Newsnight

[David Johnson]

Hi,
Interesting section on protests on Newsnight on Beeb 2. Last night it was UK Uncut, a protest group who are highlighting the issue of corporate non-payment of taxes.

Newsnight highlighted that the Revenue and Customs are currently chasing 22 large UK companies for ?15 billion in unpaid taxes they reckon they are owed. Not an insubstantial sum of money given that's 20% of the cuts in public services planned over the next 4 years. Overall, the HMRC are getting rid of 20% of theirr staff.

Worth watching alone for the interview between Paxman, a guy from UK Uncut and a bloke from the Institute of Directors. Should be compulsory viewing for anybody who spouts "we are all in this together " and "there is no alternative". It's on the iplayer.

Tonight from the sublime to the errr....English Defence League.

PS Before anyone chirps up, yes, the Labour government did a piss poor job at closing down tax loopholes.

Cheers
D

[David Johnson]

"Yep. No sign that Big Dave or Little George are going to do anything. Despite their criticism of Labour for not going after the big companies & their soft stance on the bankers, they are not doing anything different now they are in power.

Agreed. I remember all the talk about "spiv bankers" that Cable made at the autumn Lib Dem conference and what has all that amounted to. Pretty much nothing.

"I wonder what Dave's thoughts are on the closing of Pfizer's in Sandwich in 2013-? Which will not only kill Sandwich stone dead, but all the areas around it? Have not heard anything as of yet-it took him about 10 minutes to big up the England Cricket team when they won the Ashes last month."

This is a real blow because Pfizer's is a R&D centre and it is just the sort of jobs the government wants to see being created here. Any fool can make cuts. I can do it myself. Cut that, cut this, knock 25% of that. Creating jobs is somewhat harder. The fact that the government has hammered the science budget in universities is hardly going to bolster confidence.

The idea that Osborne seems to have, that cuts in themselves in the public sector will "free" the private sector to grow and take up the employment slack seems bonkers to me given the Eurozone problems where most of our exports go.

CHeers
D

[davey]

I thought he did well but then again you live in "hideously white" Blackpool and i wouldnt expect you to understand issues that occur in places like luton where he comes from

[Arginald Valleywater]

Simple, the banks and mega corps run the country, not the government. Shell, BP, HSBC, Centrica, Barclays, Asda, Tesco, ICI, Glaxo, Nationwide....together they have far more influence than any politician.

[David Johnson]

"I thought he did well but then again you live in "hideously white" Blackpool and i wouldnt expect you to understand issues that occur in places like luton where he comes from"

I have worked in lots of different places in the UK, including the "hideously white" to use your term, Slough for six months.

Cheers
D