cressida Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I'd also love to know what companies Tony Blair has set up to make himself millions, but he probably wouldn't count now. (Has anyone else noticed that since he became peace envoy to the middle east, war and fighting has broken out all over the place...) When I first heard he had been made a peace envoy I thought it was a joke:roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Yes. I think it's a good idea. I'd also like a full list of all the companies and directorships they have. I find it hard to understand how someone with such an important job can find time to undertake all these other positions, I would have thought running the country was something you had to do full time to say the least. If they have time to spare they could spend a bit more time in their constituencies talking to people. Being an MP is far from a full time job unless you go to extraordinary lengths to do more than you need to. In the same way, you can own or oversee businesses without standing behind the counter for eight hours a day. If you want full time MPs (and that is a quite legitimate desire to hold) you should call for a reduction in their numbers and an increase in their salary. But you should also ask yourself what purposes that would fulfill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Expat owl Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Its time we ALL printed our tax returns. If you were able to see your next door neighbours tax paid for last year, and its a great big fat zero, whilst he has a Porsche in the drive and hes boasting about his latest yacht hes bought, would you be likely to ask him some serious questions? Would he be so willing to boast, if hes swerving his tax bill? In Norway i believe you can look on the internet and see everyones tax paid. I wonder how quickly the leeches on society would quickly get caught/embarrassed and how quickly could our tax bills come down if EVERYONE who should be paying, was paying. Its time for change. If your next door neighbour was driving porsche's and buying yacht's then you too would be hiding or evading tax as you'd be part of the rich list !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Being an MP is far from a full time job unless you go to extraordinary lengths to do more than you need to. In the same way, you can own or oversee businesses without standing behind the counter for eight hours a day. If you want full time MPs (and that is a quite legitimate desire to hold) you should call for a reduction in their numbers and an increase in their salary. But you should also ask yourself what purposes that would fulfill. If you take my proposal on your Independent thread, an MP should have sufficient staff to be able to find and pass to its constituents the pro's/con's of a particular debate that he/she is expected to vote in the commons. I dont believe they should be paid by anyone other than the electorate, but i do definitely think they should be paid more in salary, but less in benefits (ie the 30k cash they get when they get voted out). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 If your next door neighbour was driving porsche's and buying yacht's then you too would be hiding or evading tax as you'd be part of the rich list !!! On a different scale, if your next door neighbour is a builder, and he and his wife drives round in 4x4's and go on regular holidays abroad, and when you check on the internet (like you can in Norway) he paid £200 in tax last year, the very same questions can be asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 If your next door neighbour was driving porsche's and buying yacht's then you too would be hiding or evading tax as you'd be part of the rich list !!! Why would i be evading tax just because my neighbour is driving a porsche? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister M Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Polly Toynbee wrote an interesting and thought provoking article on this yesterday: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/09/tax-finances-every-citizen-scrutiny?commentpage=1#start-of-comments Meanwhile our Chancellor says that he is 'shocked' at the results of a study by HMRC which showed multimillionaires paid on average only 10% income tax: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/poll/2012/apr/10/george-osborne-shock-multi-millionaires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 It's good that he's shocked. It's also good that he's commissioned this piece of work so that he actually knows the facts instead of the rhetoric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister M Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 It's good that he's shocked. It's also good that he's commissioned this piece of work so that he actually knows the facts instead of the rhetoric. I agree that it's good that he's shocked, but stories of millionaires who pay less tax than their cleaners are commonplace. I wonder if he's as equally shocked to find out that the Pope is Catholic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 It's just a load of bumf. Tosborne has finally realised how unpopular the government is and is trying to pander to public opinion but unfortunately for the government, it's too late. We all know that any effort made to close the tax loopholes will be a token gesture because it will cost them votes. To make things even worse for hard-up families, incomes of £35k and over will be placed in the highest tax bracket from April 2013. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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