Political donors identified as having Swiss HSBC accounts. Which party(s) though?

[vegster]

Who is it?

It's obviously going to be mostly Tories, the party of greed. The proof of this is so overt that David Cameron has to tell business leaders to stop raking up all the profits for themselves and give workers a pay rise.

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk...rge-business/story-26000998-detail/story.html

Frankly, he needs the tax receipts as businesses are adept at avoiding tax but PAYE workers are more easily fleeced.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

More deflection Tsk tsk tsk. Fwiw I didn't vote labour. But then again we didn't have people starving to death corruption on an industrial sale and the general incompatance that we have now under the last labour goverment

Oh yes we did - and it would be worse under a Green government !

 

[Machiavelli]

Care to name some ?

No, I don't, but will if any are revealed in this current crop.
And that's not really a response from you is it? Are you claiming that none of UKIP's wealthy donors are evaders, while one Labour one is, and several Tories are? Those named are as a result of one specific arm of one bank being revealed by the good work of a whistle-blower. It's just the tip of an enormous iceberg. I'd like to see that iceberg shattered, but I'd imagine that it'll be UKIP and the Tories struggling hardest to prevent it from happening.

 

[Machiavelli]

All MPs have to .... including the two UKIP ones.

You're conveniently forgetting the farcical track record of UKIP MEPs.

 

[Camicus]

Oh yes we did - and it would be worse under a Green government !

I'm not sure if you are wilfully blind or just an idiot. This government's sanction regime and it's willful disregard of disability rights is causing untold misery and hundreds of deaths. Also nope didn't vote green. Care to try again?

 

[beorhthelm]

No, I don't, but will if any are revealed in this current crop.
And that's not really a response from you is it? Are you claiming that none of UKIP's wealthy donors are evaders, while one Labour one is, and several Tories are? Those named are ...

...a list of people who have held a Swiss bank account. as far as i know, there is no actual concrete claim that any of them have evaded tax (they are not among the 1100 that have been chased up for taxes due). there is an inference that anyone using a Swiss account is upto no good, but nothing to back this up currently.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

You may raise your eye brows that Lord Fink generously donated 3 million pounds to the Tory party untill you realise that just the Tory top rate of tax cut saved him 15 million pounds in this five year parliament !! No wonder the wealthy want another five years of austerity and Tory rule...

It makes me chuckle when people point out that the Tories cut the top rate of tax.
Three months before the last General Election, the Labour party raised the top rate of tax from 40% (where it had been for 13 years) to 50%.
The Tories and Lib Dem coalition lowered it to 45%. So their cronies are paying 5% more tax than when Labour were in power.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

...a list of people who have held a Swiss bank account. as far as i know, there is no actual concrete claim that any of them have evaded tax (they are not among the 1100 that have been chased up for taxes due). there is an inference that anyone using a Swiss account is upto no good, but nothing to back this up currently.

You're missing the point.

The point is the hypocracy of our elected leaders claiming that 'we are all in this together' (regarding deficit reduction, public spending cuts and paying our share of tax), when it's clearly obvious that they are funded by people who aren't in it at all !

If they were football directors,it's questionable if they would pass the FA's 'fit and proper person test'. So let's just let them run the country without questioning their integrity then, shall we?

This isn't about legality or illegality, it's about taking the Political (moral) high ground whilst benefitting from a funding process that obfuscates the corruption at the heart of our democracy.

Or, to put it more simply, the buying of influence amongst Government and Political parties.

The system is open to abuse, and cronyism is now being seen to be taking place. If a Civil Servant was found taking monies from Political donors then he'd be both out on his ear and probably put behind bars. We can thank our lucky stars we can vote people out of office for such underhand dealings.

If our leaders are serious about deficit reduction, then this country MUST raise it's overall tax take by every means possible, and close down every loophole there is. Swiss bank accounts are a very easy way to avoid paying tax. Cameron has been hugely compromised by his own party members, and the Labour Party likewise. At least Milliband has the sense to describe the political system as rotten, because there's a bad smell about all of this.

I don't think this is something that has ever been a part of previous Governments before 1997, and the fact that it is now taking place doesn't just send out a message to British taxpayers that the system is rotten, it sends out a message to the whole world that British Politicians can be 'bought'.

 

[beorhthelm]

This isn't about legality or illegality, it's about taking the Political (moral) high ground whilst benefitting from a funding process that obfuscates the corruption at the heart of our democracy.

i think it is entirely about the legality/illegality. if donor has evaded tax and paying in to a party, that's bad. if they haven't then whats the issue? you may not like deep pocketed donors giving to a party, that's the system we have until we have limits on donations. something i think would be a very good idea. I've never brought into a literally "we're all in it together" as clearly those in a position to overcome problems, will overcome. i don't subscribe to hairshirt politics that dictates we must punish success.

my point was we have a headline issue that's in a reality distortion field due to punchbag politicking, where someone can make a throw away claim that isn't backed by the information in the public domain, and is potentially libelous.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

No, I don't, but will if any are revealed in this current crop.
And that's not really a response from you is it? Are you claiming that none of UKIP's wealthy donors are evaders, while one Labour one is, and several Tories are? Those named are as a result of one specific arm of one bank being revealed by the good work of a whistle-blower. It's just the tip of an enormous iceberg. I'd like to see that iceberg shattered, but I'd imagine that it'll be UKIP and the Tories struggling hardest to prevent it from happening.

So you have no evidence that UKIP members are involved, you've just assumed ? Why ? Because of your left wing bias ? I could just as easily suggest, without any evidence, that there may well be Greens caught up in the corruption. If UKIP do get caught up in it then, yes, they are just as bad as the Tories and Labour but it seems a bit unfair just to assume.

You're conveniently forgetting the farcical track record of UKIP MEPs.

To be frank, all British MEPs can not turn up to the parliament and claim full expenses as far as I'm concerned - it brings back to these shores some of the money taken by the EU from our country. The EU is a corrupt and farcical organisation that should be treated in a farcical way until we leave.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

i think it is entirely about the legality/illegality. if donor has evaded tax and paying in to a party, that's bad. if they haven't then whats the issue? you may not like deep pocketed donors giving to a party, that's the system we have until we have limits on donations. something i think would be a very good idea. I've never brought into a literally "we're all in it together" as clearly those in a position to overcome problems, will overcome. i don't subscribe to hairshirt politics that dictates we must punish success.

my point was we have a headline issue that's in a reality distortion field due to punchbag politicking, where someone can make a throw away claim that isn't backed by the information in the public domain, and is potentially libelous.

In so far as I think Labour are just as bad as the Conservatives in this area you are right. But corruption is a very contagious disease, and it's all too easy for someone to turn a blind eye when we should be holding our Political leaders up to the scrutiny of public opinion. What Milliband is inferring (although he won't dare repeat this without the benefit of Parlimentary privilege), is that the Conservative Party is offering to leave it's donors money alone, in tax havens, and not encourage HMRC to pursue the issue, in return for a big fat cheque made out to Tory Central Office. However, now we know Labour are also complicit in this arrangement, the whole system starts to look a bit fishy, doesn't it?

Wether any of this is true or not is a matter for the lawyers. But whilst the rest of us our paying our fair share, there are those in positions of power and influence manipulating the system to their advantage.

 

[Machiavelli]

So you have no evidence that UKIP members are involved, you've just assumed ?.

For very good reasons, I assume that there is no end of skulduggery going on in terms of tax, finance, etc and, because UKIP's biggest backers (and their donors are severely skewed towards the extremely wealthy) are also proponents of financial (and other forms of) deregulation, this is a fair assumption to make. You, for some strange reason, seem to think otherwise; or are avoiding (should that be evading?) the issue.

 

[Camicus]

So you have no evidence that UKIP members are involved, you've just assumed ? Why ? Because of your left wing bias ? I could just as easily suggest, without any evidence, that there may well be Greens caught up in the corruption. If UKIP do get caught up in it then, yes, they are just as bad as the Tories and Labour but it seems a bit unfair just to assume.



To be frank, all British MEPs can not turn up to the parliament and claim full expenses as far as I'm concerned - it brings back to these shores some of the money taken by the EU from our country. The EU is a corrupt and farcical organisation that should be treated in a farcical way until we leave.

Green party is crowd funded by its members and has turned down donations from people who avoid /evade taxes.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Green party is crowd funded by its members and has turned down donations from people who avoid /evade taxes.

Strange that there is no background information on John Pemberton don't you think ?

 

[Camicus]

Strange that there is no background information on John Pemberton don't you think ?

Not really he is a green party member. So stop smearing people and either provide evidence of wrong doing or continue to liable people . It's all desperate stuff to distract from the tories corruption. Managed to rule out ukips donations yet?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

The last thing Fink wants is for Milliband to repeat that outside parliament

Ed should call him out in public. All bluff and bravado from one person.

 

[Camicus]

Ed should call him out in public. All bluff and bravado from one person.

Saw him backing down this morning apparently he does avoid tax but only at the vanilla end of the scale. Everyone does it so that's okay

 

[Ernest]

Ed should call him out in public. All bluff and bravado from one person.

Last 2 top Tories who tried this ended up in nick

 

[Diego Napier]

I'm not sure if you are wilfully blind or just an idiot. This government's sanction regime and it's willful disregard of disability rights is causing untold misery and hundreds of deaths. Also nope didn't vote green. Care to try again?

Hah! Nice one; I think you'll find that a cursory glance through [MENTION=3791]Wes[/MENTION]tdeneSeagull 's posting history will confirm that either or just doesn't come into it.

 

[wakeytom]

Saw him backing down this morning apparently he does avoid tax but only at the vanilla end of the scale. Everyone does it so that's okay

Do most people not have ISAs?