows that of other pay increases.    Quite often their increase are above the rate of  inflation and they try and justify it by saying that an independent pay board had awarded them the rise
The Tories have proved without a doubt that you can't trust MP's and Bankers and Building Developers are on the same level as the Tories

[mull]

Why is Boris Johnson in Sham  El Shaky ?

Who is behind his attendance, Who is he representing , and who is paying ?
He has no reason to be there and how much CO2 was used to get him there and back.

[Hugo]

Apparently he was invited there, by whom nobody seems to know.     It wasn't by the UK Government so who foots his bill this time?

[Helig]

I wouldn't bet on every benefit and freebie being shown on Boris's tax return. We know about some of them but there must be others that have been kept quiet.

MPs are treated similarly to senior civil servants and paid from the same pot. They are under a special tax department within HMRC. People working in it need a high security clearance to be able to work there. It is understood that the MPs etc are given kid glove treatment and that tax rules are very flexible for them.

This post says that he was, "invited by the organisers" to attend the COP 27 summit:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63478120

Could he be the same as Charles and his, "charities" receiving bags of cash from the Arabs?

[Hugo]

I don't think that even the staunchest Tory would believe that Boris' Tax Returns were honest and true, but as you say these people are treated with kid gloves.   
On the TV today it said that Boris had over 100 backers in the recent PM election but chose not to put his name forward on the advice of his financial advisors.    Apparently he makes so much money as an ex PM now but if he challenged and lost the election the advisors alleged that his income would be halved
His lies and deception seem to be on an industrial scale and one day the truth may be revealed

[Hugo]

I came across this article on line (see below)and it's just unsustainable and an insult to any of the UK population that are struggling with money at this present moment.
Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce cuts in the public sector on Thursday and I really hope that he makes cuts in the estimated 2 billion pounds a year it costs to keep these illegal migrants in the UK

People also ask
How much do asylum seekers get per day in the UK?
You'll get ?40.85 for each person in your household. This will help you pay for things you need like food, clothing and toiletries. Your allowance will be loaded onto a debit card (ASPEN card) each week. You'll be able to use the card to get cash from a cash machine.

[mull]

Hugo, they are Asylum seekers until there applications have been dealt with which is not an illegal state until your application has been declined.
At least 75% of applications are agreed and half of those declined are granted on appeal.

The problem is the government own making,  ie, slow processing of applications. Speed it up and they could enter the labour market and help to fill the many vacancies available and pay for themselves . They are only allowed to do this after the application is succesfull.

No way playing King Canute, the tide will keep coming in. What we need to do is deal with the problem in a sensible and calm way.

[SteveH]

UK strikes revised deal with France on Channel migrants

The UK will pay France ?8m more a year under a revised deal to try to stop people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Under the updated agreement, UK police officers will be embedded with their French counterparts in control rooms and on beaches.

The number of officers patrolling the French coast to try to stop people setting off will rise from 200 to 300.

PM Rishi Sunak said he was "confident we can bring the numbers down".

But, speaking to reporters whilst travelling to the G20 summit in Bali, he warned there was no "single thing" that could be done to "fix" the situation.

The government is under increasing pressure over Channel crossings, with the number of people making the journey rising to record levels.

More than 40,000 people have crossed in small boats so far this year, up from 28,526 last year and 8,404 the year before.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63615653

[Hugo]

Mull,  no matter how you wish to address these migrants they are all illegal migrants.     They have all entered the UK illegally and are not asylum seekers or refugees or they would have claimed asylum in any one of the safe 27 countries in the EU
As for the mass invasion of single Albanian men then there is no way, shape or form that you could describe them as asylum seekers.   They are not escaping from any conflict in Albania and they have to pass through many safe EU countries to get to the UK
The Albanian exodus has been helped by organised Albanian criminals and the Albanians are at best illegal economic migrants.    When you consider all the benefits we throw at them you can't blame them in a way as the average monthly pay in Albania is ?512.66.
They get more in the UK for not working than they do in Albania for working a full month
You have raised a very valid point that the UK and every other country too needs immigrants in our workforce but do you remember comments made by a habitual liar when the Brexit vote was ongoing?       Boris said "that ?350 million pounds would be paid to the NHS each week and that we could take control over our borders and chose who we decide to let in to the UK"
Well look what has happened and the mess we are in now

Steve's post about the co-operation with the French authorities is positive but I still believe that we should adopt an Australian type policy with the people who have arrived in the UK illegally