Category: Tax

Fear and loathing in Whitehall

October 20, 2010 11:33 am by Jim Pickard

When George Oborne addressed the cabinet this morning his message was the usual one about trying to make the cuts as fair as possible and to “fall on the broadest shoulders”. The chancellor admitted that this was an “anxious time for some in the public sector” who could now lose their jobs.

Lord Adonis meanwhile claims in this morning’s FT that “Whitehall is stunned and morale risks plummeting” as the cuts reality dawns. This chimes with what I’m told by several civil servants who read this blog.

Many departments are already going through a redundancy process – instigated in June – even before the new £83bn wave of cuts which will see an estimated half a million public sector jobs go.

I am told of one leaving party for BIS staff, held in a local pub, which attracted three or four hundred attendees. The atmosphere was utterly morose. Meanwhile some civil servants are receiving letters giving them only a week to decide whether or not they want to leave. As for those who are quitting, there are rumours that they may not be paid their redundancy payments until the end of November – a six week gap. “It feels really chaotic,” one tells me. Yet this is only a foretaste of the cuts to come.

Continue reading: “Fear and loathing in Whitehall”

Tags: axe, Coalition, comprehensive spending review, csr, Cuts, George Osborne, House of Commons, Lord Adonis, osborne, redundancies, Spending review, tories, Whitehall
Posted in Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

When will David Miliband bow out of frontline politics?

September 29, 2010 11:27 am by Jim Pickard

FT sketchwriter Matthew Engel and I discussed over breakfast the best way for David Miliband to bow out; which now seems 99 per cent likely. Does he do a speech? A written statement? Some kind of pooled TV interview?

The former carries the risk of him overshadowing Ed once again. The second option may not be sufficient to satisfy the media hunger. So we are presuming the third option some time this afternoon – no doubt near the 5pm deadline by which time MPs have to say whether they are running for the shadow cabinet.

Matthew and I have come up with a formulation of words which would do the trick:

“It is with great sadness and only after days of deliberation that I have taken the difficult decision not to run for the shadow cabinet. With a heavy heart I have decided that it is the best thing for the party, my brother Ed and for the country that I remove myself from frontline politics to give the new leader the space to unite the party without constant media scrutiny of our relationship. I will remain an MP and look forward to spending more time in (where’s my constituency? DM) to spend more time with my hard-working constituents. This was not an easy decision. I have only great love and respect for Ed and he will be a strong and vigorous leader of the opposition and prime minister. I will enjoy having more time to spend with my loving wife and children.”

Posted in Further reading, Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

Tabloids salivate at prospect of “Red Ed” in charge

September 22, 2010 11:13 am by Jim Pickard

It was only yesterday that a senior tabloid political commentator was telling me how he couldn’t wait for Ed Miliband to win the Labour leadership election. “David would be a disappointment from our point of view,” he said.

His argument was as follows: Not only would Mili-E be easy to caricature as “Red Ed”, slave to the unions and champion of unreconstructed lefty-ism. It would also be a human story of the less experienced younger brother committing fratricide against Britain’s level-headed former foreign secretary. And lastly he would – the theory went – not necessarily have the majority support of his own MPs.

(Kevin Maguire at the Mirror has also made the latter point on his blog).

Continue reading: “Tabloids salivate at prospect of “Red Ed” in charge”

Tags: David Miliband, Media, red tops, tabloids
Posted in Ed Miliband, Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

Vince says 50p rate is an instrument of pain that won’t raise much money

September 21, 2010 7:42 pm by Alex Barker

Vince Cable has been on typically candid form on the conference fringe.
His latest pronouncement is on the purpose of the 50p top rate of income tax:

“I would be very surprised if the higher rate of tax does raise much revenue. It is there largely to show that pain is being shared.”

Our billionaire readers should not get there hopes up of the tax being removed. Cable said the decision should be taken on the basis of evidence, but at this point he didn’t think anyone was seriously advocating cutting taxes on the rich, even when they’re ineffective.

Posted in Conservatives, Lib Dems, Tax, Treasury, UK economy, UK politics | Permalink

Clegg speech – still promising to crack down on tax avoidance

September 20, 2010 4:27 pm by Jim Pickard

It was worth listening to Today this morning if only to hear Lord Ashdown under siege over the issue of Sir Philip Green and his tax status. The Lib Dem peer was asked about how the government could seriously talk about battling tax avoidance given the recent hiring of the retail tycoon as an efficiency czar: As the interviewer asked:

“If this government was really serious about tax avoidance it would not have employed, would it, Sir Philip Green, who is also accused of avoiding taxes, perfectly legally…but there he is, advising the government on waste. If the Lib Dems really had power in this government he wouldn’t be there would he?”

Ashdown said he would not criticise the appointment. He then rattled off a list of the many changes achieved by the coalition (pupil premium, tax breaks for low-income families, etc). It was as if he didn’t want to discuss the tycoon at all.

But the Lib Dems do seem to be facing both ways on the issue of tax at the moment. Yesterday Danny Alexander announced a new £900m to spend on tackling the issue. But how does this square with hiring Sir Philip?

Continue reading: “Clegg speech – still promising to crack down on tax avoidance”

Tags: crackdown, Danny Alexander, monaco, sir philip green, Tax, tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax status
Posted in Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

Vince’s other warning – where will growth come from?

September 17, 2010 5:33 pm by Jim Pickard

Having not attended yesterday’s Konigswinter conference I didn’t pick up the entire speech from Vince Cable, business secretary – other than his controversial comments about immigration.

But Labour sources have pointed me towards Vince’s thinly-guarded warning about where growth will come from if Britain and all its trading partners are all on an austerity drive.

These comments would be unexciting if they were from an independent economist, FT leader writer or Labour MP. From a coalition cabinet minister they are quite striking.

Continue reading: “Vince’s other warning – where will growth come from?”

Posted in Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

Cable says he is “at the limit of collective responsibility”

September 16, 2010 10:29 pm by Jim Pickard

Vince Cable has laid down the gauntlet against his own coalition government today as he stepped up his criticism of immigration policy.

Vince was talking during a Q&A after a setpiece speech. He said the cap was “doing great damage” and cited a British company that needed 500 specialists – half of which needed to come from outside the EU – but had geen given a quota of just 30.

He said he wasn’t willing to defend the existing system (a temporary cap is in place ahead of a more permanent system from next spring) and said he was “at the limit of collective responsibility“.

From an outside perspective it’s fun to see that Cable hasn’t lost his independence of mind since entering coalition. But the comments open up a hornet’s nest for the government, coming soon after similar criticism from London mayor Boris Johnson a few days ago.

I can think of other examples of ministers squabbling over policy in recent months (IDS and Osborne, Fox and Osborne, Spelman and Pickles) but they are all Tory on Tory rows.

For a Lib Dem to argue against a key coalition policy – especially one that is dear to the Tory right – is much more dangerous.

UPDATE: You can read Vince’s more detailed comments in today’s FT here. Meanwhile Pat McFadden, shadow business secretary, says the government is “hopelessly at sea on this”.

“Vince Cable’s comment that the Government’s proposed immigration cap is doing “a lot of damage” to British industry is right. The idea that a global trading nation like ours should stop talent from overseas coming to work or study here is good neither for our economy nor for our world leading position in education and research,” says McFadden.

Tags: Coalition, eu, Immigration, non-eu, Vince Cable
Posted in Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

When Cameron condemned money for influence

August 26, 2010 12:04 pm by Jim Pickard

It was only February but this speech by David Cameron seems like ages ago. And it doesn’t sound quite so convincing in the light of the Conservatives selling seats next to MPs at their conference dinner for thousands of pounds.

(Although, as I pointed out earlier, the Tories are not exactly alone).

Decisions made behind closed doors. The Houses of Parliament bypassed and undermined. Money buying influence. Too often just an elite few choosing the people who become MPs for many years. We can’t go on like this…..

I believe that secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics. It arouses people’s worst fears and suspicions about how our political system works, with money buying power, power fishing for money and a cosy club at the top making decisions in their own interest.

Continue reading: “When Cameron condemned money for influence”

Posted in David Cameron, Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

When politicians get close to business people

August 26, 2010 10:46 am by Jim Pickard

The Daily Telegraph splashes this morning with news of an “exclusive networking event” for business people at Tory conference. Places start at £500 and each table will be hosted by a Tory MP. Those prepared to spend more – £1,000 a head – can guarantee dining with at least one serving government minister, according to the report.

But as the Tel admits, this is exactly what was done by Labour when it was in government. Except they were more subtle and less explicit about access to politicians.

“You would pay for a corporate table and you’d get somebody, usually a Labour MP or minister, sitting with you,” one lobbyist tells me. “You might select or choose someone and then either that person or someone else would turn up on your table. The only difference is that Labour doesn’t have ministers any more and the Tories do.”

Continue reading: “When politicians get close to business people”

Posted in Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

When MPs were rude to Ipsa staff – verbatim

August 25, 2010 1:30 pm by Jim Pickard

I’ll provide a link to the relevant bit of the IPSA site in a minute (it’s under the FOI section of this page). But meanwhile here are some extracts of encounters between MPs and staff at the new expenses body. They don’t reflect too well on MPs, to say the least, given that many of the Ipsa staff are young female temps.

(Credit to Simon Walters at the Mail on Sunday for providing much of the flavour in this article two weeks ago…)

Reported incidents of behaviour of MPs towards IPSA staff:

- “At several times during the session he exclaimed, “This system is a f***ing abortion!”, which I found deeply inappropriate and offensive.”

- “He struck the laptop on the facilitator’s desk and loomed over the facilitator in an intimidating manner.”

- “Walked off on a staff member in the middle of her explanation, branding all the trainers and staff ‘monkey’.”

Continue reading: “When MPs were rude to Ipsa staff – verbatim”

Posted in Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

When Alistair Darling thought the Treasury would be an oasis of calm

August 17, 2010 4:17 pm by Jim Pickard

The always self-depracating Alistair Darling* remembers today how he arrived in the Treasury without any inkling of the global crisis about to hit financial markets. I like the quote, not only because he is kind about the FT but also because it’s an insight into just how much of a shock the credit crunch was to many policy-makers.

When I was appointed Chancellor in the summer of 2007, I gave my first interview to the Financial Times – a paper for which I have the highest respect.

The very first point put to me was what a relief it must be, having worked at various crisis hit government departments in the past “to arrive somewhere that’s actually not a mess.”

Just to make clear that I was not then the Mystic Meg I was about to become, I replied: “It’s in good nick. Both the department and the economy.” Famous first words!

I didn’t have to wait long to find out that I couldn’t have been more wrong. The first signs of the crisis started to emerge a few weeks later. We were on holiday in Majorca. I went to get the morning rolls and as you do when you are Chancellor, a copy of the FT.

There was a report that the European Central Bank had injected nearly £100bn into the money markets. Not good for your appetite or a relaxing holiday.

The former chancellor meanwhile has a stark warning for his own party, saying that Labour lost economic credibility by refusing to “talk openly about the deficit“.

* Darling was always seen as New Labour’s “fire blanket”, who could be put into the most tricky departments – such as post-Railtrack transport – and turn chaos into calm with his methodical, wry approach.

My hunch for the current coalition is that Philip Hammond, another undemonstrative but wily character, could play a similar role, surviving in cabinet as others fall by the wayside.

Tags: Alistair Darling, Credit Crunch, Deficit, donald dewar lecture, Treasury
Posted in Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink

Lord Myners admits Labour made mistakes on economy

August 16, 2010 10:35 am by Jim Pickard

Fascinating interview with Lord Myners in the Guardian this morning by Allegra Stratton in which the former City minister admits that Labour abandoned fiscal responsibility.

He suggests that Gordon Brown “forgot” the Golden Rule. That Labour ran large deficits when the economy was at full capacity. That the party needs to come clean on what cuts it would make. And that it needs to prove once again that it is a credible party of economic management.

Continue reading: “Lord Myners admits Labour made mistakes on economy”

Tags: Lord Myners
Posted in Labour, Tax, Treasury, UK politics | Permalink