Mid Kent College are shedding more than 10% of their workforce, meanwhile 16-24 year olds are being hit hard by the recession with a 1100% increase in long term unemployment across Kent compared to the national average of 300%. Astonishing how the government cannot see a link between unemployment and training.
Let's prepare people for work, not take away their chances.
Let's provide a decent education and decent training in jobs that we need for the future.
Let's make the tax avoiders pay so that we can have a stable economy.
Green Party campaigner in Kent. Also a nurse, academic, former manager, writer, Druid, husband and father...
Showing posts with label taxation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxation. Show all posts
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
£95bn of tax evasion and avoidance
"We are living in a country where the poor bail out the banks, while the rich keep their billions intact" - Monbiot
To the stunning levels of tax avoidance, £25bn need to be added the crazy levels of tax evasion, a further £70bn according the the PCS. You could almost be forgiven for thinking that this is the real economic crisis?
Meanwhile the government is shitting on poorer people.The Comprehensive Spending Review and cutting of government spending by one third primarily affects people on lower incomes and increases the gap between rich and poor.
My lack of blogging in recent weeks has been as a direct result of the anger I'm feeling towards a cabinet made up of millionaires who have not had any experience of real life, no experience about what it means to not know how you are going to afford to eat, no experience of looking in the cupboard and finding little food in there, no experience of finding out how to cook an 8p meal and then quickly getting bored with eating the same thing for a month.
All the time we have people who have not directly experienced real life and who are only interested in their own economic growth, we won't have justice.
To the stunning levels of tax avoidance, £25bn need to be added the crazy levels of tax evasion, a further £70bn according the the PCS. You could almost be forgiven for thinking that this is the real economic crisis?
Meanwhile the government is shitting on poorer people.The Comprehensive Spending Review and cutting of government spending by one third primarily affects people on lower incomes and increases the gap between rich and poor.
My lack of blogging in recent weeks has been as a direct result of the anger I'm feeling towards a cabinet made up of millionaires who have not had any experience of real life, no experience about what it means to not know how you are going to afford to eat, no experience of looking in the cupboard and finding little food in there, no experience of finding out how to cook an 8p meal and then quickly getting bored with eating the same thing for a month.
All the time we have people who have not directly experienced real life and who are only interested in their own economic growth, we won't have justice.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Benefit cheats!
This is from my friend Alan Wheatley. Labour introduced significant changes to incapacity benefits designed to stop peopel claiming them. They employed a private company to reassess people and ATOS have excelled at removing people from receiving benefits... Meanwhile £billions of tax evasion by the rich is ingored by our political masters in Whitehall.
This is from Alan:
Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd report that the policy of hiring private sector 'bounty hunters' to catch 'benefit cheats' from the private sector was actually implemented by New Labour before this year's General Election.[1] The idea of extending the use of Experian services to catch Incapacity Benefit fraudsters came not from the ConDems but from Experian.
It struck me when Parliament went into recess and the war against ‘benefit cheats’ was ratcheted up by way of the bounty hunters to catch bogus Incapacity Benefit claimants story, that the ‘silly season’ was perhaps the most apt time for ratcheting up smear campaigns — not only poetically, but also in terms of media barons’ deployment of staff.
Actually though, my experience as a successful ESA tribunal appellant has told me that ‘bounty hunters’ already existed, although they themselves should — in my view — be charged with benefit fraud. I’m talking about the ATOS Healthcare ‘Approved Healthcare Practitioners’ who conduct Work Capability Assessments on behalf of the DWP.[2]
None of the physical tests recorded on the report by Dr R of my Work Capability Assessment took place.
Further, in the ‘Occupational History’ section of his report on my Work Capability Assessment, he failed to include reference to my more than two decades of jobseeker benefit claimant status before my last waged work. Further, he failed to record that that last waged employment had only been so part-time that I still claimed JSA while doing it. I had also told him that I only stuck it out for 11 months because I learned through experience in it that I was more likely to go destitute in doing six hours cover duties per week at £7.81 per hour — and only £5 per week ‘earnings disregard’ — than get adequate in-service training to get more than 16 hours per week as a regular worker with own allocation of service users.[3]
Thus the omissions in the 'Work Capability Assessment' report on me conspired to make it look as if I was one of those people whose citing of mental health issues as reason for claiming Employment & Support Allowance was questionable. I had actually been looking for waged work as a lifelong disabled person, while government was pretending that Incapacity Benefit claimants were the only disabled people 'of working age' on 'out of work' benefits.
Like I say, in 2005-2006 I was only allowed to pocket the first £5 of my weekly earnings of £7.81 per hour. (That was except for the one Christmas week when covering for colleagues on Christmas hols netted me over 16 hours work.) Five pounds per week is less even than the hourly national minimum wage. Due to DWP understaffing and the ridiculous and demeaning admin burden of such measly ‘earnings disregard’ for JSA claimants, though I had conscientiously completed and submitted part-time earnings forms, the DWP had erroneously reported to my local council that I was not eligible for JSA. Only when I gave up that paid work did I get time to get through to DWP to sort it out.
Government's failure to protect benefit claimants from hardship does not make tabloid headlines
Yet I was not the only one to suffer from DWP admin meltdown. In 2004-2005, JobCentre Plus failed to answer 21 million incoming calls to its helplines. Claimants affected sometimes experienced destitution as a result, reports Community Care magazine. (‘JobCentre Plus: Poor service continues’.[4]) That is 44% of all incoming calls. Meanwhile, only 5% of calls to the DLA/Incapacity Benefit helpline were answered.
Napoleon said: “Attack is the best form of defence.” Similarly, the moral of my tale is that criminally negligent government with a mass media that is constantly vigilant against the wrong targets finds that smear stories against those it has let down the most are its greatest self-defence.
But social workers and social care workers who defraud their service users face the risk of criminal prosecution. ATOS, while, gets more work at taxpayers’ — and especially vulnerable people’s — expense. (Even benefit claimants pay VAT, so we are all taxpayers.)
NOTES
[1] Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd 6 Sepetember Newsletter
http://tinyurl.com/2bbt8vz.
[2] See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10159717 'New benefit system labelled unfit',
http://tinyurl.com/2fy7uad Community Care magazine search for 'ATOS', and you will see that my own experience of a quack service was not uncommon.
[3] The £5 per week 'earnings disregard' for JSA claimants aged 25+ has remained so low since 1988. See http://tinyurl.com/2eqk5dg
'Why people work informally while claiming benefits'.
[4] Published 16 November 2006. Search find link at www.communitycare.co.uk website currently not fully operational.
This is from Alan:
Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd report that the policy of hiring private sector 'bounty hunters' to catch 'benefit cheats' from the private sector was actually implemented by New Labour before this year's General Election.[1] The idea of extending the use of Experian services to catch Incapacity Benefit fraudsters came not from the ConDems but from Experian.
It struck me when Parliament went into recess and the war against ‘benefit cheats’ was ratcheted up by way of the bounty hunters to catch bogus Incapacity Benefit claimants story, that the ‘silly season’ was perhaps the most apt time for ratcheting up smear campaigns — not only poetically, but also in terms of media barons’ deployment of staff.
Actually though, my experience as a successful ESA tribunal appellant has told me that ‘bounty hunters’ already existed, although they themselves should — in my view — be charged with benefit fraud. I’m talking about the ATOS Healthcare ‘Approved Healthcare Practitioners’ who conduct Work Capability Assessments on behalf of the DWP.[2]
None of the physical tests recorded on the report by Dr R of my Work Capability Assessment took place.
Further, in the ‘Occupational History’ section of his report on my Work Capability Assessment, he failed to include reference to my more than two decades of jobseeker benefit claimant status before my last waged work. Further, he failed to record that that last waged employment had only been so part-time that I still claimed JSA while doing it. I had also told him that I only stuck it out for 11 months because I learned through experience in it that I was more likely to go destitute in doing six hours cover duties per week at £7.81 per hour — and only £5 per week ‘earnings disregard’ — than get adequate in-service training to get more than 16 hours per week as a regular worker with own allocation of service users.[3]
Thus the omissions in the 'Work Capability Assessment' report on me conspired to make it look as if I was one of those people whose citing of mental health issues as reason for claiming Employment & Support Allowance was questionable. I had actually been looking for waged work as a lifelong disabled person, while government was pretending that Incapacity Benefit claimants were the only disabled people 'of working age' on 'out of work' benefits.
Like I say, in 2005-2006 I was only allowed to pocket the first £5 of my weekly earnings of £7.81 per hour. (That was except for the one Christmas week when covering for colleagues on Christmas hols netted me over 16 hours work.) Five pounds per week is less even than the hourly national minimum wage. Due to DWP understaffing and the ridiculous and demeaning admin burden of such measly ‘earnings disregard’ for JSA claimants, though I had conscientiously completed and submitted part-time earnings forms, the DWP had erroneously reported to my local council that I was not eligible for JSA. Only when I gave up that paid work did I get time to get through to DWP to sort it out.
Government's failure to protect benefit claimants from hardship does not make tabloid headlines
Yet I was not the only one to suffer from DWP admin meltdown. In 2004-2005, JobCentre Plus failed to answer 21 million incoming calls to its helplines. Claimants affected sometimes experienced destitution as a result, reports Community Care magazine. (‘JobCentre Plus: Poor service continues’.[4]) That is 44% of all incoming calls. Meanwhile, only 5% of calls to the DLA/Incapacity Benefit helpline were answered.
Napoleon said: “Attack is the best form of defence.” Similarly, the moral of my tale is that criminally negligent government with a mass media that is constantly vigilant against the wrong targets finds that smear stories against those it has let down the most are its greatest self-defence.
But social workers and social care workers who defraud their service users face the risk of criminal prosecution. ATOS, while, gets more work at taxpayers’ — and especially vulnerable people’s — expense. (Even benefit claimants pay VAT, so we are all taxpayers.)
NOTES
[1] Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd 6 Sepetember Newsletter
http://tinyurl.com/2bbt8vz.
[2] See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10159717 'New benefit system labelled unfit',
http://tinyurl.com/2fy7uad Community Care magazine search for 'ATOS', and you will see that my own experience of a quack service was not uncommon.
[3] The £5 per week 'earnings disregard' for JSA claimants aged 25+ has remained so low since 1988. See http://tinyurl.com/2eqk5dg
'Why people work informally while claiming benefits'.
[4] Published 16 November 2006. Search find link at www.communitycare.co.uk website currently not fully operational.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Arrest the fraudsters
While Camerclegg are resurrecting the database state but this time as a privatised service (Experian) to spy on evil benefit fraudsters who have pushed the benefits bill up by a stonking 0.8% (£1bn), they seem quite content to let their own fraudsters, the tax dodging rich, get away with over £15bn.
Former non-doms Zac Goldsmith and Lord Ashcroft are just two of the hyper rich who have considered themselves above the rest of society when it comes to paying tax. The HMRC have now stopped reporting some of their data on tax cheats, presumably to help their rich friends.
Not sure why I even hoped that the ConDems would be better than this...
Former non-doms Zac Goldsmith and Lord Ashcroft are just two of the hyper rich who have considered themselves above the rest of society when it comes to paying tax. The HMRC have now stopped reporting some of their data on tax cheats, presumably to help their rich friends.
Not sure why I even hoped that the ConDems would be better than this...
Monday, 21 December 2009
Arrest the Taxpayers' Alliance!
It appears that the Taxpayers' Alliance has been using its charitable arm for funding which would seem in breach of charitable law (this from the Guardian). It would also mean that the TA is being funded by the taxpayer as it is using Gift Aid to boost its income.
So not only is the TA hypocritically using taxpayers' money while campaigning for lower taxes, it is sucking cash away from health, education, policing etc. The Charities Commission is investigating, but this is surely a matter for the police? As charities are not allowed to be involved in political campaigning and the TA is clearly linked to the Tories, this is surely tax fraud?
So not only is the TA hypocritically using taxpayers' money while campaigning for lower taxes, it is sucking cash away from health, education, policing etc. The Charities Commission is investigating, but this is surely a matter for the police? As charities are not allowed to be involved in political campaigning and the TA is clearly linked to the Tories, this is surely tax fraud?
Thursday, 9 April 2009
The Other Taxpayers Alliance
This is a superbly naughty website: The Other Taxpayers Alliance. They have registered their web address as http://www.taxpayersalliance.org/ which is wonderfully close to the trolls' The Taxpayers Alliance website at http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/
Check out their random quote generator (the quick reference tool for Daily Hate Mail journalists). Quotes such as "It's scandalous that taxpayers are having to pick up the bill for this." and "It's an outrage that taxpayers are expected to stump up for this. Ordinary people are angry at the widening gap between their pay and those in the public sector."
Check out their random quote generator (the quick reference tool for Daily Hate Mail journalists). Quotes such as "It's scandalous that taxpayers are having to pick up the bill for this." and "It's an outrage that taxpayers are expected to stump up for this. Ordinary people are angry at the widening gap between their pay and those in the public sector."
Saturday, 28 March 2009
4p income tax reduction
The Lib Dem idea to reduce income tax to 16p will not benefit people on lower incomes as much as those on higher ones. Here's why with a bit of fag packet maths:
The current 20p tax bracket is applied to earnings from £6,000 to £41,000 (for most workers assuming they get the full personal allowance of £6k). A worker earning £11k will pay 20p tax on £5k, i.e. £1000 per year; a worker earning £41k will pay 20p tax on £35k, i.e. £7,000 per year.
Reducing this band by 4p puts money into the pockets of people paying income tax. Someone earning £11k will have an extra £200 to spend each year (a pay rise of 1.8%) and someone earning £41k will have £1400 pounds more to spend (a pay rise of 3.4%).
People not paying tax, e.g. someone on benefits or a state pension gets nothing (no pay rise at all). Earners over £41k don't get more than the £1400, but a household with two people earning £41k each gets an extra £2800 p.a.
Does this redistribute wealth to those most in need? Of course not.
The Lib Dems have claimed that reducing VAT has made no difference to the credit crunch. They are right in that respect - it is like splashing water at a forest fire. The credit crunch is a worldwide problem founded on the very basics of our economic system, i.e. capitalist greed and a debt based monetary system.
Was the 2.5% reduction any better at redistributing wealth? Yes, it is better but still not great. It will increase the purchasing power of people on benefits and state pensions. It will increase the purchasing power of people on lower incomes - but again it is not perfect. If you buy £5k of vatable goods each year, your purchasing power increases by £125; if you buy £20k of vatable good, your purchasing power increases by £500.
What is needed is a better focussed tax, taxing pollution rather than simple spending. This should be coupled with tax increases for higher earners and a citizens' income for all.
I don't want to see people on £41k getting a 3.4% pay rise while people on low incomes get nothing. Inflation is negative for people with large mortgages / high incomes and around 5% for those on lower incomes / without mortgages. Tax needs to be paid by those who can afford it, not those who can't.
The current 20p tax bracket is applied to earnings from £6,000 to £41,000 (for most workers assuming they get the full personal allowance of £6k). A worker earning £11k will pay 20p tax on £5k, i.e. £1000 per year; a worker earning £41k will pay 20p tax on £35k, i.e. £7,000 per year.
Reducing this band by 4p puts money into the pockets of people paying income tax. Someone earning £11k will have an extra £200 to spend each year (a pay rise of 1.8%) and someone earning £41k will have £1400 pounds more to spend (a pay rise of 3.4%).
People not paying tax, e.g. someone on benefits or a state pension gets nothing (no pay rise at all). Earners over £41k don't get more than the £1400, but a household with two people earning £41k each gets an extra £2800 p.a.
Does this redistribute wealth to those most in need? Of course not.
The Lib Dems have claimed that reducing VAT has made no difference to the credit crunch. They are right in that respect - it is like splashing water at a forest fire. The credit crunch is a worldwide problem founded on the very basics of our economic system, i.e. capitalist greed and a debt based monetary system.
Was the 2.5% reduction any better at redistributing wealth? Yes, it is better but still not great. It will increase the purchasing power of people on benefits and state pensions. It will increase the purchasing power of people on lower incomes - but again it is not perfect. If you buy £5k of vatable goods each year, your purchasing power increases by £125; if you buy £20k of vatable good, your purchasing power increases by £500.
What is needed is a better focussed tax, taxing pollution rather than simple spending. This should be coupled with tax increases for higher earners and a citizens' income for all.
I don't want to see people on £41k getting a 3.4% pay rise while people on low incomes get nothing. Inflation is negative for people with large mortgages / high incomes and around 5% for those on lower incomes / without mortgages. Tax needs to be paid by those who can afford it, not those who can't.
Monday, 15 September 2008
Its just a lurch to the right...
Fantastic piece by Cruella on the Tories going lap dancing, the photo from the Daily Mail is particularly enlightening! As the economy crumbles, we will know where to find the Tories...
Meanhile, the LibDems seem to be trying to position themselves to the right of the LibDems with their latest tax promises. Their new health tax will give tax breaks to the rich while punishing the poor - regressive taxation. They reiterated their support for PFI yesterday too!
Vince Cable, the oil man, seems to be pushing their tax plans which are clear attempts to win votes at the expense of policy substance.
Meanhile, the LibDems seem to be trying to position themselves to the right of the LibDems with their latest tax promises. Their new health tax will give tax breaks to the rich while punishing the poor - regressive taxation. They reiterated their support for PFI yesterday too!
Vince Cable, the oil man, seems to be pushing their tax plans which are clear attempts to win votes at the expense of policy substance.
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Brown restores power to energy companies
Brown's deal with energy companies to roll out energy efficiency to home owners could be cost neutral for them and the government, but not for consumers. Brown has ruled out the ideas of a windfall tax to support struggling people, that would be far too, er... socialist? Surely a windfall tax is the way to pay for this otherwise excellent scheme (as championed by Green councillor Andy Cooper in Kirklees no less).
Perhaps this is a way of balancing the hegemony after it was upset by the Kingsnorth decree this week. The Kingsnorth Six were found not guilty of criminal damage as they had just cause: saving the world for our children's future. Clearly Golden Brown was worried by this appalling affront on big business and has handed them a new money making scheme which allows them to pass even higher bills on the the working classes.
In an equally right lurching move, it looks like the LibDems are vowing to decrease taxes. Personally I'd like to decrease taxation, but only on the poorer people in society and balancing this with more taxation for the rich and for big business.
Perhaps this is a way of balancing the hegemony after it was upset by the Kingsnorth decree this week. The Kingsnorth Six were found not guilty of criminal damage as they had just cause: saving the world for our children's future. Clearly Golden Brown was worried by this appalling affront on big business and has handed them a new money making scheme which allows them to pass even higher bills on the the working classes.
In an equally right lurching move, it looks like the LibDems are vowing to decrease taxes. Personally I'd like to decrease taxation, but only on the poorer people in society and balancing this with more taxation for the rich and for big business.
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